MIDDLESEX COLLEGE MEN'S SOCCER TOPS MONTGOMERY, GAINS #5 SEED IN REGION 19 TOURNAMENT

Middlesex College Men's Soccer has wrapped up another successful season under Head Coach Javier Velasco and has learned their fate for the Region 19 NJCAA playoffs.

The Colts, who went 10-3-2 in Region 19 play among Division III teams, gained the #5 seed in the eight-team field and will face off against #4 seed Raritan Valley. Game time is set for 2:00PM on Tuesday October 28 at Raritan Valley. It was the first season in at least a decade that Middlesex registered 10 wins against Region 19 Division III teams.

The winner will take on the winner of #1 Ocean CC vs. #8 Sussex CC to qualify for the NJCAA Division III National Tournament.

Last season the Colts advanced to the finals, falling one game short of a National Tournament berth.

The Colts wrapped their season with a 4-0 win over Montgomery CC. It was their sixth shutout win of the season, a total only surpassed by seven other teams in the country.

Against Montgomery, Justin Grigouli (Freshman/Piscataway, NJ) staked Middlesex to a 1-0 halftime lead with a goal in the 35^th minute. Joseph Garcia (Freshman/South Plainfield, NJ) gave Middlesex a 2-0 cushion 17 minutes into the second half and Folakunmi Folami (Freshman/Nigeria) and Daniel Cerdas (Freshman/Dunellen, NJ) put the game away with goals late in the half.

Sebastien Grisales (Freshman/Rahway, NJ) turned away all five shots he faced in goal for Middlesex.

Garcia and Samuel Rodriguez led Middlesex with 10 goals each this season. Rodriguez, a standout forward for the Colts, led the team with seven assists and 27 points. His 27 points were the fifth most in Region 19 and placed him in the top 20 nationally among NJCAA Division III schools.

Jayvian Mandry was third on the team with 17 points. He notched seven goals and had four assists on the season. Isaiah Scott also added four five goals and two assists from his defensive position and was a force for the Colts in all aspects of the game.

Grisales served as the primary goalkeeper for Middlesex and went 6-4-2 on the season. He played 14 total games this season and didn't allow a goal in half of them.

Maksym Hrunskyi also shared time in goal with Grisales, starting five games, going 4-1 in those starts with a 1.94 goals against average.

Under Velsaco, the Colts have put together four straight winning seasons with a combined record of 36-20-9 during that time. Middlesex received votes in the NJCAA National Division III Poll multiple weeks this season. This year's success comes with just four sophomores on the roster this year.