DETROIT 9 CINCINNATI SAINTS 2 F
The Detroit Waza, last year’s US Open Arena Soccer Championship runner-up, have again advanced past the first round, beating the Cincinnati Saints 9-2 at the Taylor Sportsplex. The Saints are the PASL-Premier affiliate of the 1790 Cincinnati Express.
The Scicluna brothers led the way for Detroit. Dominic Scicluna had two goals and three assists and Tino Scicluna recorded a hat trick.
Drew Ducker also added two goals.
The Waza led 5-0 at halftime. Goalkeeper Kris Lyons allowed just two goals and lost his shutout bid in the fourth quarter.
Detroit returns to action Sunday against their chief rival, 1790 Cincinnati Express. Game time is 4:40 at Total Soccer Royal Oak.
ESTADIO AZTECA ALL-STARS 5 CALIFORNIA 4 (OT)
Clemente Fonseca’s golden goal game winner knocked the California Cougars (3-1) out of the United States Arena Soccer Open Championship tournament and gave the Estadio Azteca All-Stars a 5-4 overtime win versus the Cougars at Turlock Indoor Soccer on Sunday.
The match was California’s first in the US Open tournament. The Cougars advanced to the US Open finals last season, before withdrawing before the championship match. Estadio Azteca is one of several amateur Premier Arena Soccer League (PASL-Premier) teams in the nationwide tournament.
Estadio Azteca’s Jaime Portillo scored the game’s first goal with 10:53 left in the first quarter. The All-Stars took a 2-1 lead to the second half, but saw the Cougars rally back to tie the game, and take the lead in the third quarter.
Brian Farber tied the match with a power play goal midway through the third quarter. Majell Aterado gave the Cougars a 3-2 lead with :05 left in the third, and Farber extended the lead to 4-2 with 13:33 left in the fourth.
Jose Martinez scored two fourth quarter goals for Estadio Azteca. His second goal sent the match into overtime. It was a volley strike with :54 left in the contest.
Fonseca scored beyond the reach of California goalkeeper Nelson Santana with 5:21 remaining in overtime to win the match.
Santana, normally a midfielder, played in goal for all of the fourth and overtime periods. California’s starting goalkeeper Jesus Molina was ejected with a red card with 3:41 remaining in the third quarter.
Estadio Azteca played a physical match. They were given three blue cards for accumulation of fouls in the upset victory.
PASL-Pro teams had been 8-0 against PASL-Premier teams so far this year and often the games were not close, including California's 17-0 win over Wenatchee last night.
The Cougars next play the Tacoma Stars on Saturday, December 19 at Estadio Azteca in Sacramento. The match starts at 7:00pm and tickets are $10 each.
