CBS 13 Sports Special Report: Uniting of Nations
The rise of the Arizona Western men's soccer team to the NJCAA Division I National Championship
YUMA, Ariz. ( KYMA, KECY-TV ) - "The result is probably less important than the experience that our players got and they abilities they were able to show to university coaches," Arizona Western men's soccer coach Kenny Dale said.
Spoken like a true head coach, not looking at what's in it for him but looking for for his players.
Dale has been the head coach of the Matador's men's soccer team since 2005. While he has had many winning teams, Arizona Western only made the NJCAA Division I National Tournament once, in 2019, and didn't win a single game.
That all changed in 2021, the Matadors tore through the regular season posting an undefeated 17-0 record.
"You could already see it in the preseason," Erik Vera, a midfielder from San Luis high school said. "The competitiveness on the whole team."
"We didn't realize that we were achieving something great," Mattieu Fiadjoe, a defender from France added. "After like 15 games, we were thinking yeah, we're on our way to doing something great."
The Arizona Western roster is made of players from 9 different countries including the United States.
"Different languages, different cultures and different customs," Coach Dale said. "I like the differences the players bring, it makes it exciting to see all that they add to the mix."
The 2021 blend was the winning formula. The Matadors won the ACCAC regular season followed by the Region I title over Yavapai before falling to defending National champion Salt Lake in the District I Championship.
"We struggled, we lost to Salt Lake 2-1 in the District final," Coach Dale said. "I felt if we could get them on a different surface or at a different time that we'd be okay against them, but, so we went to 18-1, again, lost to Salt Lake 2-1, and just awaited our fate for the national tournament."
Arizona Western received an at large bid to return to the NJCAA DI National Tournament in Tyler, Texas. The Matadors opened as a #7 seed against #11 LSU-Eunice. AWC won 3-0, the first win on the national stage in program history. They followed that with another win, this time over #2 Cowley 3-2, setting up a rematch against #1 Salt Lake in the national semi-final.
"Revenge," Jesus Sanchez, a midfielder from Spain said. "This is what we wanted, this is our final, we're gonna get revenge."
Arizona Western got their revenge, a 2-0 win to propel the Matadors to the National Championship game against #3 Iowa Western. Arizona Western limped into the final running of fumes.
"One of our team captains, Ridwane Boukraa was injured in the second game of pool play," Dale said. "He had knee surgery in December. Romaric Berneron, who plays central midfield, another captain was hurt and didn't play in semi-final. Ernie Garza didn't play in semi's or final due to injury, the center of our defense, Burak Cuban was injured, played about 15 minutes in the final and gave a brave effort."
Arizona Western had a makeshift lineup on the pitch in the final, with really only three players in the back end.
"Hugo Catherine played as a defensive midfielder instead of an attacking midfielder," Dale said. "Nozomu Kamei played as a right back for part of the way."
Arizona Western would fall in the National final 2-0.
"If everybody was healthy," Ernie Garza said. "Things could’ve been different."
"It all came down to what we had," Vera said. "Many injuries throughout the national and it would've changed a lot if we had the starting players."
While the season didn't end the way the Matadors had hope for, they made program history and set the bar high for the teams that will follow them. A new standard is in place with National appearances in 2019 and 2021 with the National runner-up trophy now in th trophy case.
Michael Appiah and Michele Signorelli were named 2021 United Soccer Coaches Junior College Division I All-Americans. There is something else that shows just how special this team was.
"We had the highest GPA in the entire athletic department for the first time in program history," Dale said. "Academic and community involvement is what sets players up for success in the future."
The future remain bright for the Matadors as they will only lose 5 sophomores, meaning another strong push is in the cards for the 2022 men's soccer team.
