Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Morenci soccer fans bundle up to stay warm during the home soccer match on Jan. 14. The Wildcats recorded a program first 4-2 win over the Yellow Jackets. Morenci has a final home match on Jan. 31.
Morenci has three road trips before final home match Jan. 31
By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – It took nine matches, but the Morenci Wildcats posted their initial soccer win, 4-2 over “the town too tough to die,” Tombstone in Lawson Stadium on Jan. 14. In so doing, the Wildcats recorded the first home win, the first come-from-behind win, the first 2-point win, the first win with two players contributing scoring, the first match with one player scoring three goals, the first win under MHS head coach Maurizio Ciriello (1-8), and snapped the first 8-match loss streak.
The Wildcats trailed 0-1 at the start of the second half and 0-2 with 34:14 remaining, with both goals by Tombstone freshman forward/midfielder Kevin Dorame. His first goal was scored in the final six minutes of the first half.
Morenci sophomore striker Anthony Ballesteros pared down the deficit six minutes after halftime on a free kick header, the tying goal four minutes after that, and the go-ahead goal nearly 11 minutes later. Sophomore center-mid Keeton Jasso added the final score with 6:52 remaining.
On the season, Morenci scored its initial match goal against Safford (Nov. 30), a Ballesteros header on an assist from Jasso’s corner kick; Jasso scored the on a free kick with 29:42 left in the second half against Globe (Dec. 3); Ballesteros scored both second-half goals against Florence (Dec. 30); Ballesteros scored a first-half goal in the second match against Safford (Jan. 11), and Ballesteros scored three straight goals against Tombstone (Jan. 14) before Jasso added the fourth one.
Three road matches remain for independent No. 47 Morenci (1-8 overall, 1-4 seeding, minus 10.6974, 0-0 region), at No. 29 3A Southwest Region Avondale Saint John Paul II (7-4, 4-4, minus 1.1568, 3-3 for 6th of 10) on Jan. 20, No. 33 3A East Region Globe (2-4, 2-4, minus 2.9437, 0-4 for 7th of 9) on Jan. 25, and independent No. 54 3A Tucson Andrada Polytechnic (0-5, 0-5, minus 16.3655, 0-0) on Jan. 27, before the final home match with Andrada Polytechnic on Jan. 31 concludes the 2022 season.
The losses during Morenci’s inaugural varsity season have been 1-13 to No. 22 3A South Region Safford (9-4, 6-3, 1.2143, 4-2 region for 4th of 10) on Jan. 11, 2-3 to No. 51 3A East Region Florence 2-3 (1-12, 0-9, minus 11.6760, 0-5 for 8th of 9) on Dec. 30, 0-10 to No. 25 6A East Valley Region Mesa Skyline (6-7, 3-3, minus 0.2845, 0-0 for 5th of 6) on Dec. 30, 0-5 to No. 44 3A Northwest Region Parker (4-12-1, 2-6-1, minus 8.1681, 1-3-1 for 7th of 8) on Dec. 29, 0-5 to No. 40 4A Southwest Region Surprise Paradise Honors (3-7-1, 1-5-1, minus 8.0035, 0-1 for 5th of 6) on Dec. 29, to No. 53 3A Tombstone (1-7, 1-7, minus 12.0859, 0-5 for 9th of 10) on Dec. 10, 1-9 to Globe on Dec. 3, and 1-11 to Safford on Nov. 30.
There are 41 teams in 6A, 46 in 5A, 47 in 4A, and 54 in 3A.
The initial 27-member varsity roster had three seniors, 11 juniors, two sophomores, and 11 freshmen. The current roster has 24 members following the voluntary defection of three freshmen.
Remaining on the team are seniors Oscar Barrio, Rebel Gentry II, and Lydia McCargish; juniors Aurora Bennett, Josh Biggs, Kristela Reza Cardona, Matteo Ciriello, Brianna Crandell, Brady Hooper, Kathy Lara, Tyler Lewis, Aaron Merz Clinton Sipes Jr., and Quinton Wiltbank; sophomores Anthony Ballesteros, Keaton Jasso; and freshmen Nolyn Adams, James Anderson, Tristan Burke, Ciarra Crandell, Bryant Figueroa, Alejandro Gonzalez, Yalitza Rios-Ortega, and Jossue Vaca Jr.
