COLORADO SPRINGS – In the playoffs, Jonny Diaz Mendoza is playing more like Jonny on the Spot. When Cheyenne Mountain has needed a goal, he has been the guy to step up. Not just at the right time, but at all the times.
Diaz Mendoza scored the game’s lone goal in the 38th minute to lift the Red-Tailed Hawks to a 1-0 win over Grand Junction in the second round of the Class 4A boys soccer state tournament.
It was a bit of a hectic sequence that saw the ball initially slip through the fingers of Grand Junction keeper Andon Tow. By the time he got his hands on it, his momentum had taken him into the goal, putting the Hawks on the board.
“We had to come aggressive in the first half,” Diaz Mendoza said. “We weren’t finding many chances. That one in the corner, I just tried to cross it in with power and the goalie didn’t catch it and it just went in.”
Soccer, like most sports, is a game of inches. That particular sequence went the way of the Hawks (11-5-1 overall) and it went their way at just the right time, with 2:50 left in the first half.
Sometimes that’s just how the game goes.
“That’s soccer,” coach Brian Jewell said. “If you watch the game on Saturday and Sunday at the professional level, it’s always the last couple of minutes of half when that happens. Backbreaker for them, positive for us.”
The Tigers (11-6) tried to shake the goal at halftime and come out with some fire for the final 40 minutes. They had their opportunities like early in the second half when Gerardo Hernandez shook a couple of Cheyenne Mountain defenders and ripped a shot toward the net. Keeper Jackson Bufkin was there to make the diving save to keep his team in the lead.
That was a far different feeling than last week’s playoff opener. Although the Hawks came away with just a 2-0 win over Riverdale Ridge, it was tough for the Ravens to mount an offensive attack which left Bufkin untested for most of the game.
“There was a lot more action,” Bufkin said. “It was intense, but it was a fun game.”
Things got really fun as the Hawks had their 1-0 and 20 minutes ticked off the clock in the second half. With a sense of urgency, the Tigers, pressed on the offensive attack, trying to find an equalizer.
“The last 10 minutes of the game we were playing the way we’re supposed to play,” Diaz Mendoza said. “We couldn’t find a goal and just had to keep possession and I think our defense panicked a bit.”
But they held up long enough to see the clock run out without the Tigers getting a goal. The next task is a trip to Mullen where the Hawks will face the No. 2 Mustangs for a chance to move on to the state semifinals.
It might take more than just a goal or two to get that win, but if there’s one thing that has been shown since the playoffs started, it’s that Diaz Mendoza can find his opportunities to score. The Hawks have netted three goals in the playoffs and they’ve all come off his foot.
He’s been Jonny on the Spot.