Men's Soccer Earns National Tournament Spot
The Tyler Junior College soccer teams punched their tickets to nationals with Gulf South District championships on Saturday.
In Eunice, Louisiana, the No. 6 Apaches won their 11th consecutive district championship with a goal in the 88th minute for a 3-2 victory over the homestanding and No. 5 LSU-Eunice Bengals at Bengals Soccer Complex. The TJC men now advance to their 11th straight national tournament, which is scheduled for Nov. 18-23 at the Apaches' own Pat Hartley Field.
After winning 3-0 on Friday against Jones (Mississippi), the Apaches (18-4) took on LSU-Eunice, a team that defeated TJC 3-1 on Oct. 1 in Tyler.
With the game tied at 2-2, TJC got the game-winner in the 88th minute as Thaabit Baartman, a sophomore from Cape Town, South Africa, scored off an assist by Karsimi Konneh, a freshman from Seattle.
The Apaches then played defense for the win.
"We played well," said TJC coach Steve Clements, who has led the Apaches to six national titles. "It was extra incentive since they beat us at our place earlier in the season. It was a good win; we got to punch out ticket back home (to national tournament)."
Clements praised the gameplan formulated by his assistant coaches Wayne Hall and Shaun Stocker. "... and the players executed."
TJC took a 1-0 lead in the 23rd minute as Dylan Bufton scored off an assist from Baartman. The Bengals tied the game at 1-1 but TJC went back on top 2-1 in the 40th minute as Konneh found the net off an assist from Jake Morris.
The Bengals tied the game at 2-2 in the 65th minute before the game-winner.
Against Jones, Marc Tirado Belles opened the scoring for TJC with an unassisted goal. Dyln Bufton scored on an assist by Tamar Clayton-Naute. Jake Morris added the final goal with an assist by Jonathan Martinez.