BROCKTON, Mass. ---- The Massasoit men's soccer team treks to Rochester, N.Y., to take on the 15th-ranked Mercer County Vikings in the NJCAA Northeast District Semifinals hosted by Monroe Community College at John L. DiMarco Field on Saturday at 2 PM.
The Warriors (10-5) are riding a 7-game win streak and undefeated in the month of October, after topping the Community College of Rhode Island last Saturday in the Region 21 Championship contest, 2-1.
Massasoit averages 3.93 goals per game, led by freshman forward Charlie Swann's (England) 19 goals and five assists (43 points). Fellow freshman Leon Zaffonato (Brazil) is next in points with 30 (10g, 10a), followed by sophomore midfielder Deivys D'Almeida (New Bedford) with 19 poi+nts (6g, 7a).
The Green and White will be in search of revenge after falling on the road to Mercer County 4-1 in the season opener.
A streak will end on Saturday, as the Vikings (17-3-1), like the Warriors, are on a winning streak of the their own. Mercer County has won nine consecutive matches, and just like Massasoit, has not lost since Sept. 30, going undefeated in the month of October. During that stretch, Mercer has outscored the opposition 46-8 with a total of five shutouts.
The Vikings advanced to the district tournament by topping Essex County 3-1 last weekend in the Region 19 finals.
Mercer County averages 3.86 goals per game and yields only 1.02 per game on average for the season. Offensively, Eiichi Yamaguchi leads the team in goals (24) and points (54), while Adir Versano leads the nation in assists with 24.
Over the last 10 meetings between the two colleges, the Vikings lead the series 5-3-2. Saturday will mark the third meeting at the districts in the past 10 years with the series split 1-1.
The last time Massasoit defeated Mercer was on Nov. 8, 2015 in the district semifinals held in Brockton, 1-0.
With a victory, the Warriors would take on the winner of No. 3 Monroe College vs Monroe Community College, on Sunday at 12 PM in Rochester, NY. In addition, a win in the semifinals would give the Warriors an automatic bid to the NJCAA National Championship, hosted by Yavapai College in Prescott, Arizona, from Nov. 13-18, 2017.
