Matador women shut out Aztecs [The Sun, Yuma, Ariz.]

Oct. 20--The near-misses on the insurance goal kept mounting.

After a long lull without a shot, the Arizona Western women's soccer team finally connected on a second goal. But thanks to the play of goalkeeper Carolyn Sosa and the Matador defense, the extra goal was unnecessary.

Sara Rodriguez scored in the 14th minute then Elisa Espino scored with 16:46 left in the Matadors' 2-0 win over Pima Saturday at the Arizona Western soccer field.

Elisa Espino scored the second Matador goal after Pima goalie Angelica Gonzalez came out for the save, but the ball squirted lose as she dove to the ground. After a scrum with multiple Pima players, Espino came away with the ball and shot it over Gonzalez, who hadn't fully set herself in front of the net.

"Toward the end we played really well," Dale said. "We used more players than they did, and that was part of it. And at the end we made better tactical choices."

Rodriguez scored with an assist from Espino, on a passing coming in from the right side.

Rodriguez was right in front of the goal and shot it left past Gonzalez.

After AWC goalie Carolyn Sosa made a diving save 5 minutes later, the Matadors began a stretch of missed opportunities on a penalty kick. Kristian Sanford was tackled in the box by Gonzalez, leading to a yellow card for the goalie and a new one to have to come in cold to face the PK. Sanford's shot beat her, but deflected away off the right goal post.

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