FC Tucson wasn’t feeling very lucky for much of Saturday night.
First, the Men in Black’s game against Colorado Rapids U23 was delayed 30 minutes by rain. When the rain cleared and the game started, FC Tucson had 12 shots in the first 40 minutes, none of them finding the net, with a handful hitting the crossbar or going just wide of the net.
Even when the Men in Black finally scored in the 42nd minute on a goal from midfielder Kevin Partida, Colorado Rapids U23 quickly came back and scored on a goal from forward Andre Shinyashiki in stoppage time just before halftime.
Things didn’t look much better in the second half until late, when star forward Moshe Perez scored his 12th league goal of the season, a club record, to knot the game up 2-2.
The game ended in a 2-2 tie, but Tucson (9-2-3) still found good fortune on Saturday night — the Men in Black will be hosting the PDL Western Conference playoffs next weekend. It’s the fourth straight year FC Tucson will host playoff games at Kino North Stadium.
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“It’s awesome,” said Tucson coach Jon Pearlman. “I want to give a ‘great performance’ for the crowd.”
FC Tucson clinched a division title for the fourth straight season earlier this week after wins against the BYU Cougars, and the Men in Black have been in the playoffs in five of six seasons since the club joined the PDL.
The semifinals will be Friday at 6 and 8 p.m., with the final coming Saturday night at 7. Seedings were unavailable as of press time.
“We really were hoping we would get to host,” Perez said. “I’m happy we get to host. We need our fans big time, more than ever.”
The Rapids were the more dominant team offensively in the second half, threatening to score for much of the second half before finally breaking through when Josh Goss sneaked a shot past Tucson goaltender Lucas Vallilo in the 76th minute.
Before that goal, Vallilo did well to shut down Shinyashiki on two dangerous shot attempts earlier, first on a shot in the 6-yard box in the 59th minute, and again on an attempted header in the 60th minute.
“At the end of the day I don’t think the draw was an unfair result, they won the second half, we won the first half,” Pearlman said. “We made too many mental mistakes. Vallilo unfortunately was very good giving up two goals. But you always want better.”
Added Perez: “We fought and gave up stupid goals we should not have given, but it is what it is. We should pick up our heads and head toward our next task, the playoffs.”
Shortly after Goss’ goal, Partida had a good look for a potential second goal of the night, but it sailed over the crossbar.
Finally, Perez came up and scored again — the Israeli has scored at least one goal in seven of his last eight games — in the 85th minute to keep the Men in Black’s unbeaten streak alive.
“Honestly I’m just playing on a great team with great teammates helping me a lot, making my life easier,” Perez said of his recent hot streak.
“I guess I’m in the right spots at the right times and getting the ball to score.”
With the tie, Tucson heads into the postseason with some momentum, without a loss in its last nine league games.
“We’re a team that is really hard to beat, we fight,” Perez said. “Most of the time we play better than the other teams. When we don’t, we still fight and we’re not going to let anyone beat us easily.”
Playoff tickets will go on sale Sunday at noon.
Contact:zrosenblatt@tucson.com or 573-4145. On Twitter: @ZackBlatt
