The Mingus Union High School boys soccer team won its third straight contest Thursday, Dec. 22, throttling the visiting Wranglers, 8-1.
“We scored a few goals in the first half, which allowed me to play a bunch of different guys in the second half to get some playing time,” Mingus Head Coach Cade Densmore said.
Mingus led 4-0 after the first 40 minutes of play, and it was easy to see the Marauders were a better team than Wickenburg High School.
Freshman midfielder Ruben Contreras began Mingus’ scoring in the 10th minute with a goal off an assist from sophomore Brennan Kitchen, making it 1-0 Marauders.
From then on, it was all Mingus. Sophomore Cristian Escobar made it 2-0 in the 21st minute after he kicked a rebound in to the back of the net.
Senior Williams Dominguez took a shot from about 20 yards out, it bounced off the gloves of the Wickenburg goalkeeper and Escobar kicked it through for the score.
Senior Austin Strobel scored Mingus’ third goal of the evening Thursday with a shot outside the box, making it 3-0. In the 36th minute, sophomore Talon Walz made it 4-0.
“Talon [Walz] was in the right place at the right time. He seems to have a knack for finding the net. I didn’t expect that from him this season,” Densmore said.
In the second half, Densmore substituted several bench players, who continued the barrage of shots against Wickenburg. Mingus had 33 total shots Thursday, 27 of which were on frame in the 8-1 victory.
Other goals scored for Mingus included senior Jorge Padilla, who scored two goals in the second half, while Escobar and Dominguez scored in the 79th minute to put the Wranglers away for good.
“We’ve got some good things happening. We just need to keep working hard,” Densmore said.
The Marauders will play the bulk of their schedule in January with 10 matches on the docket during the seasons’ final four weeks before state playoffs.
Mingus is 3-1 overall and ranked No. 29 in the Division III Arizona Interscholastic Association power point poll, which was released Tuesday, Dec. 27.
After the boys in red come back from Christmas break, the Marauders will open the second half of the season with four straight home matches. Mingus plays three of those home contests in three straight days.
The first home match is against Joy Christian Academy on Thursday, Jan. 5. Mingus makes up the Dec. 13 snow-out against Coconino High School on Friday, Jan. 6, and then hosts Page High School on Saturday, Jan. 7.
Joy Christian and Coconino are scheduled for a 5 p.m. start time while the match against Page is set for 2 p.m.
The match Thursday, Jan. 12, against Prescott High School is the last of the home matches for awhile. The Marauders will hit the road in five of the final six game dates.
