TYLER, Texas, November 22, 2019 – A pair of goals by
Tobias Pellio and the usual shutdown defense have the No. 1-seed Monroe College Mustangs men's soccer team heading to the NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship finals for the first time since 2016. The Mustangs defeated No. 11 Illinois Central College, 3-0, Friday afternoon at the Pat Hartley Complex in the NJCAA Championship semifinals to advance to Saturday evening's championship game.
Pellio netted Monroe's first and third goals in the three-goal victory on Friday. Pellio stepped up in a big spot for the Mustangs, as he had scored just two goals in the previous 16 games for the Mustangs.
The Mustangs continued to dominate defensively in Friday's win, as they picked up their third straight shutout in the national tournament. Monroe is now outscoring its opponents at the NJCAA Championships, 11-0, through three contests. 2018 All-American goalkeeper
Victor Camps made five saves to preserve the shutout for the Mustangs and improve his record to an unblemished 9-0 on the season.
Pellio was set up perfectly just inside the box in the 12th minute. Despite a defender and the goalie standing in his way, he went to the short side of the net and punched it in to give the Mustangs the early 1-0 edge.
In the 42nd minute, the Mustangs had a free kick from about 40 yards out that went to the far right wing.
Tatsushi Hirata was there to gather the pass, and he quickly sent it right in front of the net to
Markus Maurer who had nothing but net in front of him, tapping it in to double Monroe's lead to 2-0. The Mustangs took that two-goal lead into the halftime break.
Very early in the second half,
Shawn Manley West had the ball deep in the offensive zone and came sprinting into the box from the right wing. He quickly crossed it over to Pellio, who redirected it to the top-left corner of the net to reach what proved to be the final score of 3-0.
The Mustangs outshot the Cougars, 18-10, in Friday's victory. They also held a 5-3 edge in corner kicks.
The Mustangs now await their championship opponent, as No. 4 Eastern Florida State College and No. 6 Laramie County Community College face off in Friday's second semifinal matchup. Saturday's national championship game is set to kick off at 7 p.m. EST at the Pat Hartley Complex on the campus of Tyler Junior College.
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).
