NEWARK, N.J., November 10, 2019 – The No. 1 team in the NJCAA is heading to the 2019 NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championships, as the Monroe College Mustangs men's soccer team defeated No. 10 Essex County College Sunday afternoon in the East District Championship game, 3-1, to claim the district title. The Mustangs reach the national tournament for the fourth season in a row, looking to improve upon last year's semifinal finish.
 
Sunday's championship game saw a surprisingly defensive first half. The Mustangs took the early advantage when Tobias Pellio set up Mitch Dobson for a score at 10:13 to put the Mustangs on top, 1-0. Mustang goalkeeper Oliver Semmle made three big saves in the next 30 minutes, and the Mustangs put a couple more shots on net as well, but neither team was able to hit the back of the net the rest of the half.
 
The Mustangs broke through early in the second half. The nation's leading scorer, Luca Erhardt, fired one past the keeper off Pellio's second assist of the day, putting Monroe on top, 2-0. The Wolverines managed to cut the deficit in half in the 75th minute when Miguel Fonseca got on the board to make it a 2-1 game. Erhardt made it a two-goal game once again late in the contest, scoring off an assist from Leon Sitz at the 86:10 mark to put Monroe up, 3-1, helping them hang on for the championship victory.
 
Semmle allowed a goal for the first time this season in the game, but made a season-high nine saves to pick up his seventh win of the year. Mans Ingvarson only played 1:03 for Essex because starting goalie Matteo Geraci picked up a yellow card, but he allowed the first goal of the day to shoulder the loss.
 
The Mustangs outshot the Wolverines by a narrow 18-15 margin in the game, but Essex put 10 shots on net, while only nine Mustang shots were on goal. The Mustangs had eight corner kicks in the win, while the Wolverines had just three.
 
The 14-0 Mustangs are now heading to Tyler, Texas, for the 2019 NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship, which will be hosted by Tyler Junior College. The Mustangs will undoubtedly enter as the No. 1 seed after holding that ranking since the first week of the season. The pools for the pool-play round of the national tournament, as well as the schedules, will be announced during the upcoming week.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 31 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 12 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 (Monroe College Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).