Catalina Foothills overcame several close calls to win the Mountain View Winter Cup this past Friday and Saturday. The Falcons held on to beat Marana 3-2 in pool play on Friday and then outlasted the host team in kicks in the semifinal round on Saturday morning before pulling off an epic 1-1 (6-5) victory in kicks over Empire in the championship match Saturday afternoon.

In the final match, Empire senior standout Ngonkra Fuangunyi scored in the 54th minute to put the Ravens up 1-0 and seemingly in control in a match scheduled for 60 minutes under tournament rules. Each squad struggled to get quality shots off with the Ravens ending with four (all in the second half) and the Falcons putting up six, but a late penalty set Bryce Weege up for an opportunity for the Falcons and he came through with the equalizer in the 56th minute.

The match went straight to kicks from the mark after tiem expire with sophomore Jules Manger in the goal for Catalina Foothills and senior Ian Gregg taking the position for Empire and it turned out to be an extended display with the Falcons prevailing 6-5 on 16 total attempts.

Junior David Ibarra put the Falcons up 1-0 but Fuangunyi tied it up 1-1. Freshman Miguel Ruiz-Briones put the Falcons up 2-1 but sophomore Delvin Goode hit the net for the 2-2 tie. Senior John Pierson made it 3-2 but senior Daniel Dittiger made it 3-3. Empire had two tries for the win after two misses from the Falcons but both teams came up empty and the score remained 3-3 after five rounds.

Junior Luca Celi made it 4-3 but junior Marcus Gonzales made it 4-4. Senior Giovanni Procopio made it 5-4 but the kicks went tied at 5-5 after senior Nathan Weidwald found the net to extend the attempts. Sophomore Aydan Laufer put Catalina Foothills up 6-5 and then Manger blocked an attempt from the Ravens for the 1-1 (6-5) victory.

The Falcons are 3-1 in ranking matches and the team will host Marana (0-5) on Jan. 7 to start the season again after the winter break and Empire (3-0) will visit Tanque Verde (2-1-1) on the same day. Catalina Foothills competes in the 5A Conference and Empire is a 3A program and the Ravens have served notice by going undefeated against a 4A schedule while beating 5A Mountain View and taking Catalina Foothills to the wire at the Winter Cup.

Ngonkra Fuangunyi put Empire up 1-0. (Andy Morales/AZPreps365)

 

 

 

MOUNTAIN VIEW BOYS SOCCER WINTER CUP

 

DEC: 27-28

 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27

Catalina Foothills 3, Marana 2

Empire 1, Mountain View 0

Catalina Foothills 5, Pusch Ridge 1

Empire 3, Avondale Westview 1

Pusch Ridge 3, Marana 1

Mountain View 4, Westview 1

 

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 28

 

SEMIFINALS

Empire 3, Pusch Ridge 0

Catalina Foothills over Mountain View 1-1 (4-2)

 

CONSOLATION MATCH

Westview 2, Marana 0

 

CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH

Catalina Foothills over Empire 1-1 (6-5)