After narrowly missing out on qualifying for last fall's NJCAA Division III National Championship Tournament, the Roadrunner Women's Soccer team is back in the hunt for a title run once again -- and this time around they will square off against a familiar opponent in the opening round in Suffolk County College.
The Runners turned in an impressive 13-2-1 overall record this fall, easily beating Middlesex College, 6-0, to win the North Atlantic District A championship on Nov. 1 to earn a berth in this season's National Championships. Last Fall, the Runners lost a heartbreaking Region 19 title game at home on penalty kicks in missing out on a qualifying berth for Nationals.
The tournament will kick off Wednesday, Nov. 13, at Genesee Community College in Batavia, NY. The Roadrunners enter the tournament as the No. 5 overall seed, riding a 12-game win streak and having won 13 of their last 14 matches.
They will meet No. 4 Suffolk County in a 1:30 match in the opening round. The two teams met during the regular season in Deptford, NJ in September, and ironically, finished in a 1-1 tie.
"We're really excited to qualify for the tournament this year, and we feel we can be very competitive," said sophomore goalkeeper Lauren Graham, who notched a shutout in the Regional title win over Middlesex. "We have even more incentive after just missing out on playing here last year."
Interim Head Coach Kenyatta Collins has plenty of firepower on offense throughout his lineup. Freshman Isabella Moore leads all NJCAA Division III players nationally in goals (29), points (66) and shots (96) while teammate Ava Pino leads the nation in assists with 23. Other top Roadrunner offensive threats include freshman Sarah Nasatka, who was named MVP of the Region 19 tournament championship game and who has 20 goals this Fall; Kacey Marshall, who has 11 goals; and Riley Cogan, who has scored 10 goals.
Defensively, the team is solid with Graham emerging as one of the top goalkeepers in Region 19 and center back Rayael Marshall leading a strong defensive line.
The Sharks enter the tournament with a 10-1-3 overall record and an 8-game win streak. Suffolk will rely on leading scorer Briana Alvarez, who has 13 goals, along with one of the nation's top defensive units.
Click Here to View Roadrunner Women's Soccer Roster
https://rcroadrunners.com/sports/wsoc/2024-25/roster
Click Here to View the Suffolk County Women's Soccer Roster
https://njcaastats.prestosports.com/sports/wsoc/2024-25/div3/teams/suffolkcc?view=roster
NJCAA Division III Women's Soccer
National Championship Tournanent
Nov. 13-17, 2024
Genesee Community College / Batavia, NY
NJCAA DIII Women's Soccer Championship Results
First-Round Games
https://www.njcaa.org/sports/wsoc/2024-25/div3/national_championship/National_Championship_Results