NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – Last year's run to the National Championship game is now in the rear-view for the No. 2-nationally-ranked Monroe College men's soccer team, as the Mustangs begin a new chapter under the tutelage of 10th-year head coach
Marcus DiBernardo in 2017. Though they are coming off a 19-1 season from a year ago, the Mustangs have the high expectations one would expect of a team that finished as the national runner-up, but plan on reaching that goal in their own way.
"If you look at last year compared to this year, what I try to do is not look at that," said DiBernardo. "Last year's team is its own separate entity with its own separate personalities and abilities."
DiBernardo revealed that some of this year's student-athletes have come up to him asking if he thinks they are as good as last year's historic squad, but he quickly shoots down the question, explaining that they are simply different. The Mustangs return a number of players from last year's varsity roster, as well as a bunch of athletes from the junior varsity team who have kicked it into high gear for their sophomore campaigns.
Included in the group is
Gabriel Machado, who earned himself a spot on the 2016 National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) Junior College Division I All-American Team. The Brazil native tallied 34 points in 20 games, including an impressive eight-point performance in the opening round of the National Championship Tournament, a 9-2 victory over College of Southern Nevada. Joining him are 2016 NJCAA All-American Osman Fofonah, and goalkeeper
Svyat Kozak, who was selected to the 2016 NSCAA All-Region Team. Each of them put together impressive seasons, resulting in just 12 goals allowed throughout the year.
Returners like
Pablo Pertusa,
Felipe Mendes and
Antonio Sanchez are joined by JV call-ups such as
Lovensky Pierre,
Ricard Saintil and
Valmend Marki, all of whom are expected to use last year's experiences to leave their mark on the program in 2017. Pair them with a large number of newcomers expected to take on significant roles, and the Mustangs are once again set up to succeed in the new season.
"We have a lot of the strengths of last year, and some guys who came up from the reserve team who've improved so much, and we have some new internationals in," explain DiBernardo. "It's looking very very good so far."
Coach DiBernardo knows how good this team can be in 2017, but understands that there is only so much the team can control on a day-to-day basis. The Mustangs cannot control the outcome of their games or their season, but they can do everything they can to prepare for the results they desire.
"We don't really focus on the result. The result is out of our control. The only thing we can focus on is 'what are we doing today to get better?'" said DiBernardo. "As we do that, and we go into the game, we play as hard as we can, we focus in on that moment, and when the whistle blows at the end of the game, if we won, we won."
The Mustangs enter the new season as a new team and take on a number of difficult opponents to prepare for another run at championship glory. While they plan to take things one game at a time, the goal always remains the same.
"It's a different group, the expectations are the same. We have high expectations," said DiBernardo. "We want to win trophies. That's what we want to win. We want to win the National Championship. But, wanting to win it, starts one day at a time, one moment at a time."
The Mustangs kick off the 2017 regular season on Saturday, Aug. 26, when they compete with a pair of challenging opponents in the Community College of Baltimore County (CCBC) Essex Tournament in Baltimore, Md. They will take on Harcum College at 2 p.m. on Saturday in their opening contest, followed by a matchup with Louisburg College on Sunday, Aug. 27, at 12 p.m. Monroe then returns home for a three-game home stand, beginning on Saturday, Sept. 2, against Community College of Rhode Island at City Park at 7 p.m.
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 26 teams competing across nine sports. There are 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's rugby, and the newly added club women's rugby team, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, will have six teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level beginning in the fall of 2017.
For more information about the Monroe Mustangs, please visit us at
www.MonroeCollegeMustangs.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (
Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (
@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (
@monroemustangs).
