HERKIMER — Mohawk Valley Community College will not be repeating its thrilling finish to the 2024 soccer season, but one Hawks squad is playing on in championship bracket competition at the NJCAA’s Division III national championship tournaments.
The Mohawk Valley Community College men opened defense of their 2024 national championship with a 7-0 shutout of Raritan Valley Community College Wednesday at Herkimer College.
The Mohawk Valley Community College women, national finalists and runners-up in 2024, were beaten 3-1 by Dallas College-Brookhaven in their quarterfinal at SUNY-Poly after play was postponed due to wintry weather Tuesday in Herkimer.
Both tournaments continue with consolation play November 13 before four quarterfinal matches are played the following day at Herkimer’s Wehrum Stadium. Both championship matches are scheduled for November 16.
MV men win ninth consecutive match
The Mohawk Valley men (14-3-1), seeded second, led 1-0 at halftime Wednesday and scored six times in the second half in winning their ninth consecutive match and extending their unbeaten streak to 12 (11-0-1).
Freshman goalkeeper Anderson Costa Filho made three saves in his fifth shutout while the Hawks outshot Raritan Valley’s Lions (13-3-3).
Sophomore Davi Pena Moretzsohn, a holdover from the 2024 championship team, scored first and gave the Hawks their 1-0 lead with his unassisted goal in the 23rd minute of play.
Souayibou Diop, Mohawk Valley’s leading scorer and another sophomore returnee, netted his 19th and 20 goals of the season 10 minutes apart early in the second half. Moretzsohn assisted on the first Diop goal and another scored by Javier Montesino Da Torre in the 64th.
Sophomores Bengalay Soumahoro and Ahmadou Amar, and freshman Fran Molina-Villafane scored the final three goals.
Mohawk Valley’s semifinal opponent will be third-seeded Bergen Community College, a 3-1 winner Wednesday over Northern Essex Community College. The other semifinal pits No. 1 seed Dallas College-Richland against Finger Lakes Community College as the upper seeds all advanced from the quarterfinals.
Finger Lakes is the second team from Region III; the Lakers and Hawks did not meet during the regular season or regional play this fall.
Brookhaven pays back MV women
The Mohawk Valley women (10-5-0), seeded seventh, were shut out Wednesday by Brookhaven (15-1-2), the No. 2 seed and the team the Hawks defeated in last fall’s semifinals.
Justine Garnica scored a goal five minutes into the match in Marcy and the Bears led 2-0 at halftime, and Miranda Estrada made four saves in the shutout.
Mackenzi Stevens, Mohawk Valley’s freshman goalkeeper from Canastota, made five saves for the Hawks who were outshot 12-7.
Brookhaven will play Region III’s Genesee Community College, the No. 6 seed and a 1-0 winner in double overtime Wednesday, in one semifinal, and No. 1 Delta College, the defending champion, plays Suffolk Community College in the other.
Mohawk Valley caps its season with a November 13 match against Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester (11-4-2), the No. 3 seed upset by Genesee in Wednesday’s final quarterfinal.
This article originally appeared on Times Telegram: MVCC men win, women lose in NJCAA soccer quarterfinals
Reporting by Jon Rathbun, Herkimer Times Telegram / Times Telegram
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
