NBC 11 Sports: Matadors survive “bad day” at work

AWC defeats Otero 1-0 in pool play, one game away from advancing to national semi-finals

MELBOURNE, Fla. ( KYMA, KECY-TV) - In their opening game in pool play at the NJCAA national tournament, the Arizona Western men's soccer team held on for a 1-0 win over Otero Junior College.

"Everyday you go to work you don't have a great day, not every day at work a great day," Arizona Western head coach Kenny Dale said. "So we had a difficult day at work today but we were still successful so I'm really happy about that and happy about the shutout."

With the win, Arizona Western will next play the #2 seed in the tournament in the Tyler Apaches. Tyler defeated Otero 3-2 on Sunday setting up an all or nothing showdown on Tuesday morning.

I think we have to defend like dogs defending a bone

AWC men's soccer head coach Kenny Dale

"I think we have to defend like dogs defending a bone," Dale said. "We just have to defend, we're going to have to shoot the ball more. We can't wait for a perfect shot we just have to shoot it when it becomes available. We have to turn half chances into real chances and into goals."

Arizona Western and Tyler square off at 10:30 a.m. MST with the winner advancing to the NJCAA national semi-finals