The Tempe Buffaloes hosted the Casa Grande Cougars on the Buffs’ Senior Night in the last game of the regular season.

“It’s fun and cool, but at the same time sad since it’s the last time we’re playing here,” Tempe senior forward Jonathan Ibarra said. 

The Buffaloes defeated the Cougars 5-0 behind two first half goals from striker Hector Govea.  

It only took the Buffs 15 minutes to get going, as Govea put in the first goal off a rebound. Only three minutes later, Ibarra put the Buffaloes up by two with a beautiful free kick, placing the ball in the bottom corner of the net.

In the second half, senior captain Jonathan Peralta capped his final regular season game with an absolute strike from outside of the box that tipped off the goalkeeper’s hands to make the game 4-0.

Although the Cougars didn’t have their best game on the pitch, their bench had a fun time, shouting “olé” when the team completed a pass in the second half.

Unfortunately, the Cougars ended their season with a 2-11 overall record. As for the 10-4-2 Buffaloes, they clinched the Desert Sky Region title with a 4-0 region record.

The team also secured a berth in the 4A Conference playoffs.

“We play hard. We’re hungry.  We’re aggressive. We attack. I’m very happy with the way we played this year,” Tempe Head Coach Steven Cihomsky siad.  “You get stronger as the year goes on.”

Ibarra added, “We have to practice hard and do what we’re doing right now to keep our streak going.”

The Buffaloes went 6-0-1 in its final regular season game, outscoring their opponents 27-5 during that stretch.

The team hopes to carry the momentum into the playoffs.

“We have to find out who we’re playing. It might be an opponent we had earlier in the year. If so, we know what to do,” Cihomsky said. “Whoever it is, they are going to be very difficult. Anybody who makes the playoffs is going to be a difficult opponent.”

The top eight teams, as well as the state tournament bracket, will be revealed during the bracket show on Friday beginning at 2 p.m.