Men's Soccer Kicks Off Inaugural Season

Nelson Men's soccer opened the club's inaugural season to tremendous excitement and fanfare on Saturday, August 23, against the Paradise Valley Community College Pumas at the Christ Church of the Valley (Peoria) fields. After the expected first game canceled due to monsoon rain, the highly anticipated first season, led by head coach Barry Swartz, rolled into action, leaving fans breathless and clamoring for more.

To no one's surprise, both teams came out wanting to connect on the first strike, each club putting each other's defense under immediate pressure. However, much like Valley residents over the past few weeks of intense rain, the Warriors weathered the storm thanks to a number of early saves by GK Ricardo Bustamante, who finished with six on the night. The Warriors managed to grab the game's first lead when freshman Pablo Pulido scored the club's first-ever goal in the 30th minute, daftly chipping in a shot passed PV's, goalie, for a 1-0 Nelson lead. The assist went to fellow freshman Christian Olguin.

Action continued and nearly ten minutes later to the second, Paradise Valley pushed the game to a tie when Puma Bryan Romero put in an unassisted shot. The battle raged as the final minutes ticked off the clock, and the game remained tied at the end of the first half.

The final 45min were fought as equally as the first, with each team matching each other on both shots and goals. The Pumas took their only lead of the game when Anthony Rzayev knocked in a goal from inside the box on an assist by Bryan Romero in the 81st minute. However, undeterred, the Nelson men responded with true Warrior spirit, recording their own equalizer just four minutes later when freshman Parker Linhart sent a cross to the far post connecting with junior Bahati Nsengiyunva, where the game would remain, ultimately ending in a hard-fought 2-2 draw.

Up next for your Warriors men's soccer is Benedictine (Mesa) on August 26. Kickoff will be at 8:00pm at the Arizona State Polytch campus.

Do not forget to follow Nelson Athletics on X at @NelsonWarriors and Instagram at @nelsonwarriors.athletics.