A Monstrous Victory: Cochise stuns #13 Eastern Arizona in conference-opener

DOUGLAS, Ariz. --- It took nearly the entire length of the match for Cochise to score their winning goal over the nationally ranked #13 Eastern Arizona Gila Monsters at home on Saturday, September 7th. The Cochise Women's Soccer team opened the conference portion of their regular season hosting EAC on Saturday in a whistle-to-whistle thriller. 

Eastern Arizona opened the match with an early lead scoring in the third minute putting the Gila Monsters up 1-0. Maria Coelho scored a second goal for EAC in the 18th minute extending the lead 2-0, but Cochise answered back quickly when freshman Michelle Gomez scored off an assist from Stephanie Vazquez-Ceron. Eastern Arizona led 2-1 at the half.

Cochise sophomore Sabrina Amezcua opened the second half with the equalizer, scoring her team-leading tenth goal of the season off of an assist from Abigail Pursley. The match remained 2-2 into the 78th minute when an EAC foul resulted in a free-kick goal for Cochise in which freshman Jocelyn Navarro gave the Apaches a 3-2 lead. As the clock expired, the Cochise team and crowd understood the magnitude of the win, taking down the undefeated #13 team in the country to begin conference play. 

Before Saturday's match, Eastern Arizona hadn't allowed a single goal in the season outscoring their opponents 29-0 in their first four games. Cochise found their statement win to begin ACCAC play in a hard-fought and physical match, making way for three consecutive conference matches on the road.

Up Next.. 

The Cochise Women's Soccer team (4-1-1), who will all but surely be ranked in the NJCAA Top 20 on Monday afternoon, will begin a three-game road swing as the Apaches will visit Mohave Community College (0-3) in Bullhead City on Tuesday, September 10th at 11:00 AM.