CMCC men fall in PK’s to #1 Seed in Their First National Soccer Tournament Appearance

Virginia Beach, VA (CMCC) – The CM men's soccer team was seeded forth in group with number one Five Towns College and fifth seeded Penn State Beaver in pool A.

CM's first match was against number one Five Towns College Saturday evening.  Just seven minutes into the game Mohamed Abdikadir was tackled at the top of the box but managed to pass to forward to team captain Abdibaari Hersi.  Hersi finished strong and the Mustangs took a 1-0 lead.  Both teams played a hard and physical style but with just 3.43 left in the first half, Mohamed Matan broke free on a breakaway and was able to slide a ball across the middle an unmarked Abdirahman Daud.  The score remained 2-0 at halftime.

Five Towns came out hard in the second half and took the lead with three goals in the first fifteen minutes.  The first was scored by Angel Chavez.  Chavez then combined with Joel Funez who scored the second goal.  Funez also scored the third goal; this one assisted by james Habert.  The change of momentum stunned the Mustangs but with 4.45 left in the second period, Mohamed Matan turned at the top of the box and fired a blistering shot at goal to tie the game.  The tie remained and after two ten-minute overtime periods, the game proceeded to penalty kicks.  Five Towns scored on all five of their penalty kicks and Franklin Funtues came up with a big save to give Five Towns the win.  Noah Wilkerson had five saves for the Mustangs.  Steven Paguada had two saves before leaving the game with an injury.  Franklin Funtes made five saves after taking over. 

Coach Wallace said after the game, "we put on a good show tonight.  We knew Five Towns was the number one seed for the tournament, but the team and staff prepared for two weeks, and the results speak for themselves.  They showed our program can contend with the best in the USCAA.  Our guys have a lot of passion for the game and participating in the national tournament is going to continue to be our expectation. 

Wrapping up pool play CM will face Penn State Beaver Sunday afternoon.  However, with a 2-0 record in pool play, Five Towns wins pool A and will go to the national championship game on Monday, November 15^th.