Next Stop for MCC Men: National Championship Tournament

MANCHESTER – The road to Richland is now clear.
The Manchester Community College Men’s soccer team defeated previously unbeaten Suffolk County Community College –Selden with penalty kicks Saturday afternoon on the MCC campus in the NJCAA Division III District 3 Championship. The Cougars (18-2) move on to the National Championship Tournament Nov 8-9 at Richland College in Dallas, Texas.
Jemmy Cange (Norwich) scored three times for MCC in regulation, but the game ended in a 3-3 tie after a pair of 10-minute overtimes. Cange, Stanley Potchoiba (Montville) and Kevin Battista (Enfield) all scored in the penalty kick round while Jeff Gregor (Newington) saved three of the four shots he faced. Battista’s goal, MCC’s third to Suffolk’s one, clinched MCC’s second championship berth under nine-year Head Coach Jim Insinga. The Cougars last trip to the national tournament came in 2002. Gregor made 24 saves over the first 110 minutes.
The win was the 100th of Insinga’s (100-57-7) career at MCC .
“Gregor kept us in the game all the way,” Insinga said with conviction. “From the first minute, through 110 minutes of soccer, then he knocked down the PKs to finish it off.”
MCC won all 12 of its home games and go into the National Championship tournament with a 13 game unbeaten streak. Suffolk County was the toughest opponent the Cougars faced this fall.
“This team was an offensive nightmare,” Insinga said of the Suffolk, who was ranked no.1 in the latest (October 29th) NJCAA Division III Poll. “They just threw players from the flank at us. They had a tremendous attacking team, a good defense and they had us on our heels the whole game. But that’s the way we play. We sit back, we play defense and we counterattack. Defense wins championships.”
Cange, the NJCAA Division III leading scorer, scored on a penalty kick 13 minutes into the game and gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead four minutes into the second half from a Frank Busumbru (Manchester) pass. SCCC-Selden tied the game at 2-2 with a pair of quick goals early in the second half.
“They threw a lot of offense at us,” Insinga said. “We threw a lot of defense at them, we counterattacked and caught them a couple of times and that is how we got our goals.”
Cange’s third goal, his 31st of the season, came 11 minutes into the second half and gave MCC a 3-2 lead – a lead that looked like it had staying power. But in the 85th minute, Mathew Nogaro tied it up for SCCC-Selden (18-1-1) on a bouncing ball in the box.
Suffolk County pressured Gregor from the opening whistle, but MCC struck first when Cange was awarded a penalty kick 13 minutes in.
“After that, I knew we had the momentum,” Gregor, who was slow to get up on two occasions after goal mouth collisions, said. “I knew we would be set as far as the first half goes. We just had to come out hard in the second half. 2-0 we got a little overconfident and forgot the fundamentals, but toward the end of the game we battled hard and did what we were supposed to do.”
Manchester defenders Austin Fetzer (Hebron) and Sel Velic (Hartford) were both injured in the second half and Dennis Cartier played despite severe cramping in his leg. For the second consecutive week, freshmen Alan Tzinis (Rocky Hill) and Ryan Alexander (Torrington) came off the bench and played well with the season and a chance to play for a National Championship on the line.
“We had some injuries that really hurt us on defense, but the guys stepped up,” Insinga said. “But Ryan and Alan came in and just did a tremendous job.”
Gregor stayed in the game despite the violent collisions.
“I got kicked in the head a few times, got kicked around,” Gregor said. ‘Jim told us before that they would have big throws and crosses, so I just positioned myself far enough that I could go get it, but they were physical in the box.”
The overtimes produced several good scoring opportunities at both ends, but Gregor and his counterpart, Adrian Ibanez shut down the offenses over the extra 20 minutes.
“I felt pretty good with Gregor,” Insingsa said of his chances going into the dramatic, high stakes penalty kick round. “I had been telling these guys from about the 80th minute to the 110th minute, I had a feeling that with our defense we were heading to PKs. All I did was work on who was going to take the kicks and in what order.”
Gregor opened the session with a diving save to his right before Cange countered with a goal. Ibanez scored a goal of his own, but could not stop Potchoiba and Battista.
“We beat the no. 1 team in the nation this afternoon,” Insinga said. “It took a lot of work, a lot of grit to come through this. I’m sure the teams down there are going to be just as good, but I can’t imagine having to put as much effort into a game as we did today.”

Men’s soccer

At Manchester Community College
Manchester Community College 3 Suffolk County CC –Selden 3 (MCC wins on penalty kicks, 3-1)
Suffolk County CC-Selden (18-1-1) 0 3 0 0 3
Manchester Community College (18-2) 1 2 0 0 3

Goals; S – Victor Farfan, Farah Toure, Mathew Nogaro; M – Jemmy Cange (3). Saves: S – Adrian Ibanez 16; Jeff Gregor 24. Goals on PKs: S – Ibanez; M – Cange, Stanley Potchoiba, Kevin Battista.