General | 9/24/2020 2:01:00 PM

New York, New York - The wait is finally over as coming at #1 on our 2019-20 BMCC Athletics #PanthersTop10 is BMCC men's soccer's thrilling 5-4 victory against defending champion and top-seeded Queensborough Community College in the 2019 CUNYAC Championship. It was the Panther's third CUNYAC title in the last four seasons and their 12th overall. 

Freshman Seydou Diallo (Brooklyn, New York) received the 2019 CUNYAC Championship Most Valuable Player award after a career-best seven-point performance with three goals and one assist. 

Diallo found the back of the net for two of his three tallies in the first half to put the Panthers in front twice 2-1 and then 3-2 after the first 45 minutes, while his hat-trick in the 83rd minute tied it up at 4-4.
 
Queensborough stomped on one immediately after the kickoff as freshman forward Julian Cabanillas grabbed a loose ball off of a cross inside the box and put it behind freshman goalkeeper Apelete Amehon (Kara, Togo (West Africa) to make it 1-0. After freshman midfielder Mohammad Cisse (Bronx, New York) subbed into the action in the 15th minute, he would provide an offensive spark three minutes later in the 18th-minute drilling home an opportunity off of a cross from Diallo to tie the match at one-all.
 
Diallo provided the Panthers with their first lead three minutes later, racing down the wing and putting a ferocious left-footed shot into the top right corner of the net in the 21st minute to put them ahead 2-1. Cabanillas responded a minute and a half later, blasting one into the cage's left pocket to knot it up at 2-2. In the 35th minute, a midfield free kick by the Panthers ricocheted off two Queensborough players and landed on the head of a diving Diallo for his second marker of the match, putting the Panthers up 3-2 at halftime. 
 
Freshman forward Marlon Aranibar scored in the 52nd minute off a feed from sophomore forward Luis Flores to tie it up for a third time at 3-3. Queensborough retook the lead in the 60th minute when sophomore midfielder Boris Miranda headed home a corner-kick from freshman forward Christopher Rodas to put the Tigers back in front 4-3. 
 
BMCC forced the final four corner kicks of the match with a chance to tie the game. They cashed in on their last two as Diallo tied it at 4 in the 82nd minute from freshman Kevin Auquilla (Brooklyn, New York) and Domagoj Budimir-Bekan (Split, Croatia) put away the game-winner from Elhadji Ady Gaye (Dakar, Senegal) in the 85th minute to win it 5-4. 

The Panthers were known as the cardiac cats after that championship victory, winning two of their next three matches in the 2019 Region XV playoffs both by one goal and a score of 1-0
against Queensborough in the quarterfinals and Suffolk in the semifinals, making it to the Regional final for the first time since 2012.
 
You can watch the postgame interview with Sports Information Director John Kelly Jr and Diallo and Head Coach Modou Seck:

 
Watch the postgame highlights and trophy ceremony below:
 


ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of six varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level. For the latest news on the Panthers, please visit us a https://bmccathletics.com- the official site of BMCC Athletics. Also, become a follower of the Panthers on Instagram (@bmcc_athletics) and Twitter (@BMCCAthletics), and Like Us on Facebook (BMCC Athletics).