BRONX, N.Y., October 19, 2018 – Following an 8-3 (8-2 Region XV) regular season, Monroe Express men's soccer enters the 2018 Region XV Championship Tournament as the No. 2 seed. The Express will take on seventh-seeded Rockland Community College on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. at Pace Stadium in Pleasantville, N.Y. in the Region XV Championship Quarterfinals.
 
In their second season under Head Coach Giorgi Manzula, the Express outscored their opponents, 43-20, averaging 3.91 goals per game.
 
After opening the season with a 2-1 loss to Westchester Community College, the Express bounced back to upset then fifth-ranked Borough of Manhattan Community College, 1-0.
 
Following another loss in their only non-conference matchup to Essex County College, Monroe rallied off three-straight wins over region foes, their first of two three-plus game winning streaks.
 
The Express wrapped up the regular season winning four-straight, all against Region XV foes, bouncing back after a 3-2 loss to No. 3 Nassau to beat Dutchess, 7-0, before rattling off wins against Kingsborough, 10-3, Suffolk County, 2-0, and Rockland, 7-1.
 
For the second-straight season, Mamadou Diombera led the Express with 14 goals, adding six assists for a total of 34 points of 50 shots, all team-highs. Ryan Smart joined Diombera with double-digit goals, scoring 10 to go along with two assists.
 
Elhadj Diallo and Abdoul Sangare each tallied four goals for the Express, while Keshane Bedward and Amadu Jalloh each netted two. Bedward and Rockeem Russell notched four assists, second behind Diombera's six.
 
In goal for the Express, Mustapha Ceesay started 10 of 11 games, making 22 saves en route to a 7-3 record. Fred Guillou picked up the other decision for the Express, making three saves in a 3-2 win over Queensborough.
 
The Express will face a Rockland team they beat, 7-1, in Hillburn, N.Y. to wrap up the regular season on Tuesday. The Hawks finished the season 4-7-1, with a 3-6-1 record against Region XV opponents. David Mota leads Rockland with four goals in six games played, while Patrick Krummack has started 11 games in goal for the Hawks, notching 43 saves.
 
Should the Express advance to the Region XV Semifinals, they'll host the winner of the No. 3 Suffolk County vs. No. 6 Queensborough.
 
The Express will take on No. 7-seeded Rockland on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. at Pace Stadium in Pleasantville, N.Y.
 
Fans can keep up with all the postseason action via the Monroe Express men's soccer live stats page: https://monroeexpress.com/sidearmstats/msoc/summary, as well as on social media via the Express Facebook (Monroe Express), Twitter (@MonroeExpress) and Instagram pages (@MonroeExpress).

ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 26 teams competing across nine sports. There are 18 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's rugby, and the newly added club women's rugby team, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of Monroe's Bronx campus has six teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level beginning with their inaugural seasons in the fall of 2017.
 
For more information about the Monroe Express, please visit us at www.MonroeExpress.com or follow us on social media: Facebook (Monroe Express), Twitter (@MonroeExpress) and Instagram (@MonroeExpress).