NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y., May 23, 2021 – It has been 923 days since the last time the Monroe College Mustangs men's soccer team lost a game, but that run came to an end Sunday evening, as the fourth-ranked Mustangs suffered an upset against No. 20 Harcum College, falling to the Bears by a score of 2-1 at Joseph F. Fosina Field. Harcum claims the East District Championship with the win and improves to 11-0 on the season, while the Mustangs drop to 3-1 overall.
 
Harcum's win gives the Bears the East District's automatic bid into the 2020-21 NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship Tournament. The defending national champion Mustangs, who last lost in the semifinals of the 2018 NJCAA Championship Tournament to top-seeded Pima Community College on Nov. 16, 2018, must now wait and see if an at-large bid is in their future to get their chance to defend their 2019 title in Wichita, Kan.
 
A big difference-maker in the opening half was a red card given to Monroe's Harry Pinchard, forcing the Mustangs to play a man down against the Bears starting just 8:03 into the first half.
 
After a defensive 30 minutes, it was Harcum that struck first in Sunday's championship game. After some back-and-forth in the Mustangs' box, Ryan Kingsford shipped one up into the air that landed behind the defense, setting up Dennis Chung for an easy tip-in to give the Bears a 1-0 lead in the 31st minute. They nearly scored again, as Kingsford scored in the 35th minute, but it was waved off after a discussion between the officials, eventually sending the game to halftime with the Bears up, 1-0.
 
After the Mustangs played most of the first half at a one-man disadvantage, a red card given to Harcum's Daniel Robelledo in the 43rd minute evened out the field for the final minutes of the first half and for the rest of the game.
 
The Mustangs' drought finally ended in the 67th minute. Liam Murray sent in a corner kick from the left wing, finding Ivan Silic right in front of the net for a header past the keeper, tying the game at 1-1 midway through the second half.
 
With time starting to run low, Harcum jumped back into the lead. Chung sent a cross from the left corner of the box to the middle, where Beau Landau was able to send it into the right side of the net to put the Bears up, 2-1, in the 82nd minute, with what proved to be the game-winning score.
 
Cheik Diouf made seven saves and allowed just one goal to pick up the win in net for the Bears and improve to 7-0 on the year. Mathew Nikolovski took his first loss of the season, allowing two goals with two saves to fall to 2-1.
 
The Mustangs outshot the Bears, 13-9, and put eight shots on goal while allowing just four of them. The Bears took the edge in corner kicks, 5-4. The game featured numerous cautions, with the Mustangs having each of a red and a yellow card, while the Bears had five yellows and two reds.
 
The fate of the Mustangs now rests in the hands of the NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer committee, as they will need an at-large bid to get to this year's national tournament in Wichita. The final set of District Championships will wrap up on Tuesday, May 25, so Monroe's fate should be known in the back half of this coming week during the NJCAA Selection Show. Check back on MonroeCollegeMustangs.com and all our social media later this week for updates.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 36 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, the Monroe College marching band, and the newly added esports program, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has 17 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 Mustangs Athletics), Twitter (@Monroe_Mustangs) and Instagram (@monroemustangs).