The Allen Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams kicked off their season over the weekend with a pair of road matches at St. Louis Community College and Southwestern Illinois.
While the men’s team took home a lone victory and a tie, the women’s team won both of their matches. The men’s team first knotted their final score with St. Louis Community College on Friday, 1-1, before cruising to a 2-0 shutout over Southwestern Illinois on Sunday.
The final scores for the women were a 3-0 victory over No. 14 St. Louis to begin the weekend as well as a 4-2 stampeding over No. 9 Southwestern Illinois on Sunday.
Men’s soccer
Head coach Doug Desmarteau’s men’s soccer team came up with only a lone goal through 110 minutes of action on Friday. Also, neither team was able to toe in a score in the first half. The St. Louis Community College Archers got on the board first as they netted a goal 52 minutes into the match.
The Red Devils then took control of the match. Allen’s Yuki Ikezaki came through for a goal on a free kick 89 minutes into the match. The match went into overtime knotted at 1-1.
Neither team scored in the 20 minutes of overtime. Red Devil goalkeeper Samuel Montañez finished his day making 10 saves in the net. Desmarteau’s team also finished with 12 shots on goal, only coming up with one that hit the back of the net.
“The team played well all around this weekend for it being the first official games of the season. We could have finished the ball better and taken advantage of more of our opportunities. But overall, it was a great weekend and an excellent test for us going into the season,” said Desmarteau.
Allen then hit the road to take on Southwestern Illinois on Sunday afternoon in a match in which they shutout the Blue Storm, 2-0.
Temesgn Texiera scored the first goal 30 minutes into regulation on a ball from midfield which bounced over the goalkeeper’s head. The goal was crucial after the Southwestern Illinois’ goalkeeper made a number of big saves throughout the opening half.
Then in the second half, Allen’s Geovanny Pacheco netted a ball which was fed through the middle of the field by Thiago Fernandez. The score came 70 minutes into the match and put the Red Devils up for good with a two-goal advantage.
In the victory over Southwestern Illinois, Allen goalkeeper Montanez made seven saves while the Red Devil offense registered 15 shots on goal.
Women’s soccer
The Allen women’s soccer team swept the weekend by winning both of their road matchups.
The weekend began strong for the Lady Red Devils after shutting out No. 14 St. Louis on Friday, 3-0. Rebecca Lord scored the first goal by knocking in a cross kick assisted by Autumn Wyatt.
Later in the match, Jessica Allen also found the back of the net after dribbling in for the shot. The assist came off the foot of Wyatt again, marking her second assist of the match. Finally, Claudia Zahui scored on a Kate Giblin corner kick for the third goal and the 3-0 victory.
Both Zahui and Allen received yellow cards in the match.
Allen head coach Jeremy McGinnis and his Lady Red Devils then took on No. 9 Southwestern Illinois Community College where they were able to double their score on the day, 4-2.
