WICHITA, Kan., November 7, 2023 – The defending NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Champion Monroe College Mustangs are back to defend their title in 2023. The Mustangs earned the No. 4 seed in the 2023 NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship, coming in as the top seed for Pool D, as announced in the
NJCAA DI Men's Soccer Bracket Reveal on the NJCAA Network.
The Mustangs will be the top team in Pool D of the pool-play round of the tournament, joined by No. 5 Angelina College and No. 19 Cowley College. Pool D will play the fourth and final game of each day for the first three days of the tournament, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET (5:30 CT) As the pool's top seed, the Mustangs will play on Sunday, rest on Monday, and then finish up pool play on Tuesday. Monroe opens up against No. 9 Cowley on Sunday, Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m. ET
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE for Pool D (All Times Eastern)
Sunday, Nov. 12
No. 4 Monroe vs. No. 9 Cowley – 5:30 PM
Monday, Nov. 13
No. 5 Angelina vs. No. 9 Cowley – 5:30 PM
Tuesday, Nov. 14
No. 4 Monroe vs. No. 5 Angelina – 5:30 PM
Thursday, Nov. 16
Semifinal (Highest remaining seed vs. lowest remaining seed) – 4:00 PM
Semifinal (2nd highest vs. 2nd lowest) – 6:30 PM
Saturday, Nov. 18
Championship Game – 5:00 PM
TOURNAMENT COVERAGE
All games in the Pool Play round of the 2023 NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship will be broadcast on the
NJCAA Network.
The semifinal and championship rounds of the tournament will be broadcast on
ESPN+.
All games will have live stats as well. Follow live on the
Monroe Mustangs live stats page.
HISTORY
The Mustangs are coming off their second NJCAA Div. I Men's Soccer Championship, winning in 2022 and just three years prior in 2019. The Mustangs won the title in 2019 after coming in as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. Monroe made its run last year as the No. 3 seed, doing so as an at-large qualifier in the tournament. The magical 2019 season saw the Mustangs finish a perfect 18-0-0, just one of six times the NJCAA Champion has ever finished the season without a loss or tie. Last year's team took its first loss of the season in the District Championship game, but ran the gauntlet in Melbourne, Fla. to claim the title and finish with a 14-1-3 overall record.
The Mustangs are quite familiar with their pool-play opponents this year. The Mustangs' first game of the 2022 tournament ended up as a scoreless draw with Angelina, with the Mustangs advancing on a 4-2 win in penalty kicks. Angelina earned the No. 5 seed with a 13-0-2 record and by claiming the Gulf South District Championship.
Monroe and Cowley faced off in last year's tournament as well, as both advanced to, and matched up in the tournament's semifinal round. Cowley scored in the second minute of the game, but the Mustangs tallied two goals later in the first half, eventually hanging on to win, 2-1, and advance to the championship. Cowley is 15-4 overall and won the Plains District Title.
The tournament's top seed this year is Arizona Western College. The Matadors enter the tournament at 15-0-3 overall after winning the West District Arizona Western made a run to the NJCAA Championship final last year as the No. 7 seed, falling to the Mustangs, 2-0, in the title game.
THE REST OF THE FIELD
Pool A:
No. 1 Arizona Western College
No. 8 LSU Eunice
No. 12 Casper College
Pool B:
No. 2 Eastern Florida State
No. 7 Tyler Junior College
No. 11 Murray State College
Pool C:
No. 3 Salt Lake Community College
No. 6 Barton Community College
No. 10 Indian Hills Community College
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 28 teams competing across nine sports. There are 20 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well the Monroe College marching band, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus, has seven 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).
