Prince George's Men's Soccer Starts Quest For Seventh NJCAA Region XX Tournament Title On Friday

LARGO, Md. – The Prince George's Community College men's soccer team begins its quest for its seventh National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XX Tournament title on Friday. The Owls (12-3, 3-2 Region XX) will be the third seed and face No. 2 Howard Community College (11-5-1, 5-1 Region XX) in the semifinals at 3:30 p.m. at Seigert Stadium on the campus of Anne Arundel Community College.

The NJCAA Region XX Tournament kickoffs with No. 4 Montgomery College (14-6, 3-3 Region XX) battling tournament host and No. 5 seed Anne Arundel Community College (7-7-1, 3-3 Region XX) on Wednesday in the quarterfinals ay at 7 p.m. The winner of the Raptors-Riverhawks match moves onto the NJCAA Region XX Semifinals on Friday at 7 p.m. against top-seed Northern Virginia Community College (11-2, 5-1 Region XX). The winner of the two semifinals will square off in the Region XX Division III Championship on Sunday at 1 p.m.

General admission tickets are $5 per person and all games will be played at Seigert Stadium at Anne Arundel Community College. Fan unable to attend the tournament can watch live stats and live video through the pgccowls.com and by following on Twitter @PGCCOWLS.

Prince George's, who has been ranked in the NJCAA Division III Men's Soccer Rankings all season, comes into the tournament winners of four straight and seven of its last eight contests. Sophomore Edwin Claros (Adelphi, Md./High Point) leads the team and is among the Division III leaders in goals (19), assists (17) and points (55) while freshman Roshawn Panton (Bowie, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt) is among the nation's leaders in goals (21) and points (50) while adding eight assists. The Owls rank sixth in Division III in goals (72), assists (59) and points (203). Sophomore Jonathan Claros (Adelphi, Md./High Point) mans the pipes and has recorded 57 saves, a 1.75 saves percentage and a .731 save percentage. Sophomores Celio Grice (Riverdale, Md./Parkdale) and Elmer Hernandez (College Park, Md./Parkdale) anchor one of the nation's Top-20 defenses with a 1.51 goals against average.

Prince George's will face Howard in the NJCAA Region XX semifinals. The Owls lost an overtime-thriller 4-3 in Largo on Oct. 3. Cristian Benavides (Laurel, Md./Overseas), Moh Sherif (Capital Heights, Md./Central) and Fabian Castillo (Clinton, Md./Gwynn Park) all found the back of the net for Prince George's in the heartbreaker while Jonathan Claros made four saves. Kyree Akinkuowo posted two goals on the night, including the game-winner while Steve Amankwah had a goal and an assist and Francis Amankwah also found the twine while Simon Bradford turned away six shots in the match. The Dragons have won six of their last seven coming into the match.

The Owls defeated top-seed Northern Virginia 5-3 on Sept. 26 on the road. Panton posted a career-high four tallies against the Nighthawks in that contest while Brian Ngoh also twinkled the twine for the Largo program. Jonathan Claros recorded four saves in the winning effort. Everton and Andrew Bailey and Gabriel Rickmann notched the three Northern Virginia markers on the day. The Nighthawks have won five-straight coming into the postseason with Prince George's being the squad's lone Division III Region XX loss.

If the Owls battle Montgomery it would be in the championship game for the third-straight season. Prince George's defeated the Raptors 2-1 on Oct. 10 thanks to goals by Sherif and Panton while Jonathan Claros made five saves in the match. Gabriel Frois scored late for Montgomery to cut the margin in half while Yvan Moundou turned away five shots in the loss. The Raptors have lost two consecutive and five of its last six coming into the quarterfinals matchup on Wednesday.

The Largo program dropped a 2-0 decision against Anne Arundel at the PGCC Bermuda Field on Sept. 22. Ryan Gruss tallied a goal and an assist and Noah Beall also scored for the Riverhawks. Jonathan Claros made two stops for Prince George's while Austin Noland made eight saves for Anne Arundel. The Riverhawks come into play on Wednesday winners of three of its last five contests.

Prince George's has appeared in the NJCAA Division III Championship Game nine times since 1996 and has won four titles in that stretch including last season. The Owls have won the Region XX title six times (1982, 1983, 1996, 1999, 2009, 2016) and are looking for their seventh crown in program history including their first back-to-back titles since 1982-83.

Interim head coach Taiye Akinmboni has led the squad to a 12-3-1 overall record, a 9-3 mark in Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference matches and 3-2 in Division III Region XX action. Akinmboni will attempt to become the third former Owls player to win the Region XX Tournament Championship as both a player and a coach, joining Richard Todaro (Player – 1982-83/Coach – 1996, 1999, 2009) and former teammate Machel Millwood (Player – 1999/Coach – 2016).