Region 20 Division II Men's Soccer Tourney Set for Action
COLUMBIA, Md – The NJCAA Region 20 Soccer Committee has announced the seeding and bracket for the 2023 Division II Men's Soccer Tournament beginning on Saturday, October 21 and concluding a week later Saturday, October 28. Like the women's tournament, the semifinal and championship contests will be hosted on the campus of Howard Community College in Columbia, Md., but the quarterfinal higher seeds will have the benefit of playing on their home fields.
Quarterfinal Game 1: #1 CCBC Essex vs. #8 WVU Potomac State, Oct. 21, 11:00 AM at CCBC Dundalk Campus
CCBC Essex earns the top seed with an undefeated 9-0 record in division play. The Knights are the reigning Region 20 Division II Men's Soccer Champions, and they haven't lost in a Region 20 tournament in ten years. They have outscored teams in the tournament 47-7 this season behind Zach Eichelberger who is second in the nation in points with 50. His 20 goals are third in the country in Division II. Teammate Angel Chavez is fifth in Division II in assists with 15 and has tallied 39 points.
Traveling to take on the Knights is the eighth seed, WVU Potomac State, who enters the tournament with a 1-3-4 record. The Catamounts have played well against tough opponents, defeating fourth seed Howard, and tying Frederick, Carroll and Catonsville who are the third, sixth and seventh seeds respectively. The Catamounts lost narrowly to College of Southern Maryland and Northern Virginia who are the other two teams above them in the tournament aside from their opponent in the quarterfinal, CCBC Essex. Edwin Gonzalez and Grant Dadisman lead WVU Potomac State's offensive with 17 and 15 points and several other Catamounts have added on in the goals and assists categories.
CCBC Essex and WVU Potomac State met early in the season on August 29 with Essex taking a 9-1 victory. The quarterfinal will be played on the campus of CCBC Dundalk, just down the road from the CCBC Essex campus. The winner will advance to the semifinals at Howard Community College and face the winner of quarterfinal four between Howard Community College and Northern Virginia. The semifinal game will be played at 1:00 PM on Thursday, October 26.
To watch this game live, click here, (60) CCBC Essex Knights - YouTube. To follow live statistics, click here, WVU Potomac State College at CCBC Essex | PrimeTime | Sat, Oct. 21, 2023 11:00 AM EDT (ccbcessexknights.com).
Quarterfinal Game 2: #2 College of Southern Maryland (CSM) vs. #7 CCBC Catonsville, Oct. 21, 1:00 PM at CSM
With a 6-2-1 record, the College of Southern Maryland Hawks earn the second seed and will host a quarterfinal against seventh seed CCBC Catonsville. The Hawks are carrying a five-game win-streak into the tournament and have won eight of their last nine games. Their two division losses were back-to-back losses early in the season to top seed CCBC Essex and third seed Frederick. Since then, they've only lost once in a non-division game and have 10 wins and two draws. Freshman goalkeeper Baptiste Berthozat has spent the most time in net with five wins and three shutouts. Freshman Eliass Elfasoukhi and Sophomore Nomen Felix Mbia Sampson have combined for 24 goals and 15 assists.
Seventh seed CCBC Catonsville enters the tournament with a 2-4-3 record and victories over the fourth and sixth seeds. Freshman Mike Miranda has tallied 25 points on the season with 12 goals and two assists. Goalkeeper Franklin Duarte has made 64 saves and is surrendering less than two goals per game.
In their previous meeting CCBC Catonsville carried a 3-2 lead over College of Southern Maryland into the 86th minute. The Hawks would net two quick goals in just over a minute's time to secure a 4-3 victory. In that game CCBC Catonsville had the home field advantage. In the quarterfinal the home field advantage will favor College of Southern Maryland. The winner moves on to play the winner of quarterfinal three which features Frederick Community College and Carroll Community College in a semifinal game on October 26 at Howard Community College at 3:30 PM.
For more information about this game, please visit the College of Southern Maryland Athletics website, here, 2023-24 College of Southern Maryland Men's Soccer Schedule - College of Southern Maryland Athletics (csmd.edu).
Quarterfinal Game 3: #3 Frederick vs. #6 Carroll, Oct. 21, 12:00 PM at Frederick Community College
Frederick, coming in as the three seed, seeks to return to the title game as they did a year ago. Entering with a 4-2-3 record, their only losses are to top seed Essex and a close 2-1 contest to Northern Virginia. In their four division victories they've outscored opponents 14-6. They have six players with double digit point totals on the season as Iker Alvarenga leads the way with seven goals and eight assists for 22 points.
Carroll will travel to Frederick as the sixth seed with a 3-5-1 record. Carroll is coming off a big 3-2 victory over Northern Virginia earlier this week, giving them momentum for the tournament. Daniel Wojtkowiak is a player to watch for the Lynx, currently leading the team with 13 points. Starting their soccer program in 2019, this is only Carroll's second appearance in the Men's Soccer Region Tournament.
Frederick and Carroll are familiar with one another, having played just a week ago on October 14. Frederick got the better of Carroll in a 5-2 victory in that meeting. The winner of the quarterfinal advances to semifinal game two at Howard Community College on October 26 at 3:30 PM. They will play the winner of quarterfinal two between College of Southern Maryland and CCBC Catonsville.
To watch this game live, click here, https://www.youtube.com/live/_Ta7yolA2i8?feature=share. To follow live statistics, click here, Carroll Community College at Frederick Community College | PrimeTime | Sat, Oct. 21, 2023 12:00 PM EDT (fccathletics.com).
Quarterfinal Game 4: #4 Howard vs. #5 Northern Virginia, Oct. 21, 12:00 PM at Howard CC
Howard earns the fourth seed in the tournament over Northern Virginia (NOVA) with four division wins to NOVA's three. Led by Jason Fuentes, Truce Norton, and Fousseiny Diallo, the Dragons are outshooting opponents 335 to 210 on the season. Fuentes leads the squad with 20 points, followed by Norton with 19 and Diallo with 15. Jesse Sanchez and Danny Ventura have split time in goal with Ventura fairing better with a 1.83 goals against average.
Despite having less wins, NOVA stayed out of the loss column, playing to more draws than Howard with a division record of 3-3-3, good enough for the fifth seed. NOVA has a notable tie over second seed College of Southern Maryland and a win over third seed Frederick. Proving how competitive the division has been this season, they've also tied seventh seed CCBC Catonsville and dropped a contest to sixth seed Carroll. NOVA shares the ball on offensive with four players in double digits for points. Bryan Ramirez, Samson Amaniel, Alex Romero, and Willians Lopez-barre have 16, 14, 11, and 10 points respectively.
Howard got the best of NOVA in regular season play despite an early strike from NOVA in the fourth minute. Howard would score six unanswered and win 6-1. The winner will advance to take on the victor of either top seed CCBC Essex or eighth seed WVU Potomac State. The semifinal contest between the two winners will be played on October 26 at 1:00 PM at Howard Community College.
To watch this game live, click here: Howard CC Athletics (vimeo.com). To follow live statistics, click here: Northern Virginia Community College at Howard Community College | PrimeTime | Sat, Oct. 21, 2023 12:00 PM EDT (njcaaregion20.org).
Semifinal Possibilities:
With a 9-0 record in division play CCBC Essex has bested both potential opponents it may face in the semis. Should Howard advance, in a September 19 matchup, the Knights shut out Howard 7-0 on the road. Should NOVA advance, NOVA netted the first goal against CCBC Essex in an August contest, but the Knights would do the rest of the scoring to take a 4-1 victory.
With a WVU Potomac State win over CCBC Essex in the quarterfinal, the regular season might suggest that the Catamounts have the advantage over Howard. WVU Potomac State defeated Howard 6-3 on October 3. If NOVA and WVU Potomac State meet in the semis, NOVA may carry the advantage, having defeated WVU Potomac State 4-3 on September 28.
If CSM should advance to the semifinals to face Frederick, they will have to overcome an early season loss to the Cougars. CSM surrendered three goals in the second half to succumb to a 4-3 loss. However, that was back on August 24 and the Hawks are playing their best soccer to date. If Carroll makes it to the semifinal to meet CSM, they are staring down a 3-0 shutout at the hands of the Hawks earlier this month. That game falls in the middle of CSM's current win streak.
Should CCBC Catonsville advance with a win over CSM in the quarterfinal and meet Frederick in the semifinal, they will look to overcome a September loss to Frederick. Catonsville immediately responded to Frederick's first goal, but Frederick would add two more to take a 3-1 victory. However, Catonsville does own the regular season victory over Carroll with a 2-0 shutout should the Lynx advance to the semis. This set of quarterfinals and semifinals are going to be games to follow.
Championship Game: Winner of Semifinal 1 vs. Winner of Semifinal 2, Oct. 28, 3:00 PM at Howard CC
The two semifinal winners will meet on Saturday, October 28 at 3:00 PM. Visit the Championships tab on the NJCAA Region 20 website to follow the action, Division II Men's Soccer Campionship Information - Region 20 (njcaaregion20.org), or visit Howard Community College's Athletics website here, Howard Community College Athletics - Official Athletics Website (howardccdragons.com).