Prince George's Men's Soccer Faces Howard In NJCAA Division III Region XX Semifinals On Friday

PRINCE GEORGE'S NJCAA REGION XX DIVISION III TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
Semifinals: Friday, October 27, 2017, 3:30 p.m.
Finals: Sunday, October 29, 2017, 1 p.m.
Seigert Stadium, Arnold, Md. (Anne Arundel Community College)
 

TOURNAMENT PROGRAM | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | FOLLOW ON TWITTER

PRINCE GEORGE'S: ROSTER | SCHEDULE | STATISTICS 

NJCAA REGION XX TOURNAMENT BRACKET
October 25, 2017: Quarterfinals
#5 Anne Arundel vs. #4 Montgomery, 7 p.m.
October 27, 2017: Semifinals
#3 Prince George's vs. #2 Howard, 3:30 p.m.
#5 Anne Arundel/#4 Montgomery Winner vs. #1 Northern Virginia, 7 p.m.
October 29, 2017: Championship Game
Semifinal Winners, 1 p.m.

opening pitch… The defense of the NJCAA Division III Region XX Tournament title begins on Friday at Anne Arundel Community College. Prince George's will be in search of its seventh region title when it starts the tournament against second-seed Howard Community College on Friday in the semifinals. The Dragons downed the Owls 4-3 in an overtime-thrilling heartbreaker on Oct. 3 in Largo.

tournament history… 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, and 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).

last time we met… Prince George's Community College dropped a 4-3 decision in overtime to Howard Community College in on Oct. 3. Cristian Benavides, Moh Sherif and Fabian Castillo scored three-straight goals to give the Owls 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.

last time out… Edwin Claros posted two goals including the game-winner in the 85th minute to lift Prince George's Community College past CCBC Catonsville on Oct. 17. After the two teams went into the intermission at a 1-all standstill, Edwin Claros took a feed from William Chavez and found the back of the net in the 58th minute for a 2-1 edge. The Cardinals tied the game at 2 in the 72nd minute and then Edwin Claros scored the decisive tally off a feeder from Roshawn Panton with 15 minutes left in the match to propel the Owls to the regular season finale victory. Edwin Claros, who has posted six goals in his last two contests, leads the team with 19 goals and 17 assists for 58 points and now has 36 goals and 26 assists for 98 points in his two seasons in Largo. Jonathan Claros made four saves in the winning effort.

next time out… The winner of Friday's match moves onto the NJCAA Division III Championship Game on Sunday at Anne Arundel Community College. Match time is 1 p.m.

in the nation… Sophomore Edwin Claros ranks fourth in NJCAA Division III in both assists (17) and points (55) while ranking ninth in goals (19). Freshman Roshawn Panton ranks fourth in goals (21) in the nation and sixth in points (50). As a team, the Owls rank sixth in assists (59) and seventh in both goals (72) and points (203).

in the ranks… Heading into the NJCAA Region XX Division III Men's Soccer Tournament, Prince George's Community College remains ranked ninth in the final NJCAA Division III Men's Soccer Rankings for the regular season announced on Tuesday. The Owls, who are winners of four straight and seven of its last eight contests, closed out the regular season with a 3-2 win against CCBC Catonsville on Oct. 17. Prince George's has been ranked in the national poll for all eight weeks of the regular season and the preseason poll. The squad has sat as high as sixth in the ranking in the preseason and Sept. 6 polls, eighth in the Sept. 12, Sept. 19 and Oct. 3 rankings, ninth in the Sept. 26, Oct. 17 and this week poll and 10th in the Oct. 10 rankings. The Top-8 teams remained the same in this week's poll, led by No. 1 Richland with 10 points. Bunker Hill (9 points), Genesee (8 points), Herkimer (7 points), Triton (6 points), Camden County (5 points), Borough of Manhattan (4 points), Onondaga (3 points), Prince George's (2 points) and Northern Virginia (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 19 goals and 17 assists for 55 points in 2017. Edwin Claros in his two-year collegiate career has 36 goals and 26 assists for 98 points.

in the net… Sophomore Jonathan Claros has registered 57 saves, a 1.75 goals against average and a .731 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 leads the team in assists (17) and points (55) while ranking second in goals (19). Roshawn Panton leads the team in goals (21) and ranks second in points (50) while also adding eight assists. Cristian Benavides is third on the squad with five markers and six assists for 16 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 15 players that have scored a goal this season and 14 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 four hat tricks in his career after posting one against Chesapeake on Sept. 12 and one against Allegany of Maryland on Oct. 13. Claros notched a career-high four tallies against Allegany. 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. Perry Lawrence recorded the first two tallies of his career against the College of Southern Maryland on Oct. 6.

"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 tournament 11-5-1 and winners of seven of their last eight games. The Dragons defeated Potomac State 11-1 on Saturday.

charity bike ride... Prince George's Community College men's soccer interim head coach Taiye Akinmboni participated in the Fourth Annual Heart and Health Charity Bike Ride to benefit the Cardiac Surgery Program at the UM Prince George's Hospital Center on Oct. 7. Akinmboni, who played men's soccer at Prince George's Community College in 1998 and 1999, biked 34 miles for three hours on the Anacostia River, Lake Artemisia, Paint Branch, and College Park Trolley Trails in Prince George's County.

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.

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 fourth at the national tournament in 1999.