Men's Soccer Wins Region Title: Heading Back to Nationals.

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, the Sussex Men's Soccer team took on Ocean County College in the Region Championship game held at Ocean. Within the first 15 minutes of the game, Adrian Sanchez of Sussex would draw a penatly, giving Sussex a very early opportunity. Coach Vernacchio said, "our game plan was to get in behind them early and as often as possible. Adrian did an excellent job of giving us an early opportunity to get on the front foot." Ulisses Rodrigues would take the penalty kick and cash in. With a 1-0 lead early on in the game, Sussex could not take the foot off the gas. Vernacchio said, "Sal is a great coach. He always gets his team fired up ready to play and he constantly keeps me on my toes as a coach. I knew a 1-0 game would be tough to keep so, for us, we had to keep the pressure on them moving forward." The pressure surely kept coming from the Skylanders as Alessandro Filetti would add to the Skylanders lead. 2-0, with a minute left in the first half, Ocean almost got within 1. Vernacchio said, "Bailey had to come up with a huge save to end the half which totally would have changed the momentum of the game. We were fortunate to go into the half up 2-0." As the second half started, Ocean put the pressure on the Skylanders. As the half went on, Sussex would get the goal they were looking for to seal the game. Keiran Oulettee would captalize on an opportunity, putting the Skylanders up 3-0 with 15 minutes left in the game. As the whistle blew, Coach Vernacchio said "It didn't quite hit me right away to be honest. A couple minutes before our game was over, I was aware my women's team won and I was just enjoying the rest of our game. So many people don't realize how hard it is to get to this point of the season, let alone win two titles at the same time on the same day. It takes a unique group of players, coaches, staff and community to keep something special going. I am proud of our teams, proud of our coaches and happy for our community." 

Sussex Men will advance to the National Tournment starting November 14. Who they will play has yet to be determined.