TYLER, Texas, November 24, 2019 – It was a long time coming for head coach
Marcus DiBernardo and the Monroe College Mustangs men's soccer team. Playing in the NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship finals for the fourth time since 2011, the top-seeded Mustangs got over the hump Saturday evening at the Pat Hartley Complex, defeating No. 4 Eastern Florida State College, 2-1, to capture the program's first-ever NJCAA Championship. A dream season for the Mustangs ends in perfection, as the Mustangs cap off 2019 with an undefeated record of 18-0.
Under DiBernardo's tutelage, the Mustangs appeared in the NJCAA Championship finals in 2011, 2014 and 2016, but ultimately fell in the championship game to Cloud County Community College, Tyler Junior College and then Tyler again, respectively. With Saturday's title victory, the Mustangs finish a season undefeated for the first time ever.
The Mustangs got off to an incredibly quick start in Saturday's matchup. In the fifth minute of the game, Monroe began to move the ball up the field starting with goalkeeper
Oliver Semmle clearing it out of the goalie box. Some tic-tac-toe in the defensive zone got the ball to
Roque Viegas, who was able to sprint the ball deep into the other end of the field. After drawing three defenders in his direction, Viegas crossed it over the
Cameron Joice heading into the left side of the box, where he was able to fire it to the right of the net just inside the post to put the Mustangs on top, 1-0, at the 4:31 mark.
The Titans had a number of opportunities to score between the 15th and 17th minutes of the game. Levonte Johnson had a shot blocked, then Aedon Kyra put one off the crossbar. Shortly after, Schimiliguen Castin had his shot blocked, and Kyra tried one more, but it was saved by Semmle to keep the Titans off the board.
A big moment in the game came in the 38th minute when Eastern Florida State's Castin picked up a red card. This forced the Titans to play a man down the rest of the way. Despite a couple more opportunities to score on either end, the game went to halftime with the Mustangs still up, 1-0.
The Mustangs had a number of chances to break it open just after the 64th minute.
Daniel Haegler tried a pair of shots, but both were saved by Eastern Florida State's Nour Moaoui.
Luca Erhardt got a shot off after a corner kick in the 67th minute, but his strike was also saved.
In the 73rd minute, Erhardt once again had a shot saved. After a Mustangs throw-in ended up with the Titans, a long pass found Levonte Johnson sprinting with a ton of speed through Monroe's defense. When he got to the box, he chipped it just to the right of Semmle, putting it out of reach by inches and getting it to trickle into the net to tie the game at 1-1 at 73:36.
The turning point of the game came with five minutes left on the clock. Viegas had the ball and was tied up with a defender while working his way into the box. He was taken down, by Joseph MacPherson, who received his second yellow card of the game, resulting in a red card that disqualified him. After some dispute, it was ruled that Viegas was brought down inside the box, awarding the Mustangs with a crucial penalty kick.
Tobias Pellio, who scored twice in Monroe's 3-0 semifinal victory over No. 11 Illinois Central College, was chosen to take the penalty kick for the Mustangs. Pellio blasted it to the left, and the goalie guessed the opposite, seeing the ball slam into the back of the net to put the Mustangs ahead, 2-1, with time running thin.
The Mustang defense knew it had to take care of business in the final few minutes to help Monroe hang on to its one-goal advantage. The Titans drew a corner kick in the final 20 seconds of the game. Abdoulaye Diop sent a high cross to the middle of the box and managed to find the head of Kyra. Kyra redirected it forward, but his shot was sent wide right of the net, allowing time to expire and igniting the celebration for the newly crowned National Champion Monroe Mustangs.
Not one to give up many goals, Semmle allowed one score in Saturday's game, just the second goal he allowed all season, but he made five big saves to help secure the win. Semmle finishes the year with an unblemished 9-0 record in net.
For his performance throughout the week, and most importantly his three goals across the semifinals and finals of the tournament,
Tobias Pellio was named the 2019 NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship Player of the Tournament. And after capturing the program's first championship, head coach
Marcus DiBernardo was named 2019 NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship Coach of the Tournament. Goalkeeper
Oliver Semmle and
Daniel Haegler were both picked to the All-Tournament Team.
The Mustangs accomplished everything they possibly could in 2019, winning the Region XV, East District, and ultimately, the NJCAA Championships. The Mustangs won all 18 of their 2019 contests, and ranked No. 1 in the nation from the first week of the rankings until the final 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).
