Prince George's Men's Soccer Begins Four-Game Road Trip At College Of Southern Maryland On Friday Afternoon

GAME DAY INFORMATION
No. 8 Prince George's (8-3-0, 5-3-0 MD JUCO)
at College of Southern Maryland (2-7-0, 1-6-0 MD JUCO)
Friday, October 6, 2017, 4:00 p.m.
La Plata, Md.

PRINCE GEORGE'S: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS 

opening pitch… Prince George's starts a four-game road trip at College of Southern Maryland on Friday. The Owls defeated the Hawks 5-1 last season in Largo.

last time out… Prince George's Community College dropped a 4-3 decision in overtime to Howard Community College on Tuesday. Cristian Benavides, Moh Sherif and Fabian Castillo scored three-straight goals to give the Owls a 3-2 lead going into the intermission. Trailing 2-0, Benavides answered the Dragons second tally 20 seconds later when he knocked in Roshawn Panton's rebound into the netting at 18:40 to cut the margin to 2-1. Sherif then tied the match at 2 with his first collegiate marker off a feeder from Edwin Claros at the 31:36 mark. Castillo, who was seeing his first action of the season, tied the game when he drilled a shot from the far side of midfield that snuck its way into the twine for his first goal of the year and seventh of his career.

next time out… The Owls continue their end of the regular season four-match road swing at Montgomery on Tuesday before closing out the regular season at Allegany College of Maryland (Oct. 13) and at CCBC Catonsville (Oct. 17).

in the ranks… The Prince George's Community College men's soccer team moved up to the No. 8 spot in the NJCAA Men's Soccer Division III Rankings, announced on Tuesday. The Owls jumped one spot in the poll after defeating Northern Virginia 5-3 on Sept. 26 and Frederick 3-1 on Friday. The Largo team is ranked eighth for the third week this season after sitting in the spot for the Sept. 12 and Sept. 19 polls. Prince George's has been a member of the NJCAA Division III rankings for the first five weeks of the regular season and the preseason poll. The Owls also were ranked sixth in the preseason and the first week of the regular season while posting a ninth-place standing last week. Richland continues to rank as the No. 1 team in the nation with 10 points while Bunker Hill (9 points) and Genesee (8 points) each moved up one spot while Herkimer (7 points), Montgomery (6 points), Triton (5 points), Camden County (4 points), Prince George's (3 points), Suffolk County (2 points) and Onondaga (1 point) round 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 13 goals and 11 assists for 37 points in 2017. Edwin Claros in his two-year collegiate career has 30 goals and 20 assists for 80 points.

in the net… Sophomore Jonathan Claros has registered 40 saves, a 1.88 goals against average and a .702save 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 (40) while also adding six assists. Edwin Claros ranks second on the squad with 13 goals and 11 assists for 37 points. Cristian Benavides is third on the squad with four markers and five assists for 13 points while Erick Colindres sits fourth with three goals and six assists for 12 points and AJ Okey-Uche is fifth on the team with three markers and five feeders for 11 points. The Owls have 12 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. Moh Sherif registered his first career goal against Howard on Oct. 3.

"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 hawks… The College of Southern Maryland comes into the match 2-7-0 overall and 1-6-0 in league play after defeating Cecil 4-1 on Wednesday. The Hawks have posted 10 goals and three assists for 23 points this season.

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.