Prince George's Men's Soccer Closes Out Regular Season Home Slate Against Howard On Tuesday

GAME DAY INFORMATION
Howard (5-4-1, 4-1-1 MD JUCO)
No. 9 Prince George's (8-2-0, 4-1-1MD JUCO)
Tuesday, October 3, 2017, 6:00 p.m.
PGCC Bermuda Soccer Field | Largo, Md.

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opening pitch… Prince George's will play its final regular season home match on Tuesday against Howard. The Owls will play its final four regular season home games on the road. The Largo program defeated the Dragons 6-0 last season in Columbia.

last time out… Edwin Claros had a hand in all three goals to help Prince George's Community College past Frederick Community College 3-1 on Friday night. Edwin Claros scored in the 25th minute to tie the game at 1 and then took a feed from Cristian Benavides in the 29th minute and then returned the favor for Benavides in the second half to seal the victory against last season's conference champions. The sophomore ranks second on the team with 13 tallies and a team-best 10 assists for 36 points. Benavides notched his third marker of the season in the 57th minute for the Owls while Jonathan Claros made two saves in the winning effort. 

next time out… The Owls travel to the College of Southern Maryland on Friday and then will head to Montgomery (Oct. 10) and Allegany College of Maryland (Oct. 13) before closing out the regular season at CCBC Catonsville (Oct. 17).

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 13 goals and 10 assists for 36 points in 2017. Edwin Claros in his two-year collegiate career has 30 goals and 19 assists for 79 points.

in the net… Sophomore Jonathan Claros has registered 36 saves, a 1.64 goals against average and a .735 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 13 goals and 10 assists for 36 points. Erick Colindres is third with three goals and six assists for 12 points. Cristian Benavides and AJ Okey-Uche are fourth on the team with three markers and five feeders for 11 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. 

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.

"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 dragons… Howard comes into the contest 5-4-1 overall and 4-1-1 in league play after defeating Allegany College of Maryland 7-0 on Friday.  

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.