Prince George's Men's Soccer Begins Four-Game Homestand Against Cecil On Friday Evening

GAME DAY INFORMATION
Cecil (1-5-0, 1-2-0 MD JUCO)
No. 8 Prince George's (3-1-0, 2-1-0 MD JUCO)
Friday, September 15, 2017, 6:00 p.m.
PGCC Bermuda Soccer Field | Largo, Md.

LIVE STATS | FOLLOW ON TWITTER | LAST GAME

PRINCE GEORGE'S: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS 

opening pitch… Prince George's returns home for a four-game homestand and will play six of the next seven games in Largo. The homestand begin with Cecil on Friday. The Owls scored six goals in the second half in last year's meeting against the Seahawks.

special unveiling at the match on friday… Prince George's will unveil something special at the match against Cecil on Friday as part of the 50th Anniversary of Prince George's Athletics, A Celebration of the Past, Present, And Future. What is unveiled will be on display for the rest of the men's soccer season and will also be represented during the men's and women's basketball and baseball seasons.

last time out…  AJ Okey-Uche posted two goals and six assists while Edwin Claros, Roshawn Panton and Delon Ramdeen each registered a hat trick to lead eighth-ranked Prince George's Community College past Chesapeake College 16-0 on Tuesday. Juvinny Benavides tallied a goal and two assists. Celio Grice and Elmer Hernandez each posted their second tallies of the season while Carlos Calix notched a goal and an assist. Maxwell Kirksey-Walcott registered his first career marker with four minutes left in the first half while Erick Colindres notched his first two assists of his collegiate career. William Chavez posted his second assist of his career. Saul Sosa posted two saves for the Owls in the winning effort. Prince George's scored five times in the first 25 minutes of the match and never looked back on its way to the Owls third win of the season.

next time out… Prince George's continues its four-match homestand in nine day on Tuesday against Hagerstown. Anne Arundel (Sept. 22) and Brookdale (Sept. 23) will also visit Largo during this stretch.

in the ranks… The Prince George's Community College men's soccer team sits at No. 8 in the NJCAA Division III Men's Soccer Rankings, announced on Tuesday. After going 1-1-0 against NJCAA Division I opponents, the Owls slipped two spots to No. 8 after being ranked sixth in the preseason poll and the opening poll of the regular season. Prince George's defeated Harford 3-1 on Sept. 5 and then fell 5-2 to a CCBC Essex team on Friday that was receiving votes in the first poll of the regular season in the NJCAA Division I Men's Soccer Rankings. The first five spots in the national poll remained the same with Richland (10 points), Herkimer (9 points), Bunker Hill (8 points), Montgomery (7 points) and Camden County (6 points) sitting the Top-5 spots. Triton (5 points), Genesee (4 points), Prince George's (3 points), Suffolk County (2 points) and Bristol (1 point) rounded out the 10-team poll.

edwin claros not missing a step… Sophomore Edwin Claros posted 17 goals and nine assists for 43 points as a freshman. The sophomore recorded 14 goals and six assists for 34 points in his last 13 games as a freshman and has registered six goals and two assists for 14 points in 2017. He has register 20 tallies and eight helpers for 48 points in his last 16 games. Edwin Claros in his two-year collegiate career has 23 goals and 11 assists for 57 points.

collegiate firsts… Roshawn Panton notched his first collegiate goal in the match against Nassau on Sept. 3 while Elmer Hernandez found the twine for the first time in his career against Harford on Sept. 5. AJ Okey-Uche, Delon Ramdeen, Juvinny Benavides and Maxwell Kirksey-Walcott each found the twine for the first time in their collegiate career against Chesapeake on Sept. 12

in the net… Sophomore Jonathan Claros has registered 18 saves, a 2.33 goals against average and a .720 save percentage this season after boasting 74 saves, a 1.18 goals against average and a .763 save percentage as a freshman. He recorded a career-high 10 stops against Camden County on Nov. 10, 2016.

the leaders… Edwin Claros and Roshawn Panton lead the team with six goals and two assists for 14 points. AJ Okey-Uche is third on the team with two goals and a team-best five assists while Elmer Hernandez ranks fourth with two goals and an assist for five points. Juvinny Benavides (1 g, 2 a), Carlos Calix (1 g, 2 a) and Celio Grice (2 g) are tied for fifth on the team with four points.

hat tricks on the rise… Edwin Claros leads the team with three hat tricks for his career. He notched his first of the 2017 against Chesapeake on Sept. 12 while Roshawn Panton and Delon Ramdeen posted their first collegiate three-goal performances against the Skipjacks.

photo contest... The Prince George's Community College athletics department is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. Leading up to our first event in the celebration on September 30, the athletics department will be running a photo contest called The Owl 50 Photo Finish. We are looking for photos of alumni student-athletes or current student-athletes from their playing days whether it's an action shot or hanging out with teammates. To enter tweet us (@PGCCOWLS) a picture with the hashtag #Owls50 or post a picture on the PGCCOWLS Facebook page. For those who do not have a social media account, email entries to Dave Musil at musildc@pgcc.edu and the entries will be posted to the Owls social media accounts.  Entries will be accepted until Monday, September 25. The top three photos will receive a special 50th Anniversary prize. You may submit more than one photo, but only one selection from each person will be eligible for the prize.The athletic department will also post a photo daily on Twitter until September 30. We have some nice photos, but we hope that one of our alumni can Top That with their submissions.

the word on the seahawks… Cecil comes into the match 1-5-0 overall and 1-2-0 in Maryland JUCO play after falling 5-0 at Montgomery on Tuesday. The Seahawks have six goals and one assist for 13 points on the year.

about last season… Prince George's finished 14-7 and captured its sixth NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament title and fifth trip to the national championships. The Owls defeated Anne Arundel 4-1 in the Region XX Semifinals and then earned a 1-0 victory against Montgomery for the squad's first region title since 2009. Prince George's finished fifth on the national stage after falling to Camden County 2-0 and defeating Bristol 4-1.

returning all-american… Sophomore Edwin Claros was named an NJCAA Second-Team All-American after leading the team with 17 goals and nine assists for 43 points. He registered five multi-goal performances including hat tricks against Allegany and Northern Virginia. The sophomore has two multi-goal performance in 2017.

men's soccer tradition… The 2017-18 athletic season marks the 50th Anniversary of the start of intercollegiate athletics at Prince George's Community College. The college started at Suitland High School in 1957 before moving to its current Largo campus in the fall of 1967. Prince George's began an intercollegiate athletic program in the fall of 1967 and the men's soccer program was one of the first programs created. The men's soccer program is also one of the most successful teams in the first 50 years after claiming six National Junior College Athletic Association Region XX Tournament titles (1982, 1983, 1996, 1999, 2009, 2016) and five appearances in the national tournament (1982, 1983, 1996, 1999, 2016). In addition, men's soccer has produced 43 NJCAA All-Americans in this span.

alumni day… As part of the 50th Anniversary celebration, Prince George's athletics is hosting a Student-Athlete Alumni Day on Saturday, September 30. Any former student-athlete is invited to the event that will feature alumni soccer games or alumni basketball events and a catered barbecue. The event is free to former student-athlete alumni, one guest over the age of 15 and up to four children 14 years old or younger. To participate in Alumni Day, please pre-register by September 22 at www.pgccowls.com/alumniday

about the coach… Taiye Akinmboni will serve as the interim head coach for the men's soccer program for the 2017 season after serving as an assistant coach for the Owls. Akinmboni came back to Prince George's in 2004 as a volunteer coach with the men's soccer program. He later became the goalkeeper coach before serving as an assistant coach. Akinmboni played for the Owls in 1998 and 1999, including being a member of the NJCAA Region XX championship and finishing 4th at the national tournament in 1999.