NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. – The #2-seed and nationally ranked No. 9 Monroe University – Bronx men's soccer team earned a victory in the quarterfinal round of the Region 15 Tournament over #7-seed Rockland Community College, 9-0, at Flowers Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Express (10-5-2) will compete in a Region 15 Semifinal matchup against #6-seed Kingsborough Community College on Wednesday afternoon beginning at 2 p.m. The location will be announced soon.
The full updated Region 15 Men's Soccer Tournament bracket can be seen
here.
"I'm very happy with the performance today," Express Head Coach
Jose Hernandez said. "Winning a quarterfinal 9-0 shows the quality of this group, the way we compete, and the work we've been putting in all season. The players came out with the right mentality, stayed focused, and did a great job executing our game plan from start to finish. At this stage of the season, you have to be ready to compete, and I think the team showed that today. We're proud of this result, but we know there's still work to do. We'll enjoy this win, recover, and get ready for the next challenge. Our goal is to keep moving forward and bring it home!"
In the win over Rockland (5-8-1), The Express scored three goals in the opening half and then added six more tallies during the next 25 minutes to earn the nine-goal win in 70 minutes of match time.
Monroe opened the scoring in the 16
th minute when
Mamadou Bangoura took a feed from
Aliou Diallo and rifled the ball from 25 yards out on the left side and into the back of the net to give the Blue and Gold a 1-0 lead.
The Express struck again during the 29
th minute when
Amedeus Aventurin launched a deep pass to a speedy
Robert Arias who flicked the ball past the opposing goalkeeper and it rolled into the net to pad Monroe's lead to 2-0. Just over two minutes later,
Maynor Palacios found the back of the net to extend the home team's advantage to three goals.
Cheikh Toure was credited with the assist on the play.
Less than three minutes into the second half,
Aliou Diallo added a tally to put Monroe up 4-0. Under two minutes later,
Oumar Barry notched his 17
th goal of the year, extending his program's all-time single-season record.
Brandon Loyola assisted on the Express' fifth goal, his 11
th of the year.
Aliou Diallo scored his second goal of the afternoon in the 51
st minute off an assist by Toure to make it 6-0 in favor of Monroe. Toure then belted a tally off a free kick in the 55
th minute to pad the Express' lead to seven. Bangoura continued the goal-scoring party in the 59
th minute, off a helper by
Hassane Diallo, followed by Toure's second goal of the day in the 65
th minute to cap the scoring at 9-0.
Alanzo McGrath assisted on the final goal of the afternoon.
Toure produced two goals and had just as many assists during the afternoon. He now has 10 goals and six assists this year.
Aliou Diallo provided a brace and a helper.
During the afternoon, Monroe had the advantage in shot attempts, 26-4, and had a 13-2 surplus in shots that were on target. The Express took all three of the match's corner kicks.
Kimany Arzu made two saves to earn the shutout win for Monroe. Cristian Molina Aguilar stopped four shots for Rockland.
For the latest updates regarding Monroe's Region 15 Semifinal match that takes place on Wednesday afternoon, check out
www.MonroeExpress.com as well as our social media channels.
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