Danso Explodes with Three Second Half Goals; MCC Wins Region XXI Championship

MANCHESTER, CT – (October 26) – When up against the nation’s leading scorer, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on him. Bunker Hill CC had two players shadowing MCC’s Jemmy Cange (Norwich) and kept the high scoring Cougar offense off the board over a tense, scoreless first half.

The coverage against Cange worked, but opened up opportunities for Joe Danso (West Haven) who exploded for three second half goals as MCC beat Bunker Hill CC 3-0 in the NJCAA Division III Region XXI Championship game Sunday afternoon in Manchester.

MCC (17-2) will host Suffolk-Seldon CC (Long Island, NY) in the NJCAA District 3 Championship on Saturday November 1st. The winner of that game advances to the NJCAA National Championships in Richland, Texas on November 8-9.

Bunker Hill (11-8-1) double-teamed Cange, the NJCAA Division III leading scorer (67 points) with Aloysius Fonta and John Dumbuya and the Cougars didn’t adjust until Danso took a pass from Daniel Boateng (East Hartford) in the 58th minute. The shot settled into the net after Bunker Hill keeper Joao Machado (five saves) played volleyball attempting to defect it away and gave MCC the only goal it would need to keep the season alive.

Despite the shadowing, Cange had Bunker Hill on edge over the course of the game and was able to rip three hard shots on goal in the first half that just missed the net.

“Jemmy was double marked in the backfield for pretty much the first half,” MCC Coach Jim Insinga said after winning his fifth Region XXI title in nine seasons at MCC. “We hung on the whole first half in a defensive set. Shortly into the second half, we started to move players up – we felt we needed to score at that time and took a chance. Once that happened, everything opened up for Joe Danso. He came off the flank and scored three goals in a row to put this thing away.”

Danso scored his second goal 13 minutes after his first when he finished off a Dennis Cartier (Middletown) free kick from 40-yards with a header on a ball that was bouncing in the box. Danso missed an opportunity to complete the hat trick in the 75th minute when he drilled a shot over a partially open net, but cashed in on a Frank Busumbru (Manchester) pass three minutes later to give Manchester the 3-0 lead and the New England (Region XXI) Championship. Danso now has 13 goals on the season.

“We played a lot of defense in the first half,” Danso, who was the 2007 State Champion in the 400 meter outdoor track event when he was a West Haven High, said. “So when we made the change in the second half, it opened up some room for me. During the second half, Jemmy came up to me and told me they had three guys on him so all I needed to do was stay behind him.”

Jeff Gregor (Newington) made five saves and reached through traffic on several occasions to intercept balls and kill potential scoring threats. Gregor flashed some skill in the 75th minute when he dove to the left on a tough shot from close range to preserve the shutout.

“Gregor kept us in the game,” Insinga said. “. He made some tremendous saves. They have a potential All-American in Mohamed Saeed that is just incredibly talented. He put some tremendous shots on net.” Insinga had high praise for the players in front of Gregor as well.

“The guys that played defense really held us in the game and we counter attacked and counter attacked and it came though. We’ve been doing that all season,” Insinga said.

Two of those defenders were Ryan Alexander (Torrington) and Alan Tzinis (Rocky Hill) both freshmen who were thrust into feature roles because of injuries to several key players.

“Our players off the bench came in and did just a phenomenal job,” Insinga said. “

“It’s all about peaking as the season progresses,” Insinga said. “And we’ve improved tremendously in the last two weeks.”

MCC came into the tournament as the sixth ranked team in Division III according to the NJCAA’s latest (October 22) poll. The Cougars are unbeaten at home and have won 12 straight. 13 of its 17 wins have been shutouts.

At Manchester, CT

Bunker Hill CC (11-8-1) 0 0 0

MCC (17-2) 0 3 3

Goals: M – Joe Danso (3). Saves: BH – Joao Machado 4; M- Jeff Gregor 5