Chiefs make first ever appearance at Men's Soccer National Tournament
Waubonsee Community College’s men’s soccer team will make its’ debut at the NJCAA Division I National Championship Tournament against the host school Yavapai (AZ.) College. The Chiefs (17-4-1) received the ten-seed and will play the third-seeded Roughriders (21-2-3) on Monday, November 13, beginning at 6:00 p.m. (CDT). The 12-team field is divided into four, three-team pools, with the four pool play winners advancing to the final four. Sixth-seeded Mercer County (NJ) College (19-3-1) is the other team in Group C with Waubonsee and Yavapai. The Chiefs will play Mercer on Tuesday, November 14 at 3:30 p.m. (CDT). All the tournament matches are being held at Mountain Valley Park in Prescott, Ariz. and can been seen ‘live’ on-line at NJCAAtv.com for a nominal fee. You can also find additional information on the tournament’s website at www.soccer2017.yc.edu
Top-seed St. Louis (MO.) Community College (22-0-0) headlines Pool A, and is joined by eighth-seeded Pima (AZ) College (17-4-3) and twelfth-seed Illinois Central College (10-8-2). Pool B is headed up by second-seeded Schoolcraft (MI.) College (15-0-0), which will be joined by seventh-seed Monroe (NY) College (12-1-2) and eleventh-seeded Kansas City-Kansas Community College (11-3-2). Fourth-seed Tyler (TX) Junior College (19-2-0), the defending National Champions, leads Pool D and will square off against fifth-seed Indian Hills (IA.) Community College (17-2-0) and ninth-seeded Louisburg (NC) College (16-5-0).
The Chiefs advanced to the National Tournament for the first time in the program’s history with a nail-biting, shootout win over Moraine Valley in the Region IV title match. After two scoreless halves and two 10-minute sudden death overtimes, Waubonsee keeper Devin Hernandez stopped the Cyclones’ sixth penalty kick to win the title match 5-4. Hernandez was named the Region IV Tournament’s Most Valuable Player award. Waubonsee Head Coach Brett Suhayda was tabbed the Region IV Coach of the Year. In his ninth season overall at Waubonsee, the Oswego High School alumnus has guided the Chiefs to 103 wins over just the last seven seasons. The Chiefs’ Region IV crown was the fourth in school history. However, this year’s Region IV title carried an automatic bid to the National Tournament. Waubonsee had fallen one step short of the National Tournament prior to this, losing all three of the program’s appearances (1982, 2013 and 2016) in the Great Lakes District match.
The Chiefs are led by Waubonsie Valley High School graduate Reuel Erastus-Obilo who has scored 22 goals this season to go along with a dozen assists. Team co-captain Luis Correa-Cabral has booked 20 goals and recorded 13 assists. Aurora East High School product Ricardo Sanchez gives the Chiefs a third viable scoring threat as he has netted 12 goals on the season. Sophomore midfielder Alan Camarena has tallied 13 assists, while Marcos Carrasco has six goals and nine assists in only 14 matches played.
