Apaches News
Sun, Nov 1, 2009 - [Men's Soccer]
(TMT Staff Photo By Herb Nygren Jr.)
(TMT Staff Photo By Herb Nygren Jr.)
TJC's Dom Dywer (right) and San Jacinto's Gerado Gomez high kick for the ball during their regional soccer match Saturday in Bullard.
  
By JOE BUIE, Staff Writer, Tyler Morning Telegraph

BULLARD -- As the only local player on the Tyler Junior College men's soccer team, Juan Robles may have the best appreciation for San Jacinto's recent playoff dominance over his Apaches.
 
So as the horn sounded on TJC's 3-1 victory over its nemesis on Saturday, the standout goalkeeper fell to his knees in the Herrington Stadium end zone and said a prayer.
 
"It means a lot," Robles said of the Region XIV championship win, which snapped a five-game losing streak to San Jacinto in the playoffs. "It's just time. We've been undefeated all season, we all get along and have a great chemistry. I knew this was the year."

The No. 1 Apaches improved to 16-0 on the season and will now play in a four-team district tournament beginning Friday at TJC's Pat Hartley Field. The district champion will advance to the national tournament in Trenton, N.J.

San Jacinto (11-6-1), which trailed 2-0 at halftime, had won five consecutive regional titles and finished second at last year's national tournament.

"It's good to get that off your back a little bit," said TJC head coach Steve Clements, who improved to 2-5 against the Coyotes in regional finals. "One of the big things that I think helped this bunch was they are mentally tougher than some of the teams we've brought in here. But more important, (TJC) had beaten them twice in the regular season (3-2 and 2-0). I think we knew in our heart we could win the game."

Kareem Freitas, a midfielder from Trinidad & Tobago, gave the Apaches a 1-0 lead with a breakaway goal in the 10th minute.

"The way they are so quick up top, you can catch them on a counter," Clements said. "They will get so many people forward that how many times did we have chances where we were one-on-one or one-on-two, two-on-three?"

Kenny Mena, a forward from Brooklyn, N.Y., gave the Apaches a two-goal cushion in the final minute of the first half. Mena took advantage of a mistake in the back to score his 11th goal of the season.

"Their defender was trying to clear the ball and they hit it off one of their players and it bounced over the defender, and I chipped it over the goalie," Mena said.

The Apaches were the more active team in the first half, but San Jacinto came out strong after the break and quickly cut into TJC's momentum. The Coyotes scored off a two-on-one in the 47th minute, with Akeem Brown giving a quick pass to Edward Campbell for the short goal.

The next 30 minutes became quite heated as TJC received two yellow cards and San Jacinto one.

With 17:50 left in the match, Apache defender Angelo Jack saved a near-goal by San Jacinto by kicking the ball away just before it crossed the line. The Coyotes fired off a header off the same offensive, which Robles stopped.

San Jacinto continued to pressure TJC's side as Brown sent a 20-yard shot careening off the right post with 11 minutes remaining.

The Apaches regrouped and crossed into San Jacinto's side of the field where Dom Dwyer became entangled with a defender in the box. Dwyer kept his feet and emerged to get off a shot and beat the goalkeeper for his 11th goal of the season. That made it 3-1 with nine minutes left.

San Jacinto did not threaten again, finishing with nine shots-on-goal to TJC's 12.

The Coyotes got off the first shot at the beginning of the match, which required a Robles save.

"They had one in the first two minutes and luckily I was able to get on it," Robles said. "I think that could have changed the game a little bit. It was a good thing we got the first two goals, and then that third one just calmed everything down."

Smoke Signals:

The game was played at The Brook Hill School's Herrington Stadium because it has field turf. The natural grass surface at Pat Hartley Field was still too wet.   The No. 7 TJC women's soccer team goes for the regional title today at Pat Hartley Field against defending champion Navarro. The contest is set for 6 p.m. The Apache Ladies swept the two regular-season games, 4-1 and 1-0.   Navarro beat TJC in last year's regional final.