Aztec showed why it is the Class AAAA no. 8 ranked team in New Mexico with a 4-1 win over Montezuma-Cortez High School Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 19, at Norman Johnson Memorial Field.

The Tigers scored with 6:10 gone in the first half when senior Jeff Andrea made a long shot from straight in, just past the finger tips of goalie Garrett Andrews. Aztec dominated the ball and kept the ball in the attacking half of the field throughout most of the first half.

Cortez made some challanges on offense but could not move the ball well against the quicker Tigers. Finally, with 20:52 gone, Joe Siracusan, thanks to a steal, got off a shot but it was wide of the mark.

Aztec made a charge and Andrews blocked the ball with his head. That sort of shook him up. Cortez did a get a golden opportunity with a direct kick, but the chip shot sailed too high at the 26-minute mark. Andrews made a diving save at 27:34. But then Cortez, off a high bouncer, Brian Cone headed the ball ahead, and headed it again and then shot at an open goal for a score with 28:32. That tied the contest at 1-1.

The Tigers continued to pound the ball at the Cortez net. Andrews made block after block. Aztec made 10 shots while Cortez made four shots on goal during the half.

Andrews, though, was pulled because his head was still hurting. Cody Beaver moved into the goalie crease to start the second half.

Cortez started to contain and support on the defense. The Panthers made a good transition from defense to offense and took several shots on goal during the first minute. They had an indirect shot, but Tyler Gilstrap’s shot went wide. Cortez got a free kick at the 8-minute mark, however Cone’s shot was too short. Moments later Aztec drove the ball down field and Andrea scored his second goal of the game with 11:03 gone in the second half.

The Panthers, though, started better defense and they were making better passes when they had the ball. Then the Tigers came back and made several tries, unfortunately shots were blocked. Tiger Michael Vallejo made a nice shot but it the cross bar and bounced away with 17:56 gone. But Vallejo got the rebound and the Tigers worked the ball around and Vallejo put the ball into the net for a 3-1 lead.

Siracusan nearly answered right back, instead his shot hit the goal post and bounced away. Vallejo got another opportunity only to have his shot hit the top cross bar at the 26-minute mark. Cortez had a chance to get on the board with a direct kick, only to have the ball fall short of the net. With 38:22, the Tigers got a breakaway and Vallejo scored for the final 4-1 count.