The #4 seeded Mohawk Valley Community College Men's Soccer team took on #1 seeded Cayuga Community College in the NJCAA Region III/District North A Championship game. The Spartans got on the board first when Cayuga won the ball in the Hawks defensive half. Jake Botteril received the ball in the box and laid it off the Charlie Piper who tucked the ball into the lower corner to put the Spartans up 1-0. The Spartans would take the lead into halftime after 45 minutes of play. Just 2 minutes into the second half, the Hawks would take a corner kick that bounced out to Lucas Lacerda on top of the penalty box. Lacerda fired home the attempt to tie the game 1-1. In the 77th minute, Dani Rojas Cubillas would make a run into the midfield and play Santiago Molina in-behind the Spartan defense. Cayuga goalkeeper Major Evans would come out to play the ball but Molina poked the ball past Evans to put the Hawks up 2-1. The Hawks and goalkeeper Jaime Mata would close out the rest of the half to win the NJCAA Region III Championship.
"I'm proud of our effort and grit tonight" stated Head Coach Dominic DiMaggio. "I don't think we made it easy on ourselves, but we were still able to overcome that. We found ourselves in multiple good areas throughout the game but weren't able to convert on goal. The guys are starting to find a rhythm at the most important time of the year. We've been relying on 6 or 7 freshmen to start each game, and we figured it would take some time to get guys on the same page."
MVCC Captain, Tony Gjomemo was named MVP of the tournament while Santiago Molina, Souayibou Diop, and Gjomemo were all named to the All-Tournament team.
The Hawks advance to the NJCAA DIII National Championships which consists of the final 8 teams in the country battling it out to be crowned National Champions. Finger Lakes punched their ticket into the Championships after defeating Herkimer College 4-3 earlier in the day. The Hawks and Lakers are the only two teams that solidified their spot in Nationals, held at Genesee Community College November 12-17. The remainder of the field will be determined next weekend with the NJCAA selection show taking place at some point next week.
The Hawks move to 11-2-3 on the season while the Spartans drop to 15-1 on the season. This is the second consecutive year the Hawks were crowned NJCAA Region III Regional Champions. Both are the only Regional Championships in program history. The Hawks have now advanced to National Championships in 3 out of the last 5 years, previously in Spring 2021 finishing 3rd in the country and in Fall 2023 finishing as National Runner-Up. Both defeats came to eventual National Champion and now 6 time defending champion, Dallas Richland College.