Soccer Captures 8th Consecutive Region XIX Title

The season may have been different but the outcome was the same for the Cougars Men's Soccer Team as they captured their 8th consecutive Region XIX Championship. After a year that has seen a global pandemic and seasons canceled or postponed to a completely different semester than normal the Men's Soccer Team never skipped a beat. Going into the 2020-21 NJCAA Region XIX / NJCAA East District Championship the Cougars were ranked as the #2 NJCAA DIII in the Nation after completing a condensed and shortened season going 9-1. The lone lose came at the hands of NJCAA Region XIX DI Harcum College on April 13, 2021 by a score of 4-3. Thanks to the Cougars stellar play all season the received the #1 seed for the tournament and a direct bid to the Championship Game. 

The Cougars would face off again with #10 Nationally ranked Sussex County Community College after the Skylanders defeated #8 RCSJ-Gloucester in the Regional Semifinals on May 18th by a score of 3-2. The Regional Championship would pit 2 Nationally ranked teams against each other for the oppertunity to punch their ticket to the 2020-21 NJCAA National Championship Tournament. The two teams had faced off once during the regular season just a little over 2 weeks earlier when the Cougars defeated Sussex 5-0 at home.

The Cougars got things started early thanks to Sophomore Max Norden finding the back of the net just 4:30 mark. The Skylanders would answer back at the 19:02 mark as they slipped one past Freshman GK Manuel Ploner. But that didn't stop the Cougars as Sophomore Benjamin Penayo answered back at the 32:17 mark to break the 1-1 tie. The Cougars entered the 2nd half with a 2-1 lead and wanting a little more insurance they didn't have to wait long as the NJCAA National leader in goals Sophomore Pablo Marques would do what he does best finding the back of the net 3 times  ( 1 assisted by Lautaro Berisso and another by Llewan Campbell) in the second half to stretch the lead to 5-1. The Skylanders would make a late push finding the back of the net one more time at the 82:31 mark but the Cougars were just to much for the Skylanders. The win marks the 8th straight Region XIX and District Championship for the Cougars and the 3rd for Head Coach Kevin Nuss. 

Offensive MVP - Sophomore Max Norden

Defensive MVP - Sophomore Niklas Kleinert

The Cougars finish up 10-1 and now have their eyes set on the 2020-21 NJCAA National Championship. The Cougars will wait and prepare this week for the National Championship Tournament June 2-5 in Herkimer, NY.