Prince George's Men's Soccer Returns Home To Host Frederick On Friday Evening

GAME DAY INFORMATION
Frederick (6-3-0, 4-2-0 MD JUCO)
No. 8 Prince George's (7-2-0, 4-2-0 MD JUCO)
Friday, September 29, 2017, 6:00 p.m.
PGCC Bermuda Soccer Field | Largo, Md.

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opening pitch… Prince George's returns home for its final two home games of the year. Frederick comes to town on Friday and Howard will visit Largo on Tuesday. The Owls will play their final four matches on the road. The Cougars defeated the Owls 3-1 last year in Frederick.

last time out… Roshawn Panton continues to be a scoring machine after posting four goals to propel Prince George's Community College past Northern Virginia Community College 5-3 on Tuesday. The freshman posted two goals in each half, including three of the final markers on the day to finish with a career-high four goals. Panton tied the game at 1 in the 30th minute before giving the Owls the lead for good in the 44th minute and then sealing the victory with consecutive goals in the 64th and 69th minutes. Panton has posted hat tricks in two-straight matches and fourth in his last six contests. The freshman leads the team with 17 goals and four assists for 38 points. Brian Ngoh notched his third goal of the season and Perry Lawrence recorded his first career assist. Jonathan Claros made four saves in the winning effort.

next time out… The Owls host Howard on Tuesday in the home finale. The squad will then play its final four games on the road.

in the ranks… The Prince George's Community College men's soccer team remains in the NJCAA Men's Soccer Division III Rankings in the No. 9 spot, announced on Tuesday. The Owls went 2-1 in the week on the PGCC Bermuda Soccer Field. After defeating Hagerstown 5-0 on Sept. 19, the squad fell 2-0 to Anne Arundel on Friday and then defeated Brookdale 6-0 on Saturday. Prince George's has been a member of the NJCAA Division III rankings for the first four weeks of the regular season and the preseason poll. After sitting sixth in the preseason and first week of the regular season, Prince George's sat at No. 8 in ranking for two polls before dropping to ninth in the latest rankings. Richland continues to be the top-ranked team in the country after receiving 10 points. Herkimer is second with 9 points and followed by Bunker Hill (8 points), Genesee (7 points), Montgomery (6 points), Triton (5 points), Camden County (4 points), Erie (3 points), Prince George's (2 points), Suffolk County (1 points) in 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 11 goals and nine assists for 31 points in 2017. Edwin Claros in his two-year collegiate career has 28 goals and 18 assists for 74 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, Cristian Benavides and Maxwell Kirksey-Walcott each found the twine for the first time in their collegiate career against Chesapeake on Sept. 12. Erick Colindres and Brian Ngoh each notched their first career tally against Cecil on Sept. 15. William Chavez scored his first career marker against Hagerstown on Sept. 19.

in the net… Sophomore Jonathan Claros has registered 34 saves, a 1.73 goals against average and a .739 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… Roshawn Panton leads the team in goals (17) and points (39) while also adding five assists. Edwin Claros ranks second on the squad with 11 goals and nine assists for 31 points. Erick Colindres is third with three goals and six assists for 12 points while  AJ Okey-Uche is fourth on the team with three goals and five helpers for 11 points. Cristian Benavides is fifth on the team with two markers and four feeders for eight points. The Owls have 11 players that have scored a goal this season and 10 players that have dished out an assist.

hat tricks on the rise… Roshawn Panton has posted a hat trick four times this season, including a career-high four goals against Northern Virginia on Sept. 26. Edwin Claros has three hat tricks in his career after posting one against Chesapeake on Sept. 12 while Roshawn Panton posted consecutive hat tricks against Chesapeake and Cecil on Sept. 15 while Delon Ramdeen posted his first collegiate three-goal performance 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.

"that's gold jerry! gold"… Prince George's unveiled gold uniforms against Cecil on Sept. 15 as part of the 50th Anniversary of Prince George's Athletics, A Celebration of the Past, Present, And Future. The uniforms will be worn for select matches 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.

the word on the cougars… Frederick comes into the match6-3-0 overall and 4-2-0 in Maryland JUCO action after defeating Howard 4-3 on Tuesday. 

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.

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.