Johnson County Community College
Press Release

College Information and Publications
913-469-8500
Julie Haas, Director, ext. 3120
Peggy Graham, Writer, ext. 3425
Tyler Cundith, Sports Information Director, ext. 3122

Cavaliers Split Against Ranked Teams

OVERLAND PARK, KS -- The Johnson County Community College men’s soccer team earned a split against two of the top teams in the NJCAA last weekend.  On Saturday, JCCC lost a tough match to No. 4 Yavapai College, 4-3, then rebounded for a 3-2 win over No. 11 South Suburban College on Sunday afternoon,  a rematch of last season’s semifinal match a the NJCAA Tournament.

Against Yavapai, the Cavaliers took an early 1-0 lead when sophomore Austin Dowling found the back of the net on an assist from Lucas Rodriguez just two minutes into the contest.  That remained the score until Yavapai's Mike Randolph tied the game at the 55-minute mark. Two minutes later, Tyler Hasman gave the Roughriders its first lead, scoring on a rebound off of JCCC’s goalkeeper Mark Lenahan.

With 10 minutes to play, Randolph netted his second goal on a penalty kick, giving Yavapai a 3-1 lead.  The Cavaliers cut their deficit in half at the 82-minute mark when Jason Jacob was perfect on his penalty kick. However, the Roughriders responded three minutes later when Husman made a strong one-on-one move for his second goal of the match.

The Cavaliers again fought back as Rodriguez fired a shot past the Yavapai keeper at the 87-minute mark, but the Cavaliers ran out of time. The loss was JCCC’s first of the 2005 season.

On Sunday, JCCC again jumped out to the early lead, scoring three first half goals. Rodriguez scored first on an assist by Matt Iverson nine minutes into the contest. Thirteen minutes later JCCC made it 2-0 when Iverson found Daniel Martinez for his first goal of the season.  JCCC’s third goal came with just three minutes left in the first half by Doug Stelle, with the assists going to Jonathan Baldwin.

South Suburban showed why it is one of the top ranked teams in the country, storming back in the second half with goals by Antancio Romo and Mario Diaz. Fortunately, Lenahan and the JCCC defense put the clamps on and hung on for their third win of the 2005 campaign.

JCCC will look for win No. 4 on Wednesday, Sept. 7, when they travel to Iola, Kan., for a match against Allen County.  The Cavaliers lead the all-time series with Allen County, 28-1-0.