Men's Soccer | 11/1/2019 4:52:00 PM
Garden City, N.Y. | After several heartbreaking losses in the Region XV semifinals, the Panthers finally have gotten over the hump and punched their ticket to their first Region XV championship since 2012. Defending Regional champ and National title finalist, Nassau Community College, stands in their way Saturday evening, at 7:30 p.m. in Garden City, N.Y. The Panthers and Lions meet for the third time in the postseason and the first time in the Regional finals. The only other time these two programs matched up during the postseason was in the 2012 semifinals and an early-round matchup back in 2011.
The Unbeatable Amehon
Apelete Amehon (Kara, Togo (West Africa), recently named DIII NJCAA Soccer Goalkeeper of the Week, has been dominant during the 2019 Region XV Tournament, stopping all 12 shots and posting clean sheets in both of the Panthers two regional victories. Amehon also recorded his second double-digit save performance of the season, with eight of his ten saves coming in the first half, in a 1-0 win over Suffolk Community College in the Regional semis last week. Amehon is also tied for fifth in DIII in shutouts (5) and tied 11th in DIII in Wins (8) while ranking 13th in the country with a 0.90 goals-against average and 24th in the nation with a .809 save percentage.
Sensational Seydou
Freshman midfielder Seydou Diallo (Brooklyn, New York) instantly filled the scoring void left by the BMCC's all-time leading goal scorer Javaughie Johnson. Diallo, a First Team All-Region selection and CUNYAC Athlete of the Year, scored a team-best 11 goals and led the Panthers with 26 points, while his four assists were good for second on the team. He also twinkled the twine in nine of 14 matches Panthers, while recording three multi-goal games on the season, including a hat-trick in the 2019 CUNYAC Community Men's Men's Soccer Championship.
Sensational Second Halfs
BMCC goes into Saturday evening's matchup against Nassau Community College with all two of their goals in the 2019 Region XV Tournament coming in the second half. Sophomore Rajay Officer (Portmore, Jamaica) and Freshman Mohammad Cisse (Bronx, New York) have both notched game-winners in the last two matches in 67th minute and 55th minute, respectively.
Winning Close Games
Coming into Saturday evening, BMCC enters with their Region XV championship matchup against Nassau with a 5-2 record in one-goal games, with wins in their last four. They have recorded back-to-back victories against Queensborough in the conference title and Regional first round (5-4 and 1-0) and against Suffolk Community College last week (1-0) in the Regional semifinals.
Closer Look At The Teams
Nassau Community College Lions- Record: 17-1 (10-0 Region XV) – Roster - Schedule - Stats
BMCC Panthers- Record: 10-2-2 (6-2-2 Region XV) – Roster - Schedule - Stats
How They Got Here
Nassau Community College earned the #1 seed in Region XV after posting a perfect 10-0 record against Regional competition. The Lions shutout four regional opponents in ten of their victories during the regular season while defeating 2019 CUNYAC champion BMCC 2-1 back on September 24th. Nassau has rolled in both of their regional matches against Kingsborough and Monroe College (Bronx) by the scores of 4-0 and 4-2. The Lions carry a seven-game winning streak into the Saturday night battle with their only loss of the season coming against Camden County C.C. back on September 30th.
BMCC finished as the third seen in Region XV after going 6-2-2 in league play. The Panthers rallied from three goals down to defeat Bronx Community College, 4-3, blew out Orange County Community College and Rockland Community College by a combined score of 19-0, before winning 4-0 and 4-1 on the road against Kingsboroughand Dutchess. BMCCdefeated Westchester C.C. 2-1 in overtime while tying with Monroe College and Suffolk C.C and losing to Queensborough and Nassau Community College.
Meeting Nassau Community College
Head Coach Daniel Fisher has guided the Lions into the Regional Championship for the third year in a row, and the Program has posted ten or more wins seven straight seasons, including 21 victories in 2015. Nassau is also coming off an NJCAA National title finals appearance where they fell 6-1 to Richland C.C.
The Lions dominated the Regional postseason awards, with sophomore forward Jean-Paul Rodriguez earning Regional Player of the Year and Coach Fisher taking home Regional Coach of the Year honors. Rodriguez also was named First Team All-Region XV, while five of his teammates received regional postseason honors.
Nassau Community College possesses a lethal offense responsible for 74 goals this season, ranked 9th in the NJCAA, with a 20-goal scorer and 17 goal scorer, while eight players have registered two or more goals. The Lions also arent afraid to share the wealth as they have dished out a total of assists as a team, good for 8th in the NJCAA.
Sophomore forward Jason Cruz, a Second-Team All-Region XV selection, is Lion's top offensive weapon coming into this matchup with team-bests in goals (24), assists (11), and points (59). Cruz's 24 goals are also good for fourth in the NJCAA, while his six-game winning goals also tops on the team. Classmate Paul-Rodiguez, the Regional Player of the Year and a First-Team All-Regional selection, enters the match second on the squad in all scoring categories with 17 goals and seven assists for a total of 41 points. He recorded all two of Nassau's goals in their victory over BMCC earlier this year.
Freshman forward Jelson Bonillais third on the team with six assists and has scored four goals for a total of 14 points. Sophomore Carlos Martinez, an All-Regional Honorable Mention selection, also hit the same mark (14 points) on five goals and four assists. Classmate Jose Flores posted 12 points on the year with four goals and four assists, while Second Team All-Regional midfielder, Juan Alava, has six points on two goals and two assists.
Sophomore defender Pantelis Konomis, with First Team All-Region XV honors, is the leader of the backline with 18 starts in all 18 games this year.
Freshman Goalkeeper Matt Reynolds, an All-Regional Honorable Mention and DIII NJCAA Goalkeeper of the Week selection, is the leader between the pipes for Nassau with team-highs in goals against (1.15), saves (62), save percentage (.785), and wins (14). His 14 victories also rank second in the NJCAA.
Meeting BMCC
Sixth-year head coach Modou Seck has guided the Panthers to the Regional Final for the first time since 2012, while he was an assistant coach. BMCC enters the 2019 Region XV final with a dynamic offense, with 15 different goal scorers and at least eight players recording with three or more goals for a total of 50 on the season.
The Panthers dominated the Regional postseason awards this season as five players received All-Region honors. BMCC's offense is led by Diallo, 2019 First-Team All-Region, who is tops on the team in goals with 11 and points with 26. Diallo was also second on the team with four assists. His brother Djiby Diallo (New York, New York), another 2019 First-Team All-Region selection, is tied second in goals with five and third in points with 11 points. Dijiby recorded two tallies twice this year in the opener against Regional opponent Monroe College and non-conference opponent Rockland. He also provided the tying marker in the Panthers 2-1 overtime road win against Westchester.
Classmate Elhadji Ady Gaye (Dakar, Senegal) is second on the team with 12 points, and his five goals are tied for second. Freshman Midfielder Michael Konadu (Kwahu, Ghana), a Second Team All-Region selection, leads the team with six assists.
Officer and Cisse, who both recorded the Panther's game-winning goals in the Regional semifinals and quarterfinals alongside teammate Hugo Sauriat (New York, New York), are all tied of third on the team with four goals apiece.
Sophomore Otto Manuel Sabalza (Brooklyn, New York), an All-Region Honorable Mention, and freshman Kevin Auquilla (Brooklyn, New York) lead the Panthers defensively, with Sabalza starting 12 of their 14 games this year and Aquilla making eight starts contests to go along with four assists, tied for second on the team.
Amehon has been outstanding in the net in his first year with the Panthers. He has backstopped the BMCC defense with a team-best in goals-against average (0.89), saves (38), and shutouts (5) while posting an 8-1-1 record.
Recent Meeting
In their only head-to-head this year, Nassau Community College defeated BMCC by the score of 2-1 back in September. The Panthers dominated the shot total overall 17-9, including 10-4 in the 1st half.
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