MCCC Men's Soccer National Championship Preview
Following a 4-1 win vs Schoolcraft College in the Northeast District Championship on November 8th, Mercer men’s soccer has advanced to the NJCAA Division II National Championship being held in Huntsville, Alabama November 17th-23rd.
The NJCAA Division II National Championship will feature twelve teams including eight District Champions and four at-large selections. There will be four pools of three teams with the winner of each pool advancing to the Final Four and the winners of the Final Four meeting in the National Championship game.
Mercer is the #9 seed in Pool D along with #4 seed Phoenix College from Arizona and #5 seed Northeast Community College from Nebraska.
The Vikings head into the National Tournament with a 17-2-1 record and a thirteen game winning streak. MCCC was ranked 16th in the final DII Top 20 Poll released on October 28th. The Vikings last loss was a 2-1 loss at #9 ranked CCBC Essex on September 7th.
Mercer is strong on both sides of the ball. The Vikings have the second most shutouts in Division II men’s soccer this season with ten in twenty games. MCCC is eighth in the nation in points with 223, sixth in goals scored with 80 and 10th in assists with 63.
Mercer has a very deep and balanced team. On the offensive side, freshman Adrian Garcia Franco leads the Vikings with ten goals, followed by his brother Daniel Garcia Franco with nine goals. Freshman Deniz Karcher has eight goals, sophomores Joao Delgado and Lesedi Hlabeli each have seven goals and freshman Frederico Spinola has six goals.
Sophomore Francesco Quintavalla leads the team with ten assists and sophomore Manuel Alonso has nine assists. Hlabeli, Adrian Garcia Franco and freshman Deniz Karcher, who was the Region 19 Tournament MVP, each have five assists.
Freshman back Nassim Carpio earned All-Region 19 honors and anchors a strong Vikings’ defense. Sophomore backs Diego Orquiz and Joao Lourenco and freshmen backs Nicolas Carmago, Henrique Fronza and Takumi Hirose create a strong defense that has only allowed twelve goals all season, twelfth best in the nation in Goals Against.
Another key to the defense has been freshman goalkeeper Ignacio Pacheco, who has 25 saves in fifteen games and a 0.95 goals against average, also twelfth best in the nation.
In addition to Carpio, Hlabeli and Delgado earned All-Region 19 honors with Delgado named the Men’s Soccer DI/II Region 19 Player of the Year.
The depth and versatility of the Vikings was showcased in their 4-1 District Championship win over Schoolcraft. Sophomore back Diego Orquiz, scored two goals, Adrian Garcia Franco added a goal and sophomore Bastian Strunck scored the final Viking goal within a minute of entering the game to seal the win for Mercer.
In Mercer’s Region Tournament wins, Karcher had four goals in two games, including the Vikings’ lone goal in a 1-0 win vs Essex. And two of the Vikings top scorers, Delgado and Adrian Garcia Franco have been limited toward the end of the season due to injuries, leaving MCCC with a plethora of options offensively.
Northeast CC is 17-1-1 and was the top team in the final regular season Division II Top 20 National Poll. Phoenix College is 17-1-1 and was ranked 3rd in the final regular season Division II Top 20 National Poll.
Both Phoenix and Northeast ended up as at large bids to the National Championship after losses in their District or Region Championships. Phoenix lost to Pima CC 1-0 in overtime in the West District Championship. Northeast CC lost to Iowa Lakes CC on penalty kicks in a 2-2 game in the Region 11 Championship.
Northeast CC is first in the nation in points with 331 points, first in the nation in goals with 109 in 21 games and first in assists with 113. Northeast CC is eighth in the nation in shutouts with nine.
Northeast CC is led by forward Edouard Nys, who leads the nation in goals (29) and assists (25). Forward Lewis Rourke in twelfth in the nation in goals scored with 17. Ludovico Vinci is second in the nation in assists with 28, behind teammate Nys and midfielder Aleksander Pederson is ninth in the nation in assists with twelve on the season.
Phoenix College is second in the nation in goals scored with 94 in 20 games and third in the nation in assists with 81. In addition to their offensive power, Phoenix is second in the nation (tied with Mercer) in shutouts with ten in 20 games. Phoenix College forward Vince Acosta has the third most goals in the nation with 25 goals in 25 games. Forward Michael Watkins has 17 goals, 12th most in the nation.
The Vikings will open National Tournament play with a 6:30 PM (EST) game vs Phoenix College on Sunday, November 17th, then face Northeast CC on Monday, November 18th at 7:30 PM (EST).
For the latest on MCCC men’s soccer, visit: https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_men_soccer.shtml
MCCC Men's Soccer were Northest District Champions
MCCC men's soccer won the Region 19 Championship