Mark DeCotis, Eastern Florida State College, contributed to this release
MELBOURNE, Fla. (October 28, 2014) - Eastern Florida State College will carry an 11-2-1 record and No. 7 national ranking into postseason play.
The NJCAA released its final NJCAA Division I Men's Soccer Poll on Tuesday and the Titans held on to their spot inside the top ten following a 3-1 win over Region 8 rival Broward College on October 26. The win gave Eastern Florida State a 2-0-1 record in its three game series against the Seahawks.
While successfully navigating a challenging regular-season schedule, Eastern Florida State earned a second straight postseason berth. Now things get really difficult.
The Titans boarded a charter bus on Tuesday for an 11-hour trip to Martinsville, Va., where they will play host Patrick Henry Community College in an NJCAA regional play-in game at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Smith River Sports Complex. And should they be successful their reward is a trip south to Louisburg, N.C., for the Regionals themselves on Saturday and Sunday.
The Southeast District title game that sends its winner to the national tournament is November 8 in Georgia.
Last year, in their inaugural season, the Titans advanced to the postseason and won four games – three in Georgia and one at home - to earn an NJCAA national tournament berth. This postseason there won’t be any home games exacerbating the Titans’ challenge.
“We are excited to continue our season into the playoffs and compete against the top teams in Region 10,” said Eastern Florida State head coach Oliver Twelvetrees. “Our goal is to win every game we play and we will be approaching the Patrick Henry game with a positive mindset by attacking their defense and shutting down their high-powered offense.
“Our sophomores are ready to continue our tradition of excellence and keep their EFSC careers alive.”
Patrick Henry finished its regular season with a 15-4 record and was ranked 17th nationally by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). In addition to their No. 7 NJCAA ranking, the Titans were ranked sixth by the NSCAA.
Patrick Henry scored 79 goals, good for second nationally, and allowed 22. EFSC scored 66 and conceded 15. Freshman Cleef Desir leads EFSC with 12 goals. Sophomores Farias Juarez and Jordan Muir have nine each. Muir and classmates Justin Gavin and Keenan King have nine assists each and classmate Romario Grant eight. Sophomore goalkeeper Jorge Madera has allowed nine goals in 590 minutes while freshmen Nate Himes has allowed four in 471 minutes and classmate Carols Quintana two in 225 minutes.