TJC Soccer Sweep: Apache Ladies, Apaches win regional titles
Women's Soccer: TJC will play Holmes County (Mississippi) for the Gulf South District championship and an automatic berth to nationals. Rose said the game will likely be Saturday and it will be played at Freedom Ridge Park in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Men's Soccer: TJC (16-4) now advances to the Gulf South District Championship in Eunice, Louisiana where the Apaches will face Jones County (Mississippi) on Friday in the semifinals. The other semifinal has No. 5 LSU-Eunice meeting Northeast Texas. The winners meet on Saturday with a national tournament bid at stake.
WOMEN'S SOCCER
The Tyler Junior College Apache Ladies won their ninth Region XIV soccer championship in 12 years as program on Sunday at Pat Hartley Field.
The No. 4 Apache Ladies defeated rival and No. 6 Navarro 2-0 to move one step closer to returning to the national tournament for the fifth straight year.
"It never gets old," TJC coach Corey Rose said. "We are very happy. I'm glad we bounced back after losing over there (2-1 on Oct. 22 in Corsicana)."
The women's team joins the Apaches as regional champions after the men's squad defeated Angelina 3-1 on Saturday.
After a scoreless first half on Sunday, the Apache Ladies broke through against the Lady Bulldogs when Alexia Moreira, a graduate of Jacksonville High School, scored for a 1-0 lead.
"We have been waiting for Alexia and we said when we needed a goal Alexia would score it, and she did today," said Rose, whose club improves to 17-1 on the season.
Moreira is a freshman midfielder.
The Apache Ladies then put the game away when Mukarama Abdulai, a freshman forward from Tamale, Ghana, scored for the 2-0 advantage.
Sydney Malmstrom, a sophomore from Whitehouse, was in goal for the clean sheet.
Navarro falls to 14-4 and will wait to see if the Lady Bulldogs receive an at-large bid to the national tournament, which is scheduled for Nov. 18-23 in Melbourne, Florida. There are eight automatic berths and four at-large bids.
TJC will play Holmes County (Mississippi) for the Gulf South District championship and an automatic berth to nationals. Rose said the game will likely be Saturday and it will be played at Freedom Ridge Park in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
No. 16 Holmes (18-2-1) defeated No. 11 LSU-Eunice 1-0 in the Region XXIII championship on Friday in Eunice, Louisiana.
It was the 12th straight year that TJC and Navarro have met in the Region XIV championship with Tyler having won nine times, including five consecutive.
MEN'S SOCCER
TJC (16-4) now advances to the Gulf South District Championship in Eunice, Louisiana where the Apaches will face Jones County (Mississippi) on Friday in the semifinals. The other semifinal has No. 5 LSU-Eunice meeting Northeast Texas. The winners meet on Saturday with a national tournament bid at stake.
Also for the first time there are four at-large bids, TJC men's coach Steve Clements said. The national tournament is scheduled for Nov. 18-23 in Tyler.
Northeast Texas defeated Laredo, 3-0. LSU-Eunice defeated Jones County, 4-0.
After falling behind 1-0 against the Angelina Roadrunners, TJC tied the game at 1-1 when Karsimi Konneh scored off an assist from Marc Tirado Belles.
TJC took the lead 2-1 in the 55th minute when Thaabit Baartman stole the ball and scored. In the 75th minute, Jake Morris found the net off an assist by Jonathan Martinez for the 3-1 Apache victory.
Carl Koester in goal for the Apaches.
It was the 19th regional championship, including 11 straight for the Apaches.