MCCC Men's Soccer Wins First National Tournament Game in Thrilling Fashion
Mercer men’s soccer opened their 37th NJCAA National Tournament appearance with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win vs Phoenix College. MCCC, the #9 seed upset #4 seed Phoenix College (17-4-1) 3-2 in overtime. Freshman Adrian Garcia Franco (Madrid, Spain/Zola School) scored the golden goal in the opening minute (91:11) of overtime to give the Vikings the come from behind win.
MCCC was down 0-1 at halftime and scored three unanswered goals for the win. The Vikings first goal of the game came from sophomore Joao Lourenco (Belo Horizonte, Brazil/Cesec Murilo Mendes) in the second half (62:10) off an assist from sophomore Alou Gamby (Lansdale, PA/North Penn).
Sophomore Diego Orquiz (Chihuahua, Mexico/Valle de Mexico) tied the game 2-2 (84:30) with six minutes left in regulation on a header off an assist from freshman Daniel Garcia Franco (Madrid, Spain/Zola School).
Daniel’s brother Adrian gave the Vikings the win one minute and eleven seconds into overtime with the game-winning goal off an assist from freshman Deniz Karcher (Heidenheim, Germany/Max Planck Gymnasium).
The Vikings take on #5 seed Northeast CC (18-1-2) at 6:30 PM (EST) in their second game of pool play. The Division II National Tournament features twelve teams, eight District Champions and four at-large selections. Each team was seeded in a pool of three teams with a total of four pools. The winner of each pool advances to the Final Four, with the winners of the Final Four meeting in the National title game.
Anything can happen in 90 minutes or as the Vikings showed last night, in 91 minutes and eleven seconds.
For the latest on MCCC men’s soccer, visit: https://www.mccc.edu/athletics_men_soccer.shtml
Mercer got a 3-2 overtime win over Phoenix College
Joao Lourenco scored the Vikings' first goal
Diego Orquiz's goal tied the game 2-2
Adrian Franco had the "golden goal" in overtime to give MCCC the win