CC Men's Soccer 10/20/2014 10:42:35 AM

BMCC, QCC Look to Capture CUNYAC Soccer Title

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The #1 seed Borough of Manhattan Panthers are set to face off against the #2 seed Queensborough Tigers tonight at the Metropolitan Oval at 7pm for the 2014 CUNYAC Championship.

Tickets are still available for tonight's game. StudentsFirst Rewards Program Members will receive 20 Points for attending.

Last season, the veteran-laden Tigers defeated the Bronx Broncos 2-0 to capture their 5th CUNYAC Championship in program history. This year, Queensborough will rely heavily on a talented group of freshmen to lead them in their quest to defend their title.

"We have a young team and we've never won the Championship back-to-back years, so there's more pressure on us this year," said Queensborough head coach Zef Kabashi.

First year player Abdul Majitabuh scored a hat trick in Queensborough’s final game to propel himself into 2nd in CUNYAC with 7 goals scored this season. Rookie teammates Kevin Zhagui and Manuel Amaya rounded out the Tigers’ young, balanced offensive attack, finishing tied for third in the conference with six goals apiece. Amaya also led the conference in assists with five.

Queensborough went 3-1 in conference play this season and 7-3 overall. In the season opening game, the Tigers played a hard-fought game against BMCC, taking three separate leads during the game. However, the Panthers clawed back each time and ultimately went on to win the contest 4-3.

"We lost our first game against BMCC and worked on fixing our mistakes from that game all year," said Kabashi. "It's going to be a tough game tonight, but the ball rolls both ways. We're looking good and feeling good, and I'm confident going into this game."

The top-seeded Panthers rebounded well from a down year in 2013, going undefeated in CUNYAC play (4-0) and leading the conference offensively with 34 goals scored and defensively with only 11 goals allowed. The team went 7-2-1 overall.

"It's been a good season," said BMCC coach Modou Seck. "We expected to have the opportunity to play for the CUNY Championship at the beginning of the year and we're happy to be there. We think we've got a good chance to win it and hopefully we can carry momentum into the Region XV playoffs."

Itamar Pereira, the Panthers leading scorer in 2013, returned this season to lead CUNYAC in goals this year with eight. Teammate William Grajales netted six goals, which tied him for third in the conference, and rookie standout Jonathan Lopez had five goals total.