MIDDLESEX COLLEGE MEN'S AND WOMEN'S SOCCER SET TO BEGIN POSTSEASON PLAY
The Middlesex College Men's and Women's Soccer programs have enjoyed tremendous seasons and have now learned their paths for a potential trip to the NJCAA National Championships which will be held at Genesee Community College in Batavia, New York in November.
The men's and women's teams both received #4 seeds in the NJCAA Region 19 Tournament and will begin postseason play on Tuesday, October 29.
The women will take on #5 Bergen CC, who they beat 7-0 earlier this season. Kickoff is set for 1:00PM at Crabiel Park.
The men are slated to battle against #5 RCSJ-Gloucester, who they beat 2-1 in an early season contest. The matchup is set to start at 7:00PM at JFK High School in Iselin.
If the women win, they will advance to the Region 19 East A District Final against top-seeded RCSJ-Gloucester. The winner of that game would advance to the National Tournament.
Should the men win, they would advance to play Camden in the Region 19 East A District Final. Camden is currently undefeated and ranked #5 in the nation.
The accomplishments of the Middlesex College Men's and Women's Soccer teams are fantastic, especially considering that the teams have been relocated while their typical home field has been closed the past two seasons for renovation. The teams have had to play games at multiple home venues, travel for road games more than they usually would and have had to practice at different sites around Middlesex County. This is the first time both the Men's and Women's Soccer programs have had winning records in the same season in over a decade, despite all of those obstacles.
Led by Head Coach Adrienne Giordano, the Women's Soccer team finished the regular season with a record of 7-5-1 with six of their wins coming via shutout. The Colts enjoyed a four-game winning streak in September and finished out the season on a 2-1-1 stretch.
The Colts were led by Isabelle Marin (Sophomore/South Plainfield, NJ) and Genesis Garces-Gomez (Sophomore/North Plainfield, NJ), one of the highest scoring tandems in the country among NJCAA Division III teams. Marin and Garces-Gomez each scored 15 goals this year, a mark reached by just 10 other players in the country. RCSJ-Gloucester and Holyoke CC were the only other schools in the country to have two 15-goal scorers this season.
Marin finished sixth in the country with 41 points (15 goals, 11 assists) while Garces-Gomez finished eighth overall with 37 points (15 goals, 5 assists). Paula Antunes (Freshman/Metuchen, NJ) finished third on the team with six goals despite also spending time in goal as well. As a team, Middlesex was fourth in the nation with 57 goals scored and their six shutouts ranked eighth in the country.
Their strong defense was led by Julianna Daniels (Sophomore/Sayreville, NJ), Adrianna Martucci (Freshman/Sayreville, NJ) and Kayla Maisano (Sophomore/Helmetta, NJ).
Led by Head Coach Javier Velasco, the Men's Soccer team had their best overall record in years, finishing 8-3-3. Their overall record was good for a third-place finish in the 17-team Region 19 field. The Colts were boosted by an efficient offense that finished 15th among 69 NJCAA Division III schools with a .704 shot percentage. They were 26th in the nation in goals scored with 38.
The Men's team fared well against the best of Region 19. They gave regular season champion Camden one of their closest games of the year, tied Sussex and Raritan Valley, who garnered the #2 and #3 seeds in the tournament and beat #5 RCSJ-Gloucester 2-1.
The Colts had a balanced offensive attack with Ahmed Oshash (Sophomore/Dunellen, NJ) leading the way with nine goals. Andres Rojas (Freshman/Elizabeth, NJ) was second on the team with seven goals while David Galvez (Freshman/South Plainfield, NJ) added six of his own. Rojas led the team with five assists while Oshash paced Middlesex with 21 points.
The leader of the team has been David Pereira (Sophomore/Woodbridge, NJ), who returned to the Colts after missing the 2023 season. A 2022 All-Region performer, Pereira was a much-needed stabilizing force on defense as the Colts used three different goalies this season.
Kenneth Garcia (Sophomore/Perth Amboy, NJ), Joseph Tucker (Freshman/Franklin, NJ), Mateo Rodriguez (Sophomore/North Plainfield, NJ) and Oti Jara (Sophomore/North Plainfield, NJ) were also key players for the Colts this season.