In the final 40 seconds of Tuesday’s boys varsity matchup between McClintock and Cactus Shadows, something you don’t normally expect to occur at a soccer game happened.

With a mere matter of seconds left in his McClintock career, senior goalie Deion Edenburgs left his post in the goal area and took possession of the soccer ball, dribbled it upfield while weaving between defenders, and attempted to launch the ball against the wind toward the Cactus Shadows goal.

The home crowd of nearly 40 McClintock fans went berserk, cheering Edenburgs on while laughing and clapping, reflecting the pure bliss that radiated from the field.

Cactus Shadows ultimately came away with the 5-3 victory, advancing to 4-5-3 on the season, while McClintock dropped to nine losses this the season.

“We’re a very young team,” said McClintock head coach Carlos Aguilera. “We’re learning how to come together, learning how to play together, but we still have two, three years with the same kids to who will play together throughout these next seasons.”

An aggressive Falcons defense rallied in the second half to score four unanswered goals, three of which were scored in under 15 minutes, to reverse the 2-1 lead the Chargers held throughout the first half.

Cactus Shadows head coach Tony Vos attributed the slow start to the unfamiliar terrain of McClintock’s grass field.

“We have an artificial surface so the grass tonight was not conducive to play,” Vos said. “So, it was just making those simple adjustments that made the difference.”

The Falcons were down a number of players throughout the season due to injuries and academic ineligibilities, according to Vos.

“We’re finally playing our best soccer at the end of the year and it showed in the result tonight," Vos said. "It’s just too bad it happened all at the end of the season.” 

Aguilera credited the wind as the primary difference between the Chargers’ performance in the first and second halves.

“Their team is taller, so we have to play more on the ground,” Aguilera said. “The wind just makes the ball move very unpredictably once it’s in the air and we just couldn’t take handle of the ball.”

Junior Luis Monroy scored the first goal in the third minute of the game, and just a few minutes later posted an assist on a cross for the Chargers.

Sophomore Dachi Tabatadze kept the momentum going, appearing from what seemed to be out of nowhere to intercept Monroy’s cross in the 10th minute to extend the Chargers’ lead to two goals to none.

Sophomore Zachariah Alhajjaji’s speed and agility contributed to holding the Falcons to just one goal in the first half.

“He’s a very tough player, a real rugged player,” Aguilera said. “He can do offense, defense, he can do it all. If I put him on defense, midfield, forward, he’ll do it and he’ll do it 110 percent.”

Junior Ali Veselaj was assisted off the field in the first half for what appeared to be an injury to his right ankle. Veselaj continued to coach his team from the bench, helping his teammates fill the gaps.

“The kids are aware of each other’s talent,” Aguilera said. “When somebody’s injured, we reassess what’s going on and we start shifting. It’s just a matter of each kid talking to each other to make sure they know what to do.”

Three seniors were honored prior to the game, including Edenburgs who originally didn’t intend on becoming a goalie when he first began playing soccer.

“I had know idea what to do for soccer,” Edenburgs said. “I showed up in jean shorts, a tank top, and some regular tennis shoes.”

It wasn’t until Aguilera noticed at a tournament that Edenburgs could effortlessly clear other players by jumping over them that the coaching staff decided to develop him as a goalie.

“I developed the skill from volleyball. My mom’s a volleyball coach,” said Edenburgs, who will attend Northern Arizona University in the fall.

Senior Ronit Banerjee will attend the University of California at Berkeley where he plans to study computer science.

Senior defender Axel Rosales, who battled his way back from an ACL injury earlier this year, has his sights set on continuing his soccer career at Maricopa Community College.

“It’s sad that we couldn’t make it more,” Rosales said. “I was really hoping to go beyond the regular season this year but maybe in the future, in college, I could do something to get better.”

Edenburgs and Rosales sat on the center line together after shaking hands with the Cactus Shadows athletes, taking in their final moments on the McClintock pitch.

“I never needed to tell them what to do, they knew what was expected of them already,” Aguilera said. “We’ll miss them.”