It took until the final seconds of the Allen Community College men’s soccer home opener to come away victorious. The men stormed back from a two-goal deficit in double overtime to beat Johnson County Community College.
The women, meanwhile, got pummeled 4-0 by JCCC’s Lady Cavaliers.
Women’s Soccer
The Lady Red Devils were sluggish for much of the opening half, allowing JCCC to control the ball. Allen’s first goal came 42 minutes into the game. The opening goal for the Lady Cavaliers was unassisted and saw Darrian Gordon chip a shot over the goalkeeper’s head for the 1-0 lead.
Only two minutes later, Gordon headed in her second goal from the back line for the 2-0 first half advantage. With blistering hot temperatures in Iola on Wednesday, the two-goal Allen deficit at halftime sunk head coach Jeremy McGinnis’ team.
Even after surrendering four goals to Johnson County in the defeat, Lady Red Devil goalkeeper Daniela Gonzalez made 13 saves on 17 shots. Allen only managed 10 shots on goal in the match.
Coming out of the gates after halftime, Johnson County controlled the ball yet again with few sideline fast breaks for Allen County. Eight minutes into the half, JCCC’s Willoughby Lam took a pass from Gordon which she turned into a score and the three goal edge, 3-0.
Johnson County’s Emma Le posted the final goal for her team with 11 minutes remaining in regulation for some insurance room. The assist was fed by Madalyn Crow and came on a set of cross volley kicks in front of the net. This would give Johnson County their winning score over Allen, 4-0.
Coach McGinnis and Katherine Hammond each received a yellow card during the match.
Allen’s Claudia Zahui and Lizeth Suarez registered three shots on goal apiece and Zahui ripped four shots total. Seven Lady Red Devils were able to manage shots on goal for a combined total of 11.
Men’s Soccer
With the seconds ticking down in the double overtime period of a knotted 2-2 match with Johnson County, ACC’s Temesgn Tezera came through on an unassisted kick from the left side of the net for the winning goal. The crowd went wild and Tezera’s team piled on top of him in celebration.
“In the game sometimes as leaders we have to be the ones to be the example setters… I just went to the ball and did what we practiced. I just executed and did what had to be done,” said Tezera. “My message was to just stay in the game. It’s the team that wants it and plays with the most heart that will win.”
The comeback victory looked very unlikely in the beginning of the second half when Cavalier Alan Lopez toed in the second goal with an assist by Jacksyn McIntyre for Johnson County giving them a 2-0 advantage.
The opening goal of the match for Johnson County came only six minutes into the game when McIntyre took a cross pass from Dylan Naidu and found the back of the net. It was a quick score for the Cavaliers who got the ball on their side just long enough to score.
The Red Devils didn’t find the back of the net until 12 minutes into the second half. Then with about 18 minutes left in regulation, Red Devil Thiago Fernandes came through for a goal from the left side of the net to make it a knotted 2-2 score. The assist was delivered off a cross kick pass from Patrick Alouidor.
“The fight of these guys is unbelievable, I’ve never seen a game like that where we score a goal with one second left, it was crazy,” said Allen head coach Doug Desmarteau. “I’m proud of them and they have heart and they fought the whole way. Temesgn is our captain and he said ‘this is about who wants it more’ and we wanted it more, that was crazy.”
After giving up some early goals, Allen’s Samuel Montanez was able to manage six saves in goal with eight Johnson County shots on goal. Three yellow cards were also given to Allen’s team in Daniel Galindo, Geovany Pacheco as well as a team card.
