NORTHEAST MEN’S SOCCER CAPTURES FIRST REGION XI CHAMPIONSHIP IN PROGRAM HISTORY

BURLINGTON, Iowa – The No. 9 Northeast Community College men's soccer team competed in the Region XI Championship Saturday against No. 7 Southeastern Community College at Bracewell Stadium in Burlington, Iowa. The Hawks made history by taking the game by a final score of 2-1 and bringing the Region XI Championship trophy to Norfolk for the very first time.

The Hawks (18-4, 6-2 ICCAC) became champions on a picturesque fall day in front of a rather large crowd. Northeast had fallen to the Blackhawks in both of their previous meetings in the regular season by scores of 1-0 and 4-0, but the third time was certainly a charm for the Hawks in the title match.

Northeast grabbed control of the game early and never relinquished it throughout. Conor Carew (Carlow, Ireland) put in a beautiful header from Teun van der Donk (Rotterdam, Netherlands) to get the Hawks on the board first. Sergio Aspas (Valencia, Spain) worked his way around the opposing goalkeeper to give Northeast a 2-0 advantage at intermission.

Southeastern didn't go down without a fight out of the halftime locker room however, and they came close to a few different goal chances in the early stages of the second half. The defense for the Hawks stood strong and despite giving up a goal with just one minute to play, Northeast hoisted the Region XI trophy on the road.

Hawks on the Region XI All-Tournament Team included Luca Baltzer (Oberstenfeld, Germany) as the MVP, Paul Einero (Cape Town, South Africa) as the Offensive Player of the Tournament, van der Donk as the Defensive Player of the Tournament, Reagan Maliska (Glasgow, Scotland) as the Goalkeeper of the Tournament and Carew and Jeevan Purewal (Wolverhampton, England) as the two other Northeast players making up the team.

The Hawks finished last season with a record of 7-15 and now just one year later they have downed the defending NJCAA Division II National Champions in the title match. Northeast is now just one win away from advancing to the National Tournament in Pima, Arizona.

STAT SHEET:

Goals: Conor Carew (Carlow, Ireland), Sergio Aspas (Valencia, Spain)

Assists: Teun van der Donk (Rotterdam, Netherlands), Evan Ryan (Dublin, Ireland)

HEAR FROM THE HAWKS COACH:

Head men's soccer coach Adam Potter on why his team found success today:

"Loved our focus and our attention to the details from the start!" Potter said.

Potter on what it means for the team to claim the Region XI Championship:

"Every day this group of young men keep making history," Potter said. "As a group we talked about all the work and sacrifices we all made to get to this moment. It's definitely a massive milestone for this program, but we are hungry for more and the job is not done."

UP NEXT:

Northeast will now head to the Plains District Championship where they will face either Allen County Community College or Pratt Community College. Those two teams will square off in the Region VI Championship Sunday, and whoever wins will be the home team in the district game. The Plains District Championship will take place on Friday at a time that is currently undetermined.

HAWKS HAPPENINGS:

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