Flushing, New York – As the calendar turned to October, the BMCC men's soccer team completely changed the narrative of the 2023 season, coming into the 2023 CUNYAC Community College Men's Soccer Championship winners of five straight and the opportunity to repeat as Conference Champions for the first time since 2016 and 2017. The demeanor and mental toughness of head coach Modou Seck's squad was on display again as the Panthers erased a 1-0 halftime deficit with three second-half goals to upend Kingsborough Community College with a 3-2 come-from-behind victory on Saturday afternoon at Queens College.

The Panthers notched their league-best 14th title and repeated as champs for the first time in four seasons with their sixth straight victory, improving to 9-4-0 while the Wave dropped to 9-5-1.

Coach Seck attributed the win to the character his team has built this month during their run to the Conference final.

"They played hard. Being down, it takes a lot of character to come back. I'm very happy for them," said Seck.

Sophomore Abdul Mumin Seidu (Bronx, New York) was the hero of the match for the Panthers, stopping a season-high 11 shots, including eight in the second half for his career-best seventh victory. His efforts in the comeback attempt earned him the 2023 CUNYAC Community College Men's Soccer Championship Most Valuable Player.

In a rematch of the Panther's regular-season finale, in which they took 3-1 to win their first Conference Regular Season Championship since 2018, they knew it would be another grueling test against a highly talented Wave squad. After both teams felt each other out, Kingsborough Community College broke through first in the 19th minute when Keithland Cesar boomeranged a beautiful left-footed blast over Mumin-Seidu's head and into the back of the net to give the Wave the 1-0 lead. The Wave would lead 1-0 at halftime after outshooting the Panthers 8-5 in the first half. 

BMCC put together another outstanding second-half performance, knotting the game up at one in the 52nd minute when freshman Mamadou Diallo (Conakry, Guinea) worked off a loose ball in the box and made a left-foot touch pass to sophomore Mohammed Alghanimi (Brooklyn, New York) who slithered it with his left foot into the low left pocket of the net. The Panthers would build on that strike six minutes later in the 59th minute when sophomore Carlos Auquilla (New York, New York) ballooned a 60-foot blast over midfield and into the box onto the foot of Diallo, who worked through a KCC defender and goaltender Kirill Syroegin and ripped a left-footed shot into the back of the cage giving the Panthers their first lead 2-1. 

The hits would keep coming 28 seconds later when freshman Idrissa Sanogo (Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast) sent a beautiful ball in between two Wave defenders in the box, and sophomore Ademola Opesanwo (Lagos, Nigeria) ripped a right-footed blast into the back of the cage to stretch the advantage to two 3-1. Kingsborough Community College would not go away and continued to press as they outshot the Panthers 13-8 in the second half and 21-13 on the afternoon.

In the 65th minute, Alexander Mihaylov sent a cross into the goalie box that Theodore Sam would head into the net through a ton of traffic to cut the deficit to one, 3-2.

Mumin-Seidu continued to hold the line for the Panthers as the Wave peppered him down the stretch with numerous opportunities, with a golden one point blank off the right foot of Darion Felix off a deflection in the 88th minute to help the Panthers hold on for an exhilarating 3-2 comeback victory.

The Panthers will hope three times is a charm as they will face another grueling test against the Wave in the 2023 Region XV Quarterfinals on Thursday, October 19, at 1 p.m. at Pier 40. BMCC is the fourth seed, and Kingsborough Community College is the fifth seed. For more information, visit the BMCC Men's Soccer Schedule.  


ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE
The athletic program at Borough of Manhattan Community College encompasses a total of 13 varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level. For the latest news on the Panthers, please visit us at 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).