WICHITA, Kan., November 18, 2023 – The second time in as many seasons, and the third time in program history and the last five years, the Monroe College Mustangs men's soccer team has captured the NJCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship! The No. 4-seeded Mustangs needed penalty kicks for the third time in four matches at the championship tournament to take down No. 7 Tyler Junior College, but after the 2-2 final in the match, the Mustangs earned a 4-3 win in the shootout to claim the National Championship at Stryker Sports Complex.
The Mustangs earned their third NJCAA Championship on Saturday. After the team's first three trips to the national final resulted in runner-up finishes, including two previous matchups against Tyler, the Mustangs have now hoisted the trophy in each of their last three appearances in the title game, and have run the gauntlet in each of their last three trips to the NJCAA Championship tournament.
The Mustangs journey through the tournament in Wichita was unconventional, to say the least, as the Mustangs finish with a 1-0-3 record at the national tournament, needing penalty kicks to advance on three occasions, the most important, and most dramatic, coming Saturday evening.
After the 2-2 stalemate after 110 minutes, the Mustangs got to kick off the shootout, sending
Rodrigo Bacci Pereira Meira Arruda into the box first after scoring first in Monroe's first two shootouts this week. He made it 3-for-3 on a low-right shot to give the Mustangs a quick lead. Goalkeeper
Alvaro Ramos then continued his incredible performances in shootouts by stopping Ato Smith Jr.'s attempt to his left.
Gun Ha Lee then came up looking to redeem a miss from Thursday against Salt Lake Community College. He did just that with a goal to the bottom-left of the net for a 2-0 lead. Ramos then kept that lead, making another huge stop on Jake Shaked's shot high and to Ramos' right.
Stev Kevin Thallinger took his turn next, and made it a perfect 3-for-3 week on PKs to give Monroe a 3-0 lead that made it seem like the Mustangs' victory was just one shot away, but the shootout hit a turning point when Hagan Cupido kept the Apaches alive by scoring to make it 3-1.
Hayato Otaka was up next for Monroe, but his hesitation shot drifted wide right. Diomario Adamson then brought the Apaches within one with a goal to keep the shootout going.
Alejandro Silvestrini stepped up with another chance to win it for Monroe, but Tyler keeper Alfred Mikkelsen made a clutch save to give his team a chance. Mydas Small then made a good move to score high and right, tying the shootout at 3-3 and forcing an extra round.
In the sixth round of the shootout,
Henrique Lobato entered the box for the Mustangs, and did not hesitate to score to the top-left corner of the net, forcing the Apaches to score to stay alive. Itsuki Matsuyama came up for Tyler, but for the third time, Ramos dove right for the save, and was then buried under the dog pile by his teammates in celebration of their second straight national championship.
The Mustangs collected a number of tournament awards for their efforts over the past seven days. With his incredible game-tying bicycle-kick goal on Saturday, Thiago Jose Da Silva was named the 2023 NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship Most Valuable Player. Head Coach Marcus DiBernardo was selected as the Coach of the Tournament. Da Silva and Ramos were both named to the 2023 NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship All-Tournament Team.
TOURNAMENT AWARDS
Tyler struck first in Saturday's championship game. A foul on the Mustangs deep in their own side of the field put the Apaches in position to score. A free kick from the near sideline got over the defensive wall, finding the head of Iman Ouegraogo right in front of the net where nobody else was standing, putting it across the line to give the Apaches a 1-0 advantage in the 24th minute.
That lead just over 10 minutes for Tyler. The Mustangs were in the offensive third when they stole the ball away from Tyler.
Shotaro Kino then sent the ball to the middle of the field for
Hayato Otaka, who fired a rocket from 30 yards out directly into the back of the net past a diving Tyler goalkeeper, tying the game at 1-1 in the 35th minute. The game later went to the half with that same 1-1 score.
After a nerve-wracking back-and-forth throughout the second half, Tyler broke through in the 74th minute to take the lead. Another foul deep in Monroe territory set up the Apaches with a free kick from the right wing. Denzel Akyirem sent it just in front of the net, finding Cupido for the deflection into the net, giving the Apaches a 2-1 lead.
It was not until the 85th minute that an aggressive Mustang squad came up clutch to tie the game.
Alejandro Silvestrini took a free kick just a little past the midfield line and sent it toward the top of the box.
Tal Torgeman got to it first, but his header went away from the goal.
Taisei Iida kept it in the air off his head, sending it right back to Torgeman, who sent it up into the box where Thiago Jose da Silva was camped under it, turned his back to the net, and fired a bicycle kick back over his head and inside the left post for the tying goal, making it a 2-2 game with just over five minutes to play in regulation. Da Silva's goal eventually sent the game to overtime, Monroe's third trip to the extra periods this week.
The first overtime period saw just one shot on goal. Tyler's Shaked hit a soft header toward Ramos, but he made the easy save on the only scoring opportunity of the frame, sending the game to another overtime. The second overtime once again saw Tyler get a chance on Ramos, but Smith's attempt was stopped in front of the net. Monroe had a chance late as well when the brought the ball down to the goal line on the right wing, but a cross in front of the net was narrowly tipped away from Bacci Pereira Meira Arruda inches from the goal. The Mustangs took a corner kick right after that with less than a minute to play, but they were unable to put another shot on goal, forcing the game into penalty kicks.
As the No. 4 seed, the Mustangs became the lowest seed to win the Div. I Men's Soccer Title since Tyler did so as No. 4 in 2017, which was also Tyler's second straight championship at that time. The Mustangs last title was not as dramatic as Saturday's contest, seeing Monroe defeat Arizona Western College, 2-0, in 2022. Back in 2019, the Mustangs earned a 2-1 victory after Tobias Pellio scored on a penalty kick with just five minutes to play against Eastern Florida State College.
Ramos finishes the tournament with a 1-0-3 record, which does not diminish his efforts throughout the week. He made four more saves on Saturday to help the Mustangs get to overtime and the penalty-kick shootout. Ramos made three saves in the PK round on Saturday, and made a total of six stops himself across three penalty-kick shootouts. To put that into perspective, the Mustangs only had one shot saved by the opposing goalkeeper in 15 shootout rounds.
The Mustangs cap off another historic season with a 12-2-4 overall record. Despite a late-season slump, the Mustangs rallied as a group to continuously find ways to win in both the East District Championship and then in the NJCAA National Championship. Monroe became the first team since 2016-17 (Tyler) to win back-to-back NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer titles, and the 11th to ever win two years in a row going back to 1961. The Mustangs can make history in 2024, as no team has ever won the NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship in three consecutive seasons.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 28 teams competing across nine sports. There are 20 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well the Monroe College marching band, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has seven teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
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