Tucson, Arizona- FC Tucson opened up the Sebastian Pineda era with a dominant 2-0 win over Guanajuato Seleccion XI in a friendly match. While the match ended with only a two goal margin, the men in black’s play on the offensive side of the ball showed their attacking talent. In the first 15 minutes of the match, FC Tucson had 4 shots on goal. They finished with 13 shots on goal over the course of the contest.
While the first 30 minutes of the match was back and forth affair between the two teams, FC Tucson’s #7 William Arnisen scored the first goal of the season in the 32nd minute of the match. After the game, Arnisen had this to say: “It means a lot to me to perform well for this special club and get things going for the team. It was a moment of absolute joy for me!” After FC Tucson stole the ball, Arnisen saw that Guanajuato became stuck in transition, leaving the defense in a 2-1 defensive position. He took his opportunity to shoot through the hole in the Guanajuato defense and blazed the ball past the defenders and the goalkeeper. After his goal, the crowd began with “FC Tucson! FC Tucson!” chants. William Arnisen spoke about that as well. “The crowd definitely helps us perform better, when they are into the game, it adds a fire to all of the guys on the field!” When asked further about the goal, William Arnisen promised there were more to come. The second and final goal of the night was scored by #17 Missa Montilla in the 66th minute.
It was obvious that Coach Pineda thought that Arnisen and the rest of the starting line-up worked really well together as there was not a substitution until after halftime in the 61st minute. Pineda would only rotate 6 players into the game. Subbing the first three in at the 61st minute, and the second three in at the 76th minute. Coach Pineda praised his players with how in sync this team already was after only three days of actual practice with the team. “That was one of the challenges of only having three days of practice with this group before the game,” he commented on the ability of his players during the game, “we really had to get the boys comfortable with each other so that they could perform well together.” Coach Pineda added that next week was about building on the new relationships between the players and to focus on building upon their strengths and addressing weaknesses.
FC Tucson’s opening match boasted 1,400 people for their Cinco De Mayo match. Once the game concluded, FC Tucson celebrated both the beginning of the season and Cinco De Mayo with a firework display that illuminated all of the Kino Sports Complex.
FC Tucson’s next match will be against the University of Arizona Men’s soccer team, another friendly match. The game will be on Sunday, May 12th at 7:00 pm at Kino North Stadium. The team is hosting a College Night with discounted tickets for college students.
