Photo Caption: The Mohave College men’s soccer team celebrates their NJCAA Region 1 Championship win, holding their trophy after Saturday’s victory.
MOHAVE COUNTY – The Mohave College men’s soccer team captured the NJCAA Region 1 Championship with a dominant 6-0 victory over Yavapai College Saturday night at Firebird Field.
The Bighorns controlled the match from start to finish, scoring three goals in each half. Sophomore forward Lazzar Ramos led the charge with a hat trick, finding the net three times in the second half to secure the program’s first regional title.
Mohave opened scoring in the 24th minute when Mauricio Velazquez connected on an assist from Alan Salgado. Moments later, Erik Nava added an unassisted goal to double the lead, and Salgado scored one of his own before halftime, assisted by Dominic Portale, giving Mohave a 3-0 advantage at the break.
The second half was all Mohave as Ramos scored three consecutive goals, one unassisted, one assisted by Velazquez, and another from Salgado to seal the championship win.
Goalkeeper Chase Radford recorded two saves in the shutout performance, anchoring a defensive unit that held Yavapai to just two shots on goal.
“We love playing at home. We love our field, we love our fans, it’s huge and we had a great crowd tonight, and hopefully, Saturday we can get a big crowd too, just pushing us to another one,” Valencia said. “There’s so many people to thank, everybody in the administration, everybody in our support staff with academics and our parents for believing. It’s been a work of love for almost, for three and a half years so, this is very rewarding.”
With the victory, Mohave College advances to the NJCAA West District Championship and will host Salt Lake Community College at Firebird Field Saturday, Nov. 8, 7 p.m. Admission is $10, or $7 for students and guests under 18.
