Flores and Leyva-Miranda score second half goals as Men's Soccer advances to National Semifinals

The Pima Community College men's soccer team (18-3) is heading back to the NJCAA Division II National Semifinal round for the second straight year.

• The No. 7 seeded Aztecs upset No. 2 Iowa Lakes Community College 2-0 to earn their 11^th shutout win of the season, and for the second straight year, is part of the Final Four field that remains.
• The game was scoreless until the 71^st minute when freshman Leonel Gutierrez (Salpointe Catholic HS) served up a cross pass inside the box that deflected off a Lakers (14-6-2) player and right to sophomore Nathan Flores (Alhambra HS), who set up his shot and hit it for the goal.
• The Aztecs scored again two minutes later. After a corner kick, there was a scramble inside the box and the Iowa Lakes goalkeeper made a pair of saves but sophomore Edgar Leyva-Miranda (Desert View HS) headed the ball that crossed the plain for the score.
• "We wanted to start getting the ball out wide a little more, that's what the coaches talked to us about, and we thought we could hurt them (Iowa Lakes) there. Thankfully I got a corner off of it and I knew it was going to fall back into a good spot. I was ready to take my shot," Leyva-Miranda said. "I think we're ready to right our wrongs from last year (lost in semifinals to Northeast CC in PKs). We're super thankful for all the support the past Pima players have given us throughout this tournament and the parents who have made the drive. It's another shot for us."
• The Aztecs finished with seven shots and freshman goalkeeper Tommaso Leonardi closed out the game with three saves.
• "It's an amazing feeling because we are like a family and we love each other. We have worked so hard to get here and we earned it," Leonardi said. "We want to win it. We have the group for winning it and we want it."

The Aztecs will face off against a familiar rival in No. 1 seeded Phoenix College. The game will take place at the Stryker Sports Complex Stadium on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. (CST); 2:00 p.m. (MST). The other semifinal will be No. 3 Mercer County Community College (NJ) and No. 4 CCBC Essex (MD) at 5:30 p.m. (CST); 4:30 p.m. MST).

This will be the fourth meeting this season between the Aztecs and the Bears. Phoenix College won the first meeting 3-0 on Sept. 3 and the Aztecs responded with a 3-2 win on Oct. 4 at the West Campus Aztec Field. The Bears claimed the Region I, Division I title after beating Pima 4-2 on Nov. 5.

Pima goals: Nathan Flores (Leonel Gutierrez) 71:05; Edgar Leyva-Miranda 73:32.