Wilmington, NC --- The Sea Devil Women's Soccer and Men's Soccer Programs begin their respective roads in the 2016 NJCAA Region 10 Conference Tournament this week after each program had a strong 2016 regular season.
"We are excited to be representing our soccer program and Cape Fear Community College at the NJCAA Division I Region 10 Tournament this weekend at WRAL Soccer Park in Raleigh. We continue to grow and evolve as a team in a very positive direction. The task at hand is to be prepared to play in the semifinal match on Saturday," said Sea Devil Women's Soccer head coach Ryan Deppa in his pre-tournament presser on Tuesday.
The Sea Devil Women's Soccer Program led by second year head coach Ryan Deppa, finished their regular season (14-1) overall, and (11-1) in Region 10 Conference play. Coach Deppa's squad enters the tournament after closing out the regular season with a (5-0) home victory over USC Lancaster on Saturday, October 23. With that overall record the Sea Devil Women's Soccer program clinched their second straight regular season Region 10 Conference Title.
"[I'm] happy for our team to get another shutout and I'm happy for them to finish the home season undefeated. That's not an easy thing to do, and it's just another special thing they've put together this season."
Sea Devil Women's Soccer will play in the 2016 NJCAA Region 10 Conference Tournament semi-finals on Saturday.
As for the Sea Devil Men's Soccer Program, at the helm is first year head coach C.W. Ponton whose team finished (3-12) overall and (3-11) in Region 10 Conference play. Their three wins of the season came against Wake Tech Community College and twice against USC Lancaster.
The Sea Devil Men's Soccer team will head to Spartanburg, South Carolina to take on the Pioneers of Spartanburg Methodist College (12-4) overall, and (12-2) in Region 10 Conference play in the 2016 NJCAA Region10 Conference Tournament Play-In-Game.
"I am very confident in our upcoming game Wednesday. While SMC may be nationally ranked we have proven that we can hang with them. We just need to hold our intensity the entire game and I expect us to come a way with the W," said Coach Ponton.
2016 NJCAA REGION 10, DIVISION I SOCCER TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Location: WRAL Soccer Park (7700 Perry Creek Rd), Raleigh, NC 27616
Ticket Prices: $5 (Per Game)
Team Coverage: @SeaDevilWSoccer (Twitter), @GoSeaDevils (Twitter), @CapeFearMensSoccer (Instagram)
NJCAA Region 10, Division I Women's Soccer Tournament Schedule:
The First Round/Play-In games MUST be completed by Wednesday, October 26th, 2016 are as follows:
#1 Seed Bye Cape Fear CC
#7 USC Salkehatchie (0) @ #2 Spartanburg Methodist College (7)
#6 USC Lancaster (0) @ #3 Louisburg College (6)
#5 Wake Tech CC (0) @ #4 Patrick Henry CC (3)
SEMIFINALS - Saturday, October 29th, 2016 @ WRAL Soccer Park Raleigh, NC
Game 1 - #4 Patrick Henry CC vs. #1 Cape Fear CC - 12:00 p.m.
Game 2 - #3 Louisburg College vs. #2 Spartanburg Methodist College - 2:30 p.m.
FINALS - Sunday, October 30th, 2015 @ WRAL Soccer Park Raleigh, NC
Women's Championship Game – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner - 12:00 p.m.
NJCAA Region 10, Division I Men's Soccer Tournament Schedule:
The First Round/Play-In games MUST be completed by Wednesday, October 26th, 2016 are as follows:
#8 USC Lancaster (2) @ #1 Louisburg College (8)
#7 Cape Fear CC (0) @ #2 Spartanburg Methodist College (8)
#6 Wake Tech CC (1) @ #3 Patrick Henry CC (3)
#5 Richard Bland College (1) @ #4 USC Salkehatchie (0)
SEMIFINALS - Saturday, October 29th, 2016 @ WRAL Soccer Park Raleigh, NC
Game 3 - #5 Richard Bland College vs. #1 Louisburg College - 5:00 p.m.
Game 4 - #3 Patrick Henry CC vs. #2 Spartanburg Methodist College - 7:30 p.m.
FINALS - Sunday, October 30th, 2016 WRAL Soccer Park Raleigh, NC
Men's Championship Game - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner - 2:30 p.m.
2016 SEA DEVIL WOMEN'S SOCCER REGULAR SEASON RECAP
The Sea Devils 2016-2017 roster featured nine returners and 12 newcomers, as well as Volunteer Assistant Coach Chris Murray. The Sea Devils started out the season with seven consecutive shutouts, outscoring their opponents (31-0) before conceding a goal in their (5-1) victory over Louisburg College on September 28 (31 days without allowing a goal).
The Sea Devils lone loss in the regular season came on the road in a (0-2) defeat to Patrick Henry Community College; Cape Fear finished (8-0) in home games. Following the loss to the Patriots, the Sea Devils rattled off four straight victories to close out the season, holding their opponents to only two goals scored, compared to Cape Fear's 21 goals scored.
Sophomore forward Alyssa Coustenis finished as the team's leading goal scorer with 15 goals in her 15 game appearances (11 starts); Coustenis would also finish tailing seven assists for a season total of 37 total points. Also leading the offense is freshman midfielder/forward Sierra Raynor who finished with 14 goals in her 13 game appearances (9 starts); Raynor finished also with 10 assists for a season total of 38 total points.
Freshmen Janessa Annis and Alaina Capps are two other offensive players to watch, with Annis tailing seven goals and five assists in her 10 game appearances, while Capps tailed six goals and seven assists in her 14 game appearances.
An experienced unit led by six sophomores of Emily Valenti, Raime Cooper, Allyson McLamb, Emily Bessey, Maranda Oliver, and Gabby Serpa were the backbone of the midfielders this season, providing leadership offensively in goals scored and assists, but also defensively by holding opponents to only eight goals scored this season in 15 regular season games.
As for the Sea Devil netminders, freshmen Elizabeth Ethridge and Kenedy Green, each had strong regular seasons; Ethridge made 14 game appearances (10 starts) with a 0.50 Goal Against Average on 51 Saves (.911 Save%), while Green made 10 game appearances (5 starts) with a 0.61 GAA on 23 SV (.885 Save%).
2016 SEA DEVIL MEN'S SOCCER REGULAR SEASON RECAP
The Sea Devils 2016-2017 roster featured five sophomores, and 15 freshmen, as well as the return of Volunteer Assistant Coach Chris Harper, and new Volunteer Assistant Coach Richard Yakubu, the former Sea Devil defensemen from 2015-2016.
Cape Fear Men's Soccer would finish (3-12) overall and (3-11) in Region 10 Conference play. Their three wins of the season came against Wake Tech Community College and twice against USC Lancaster.
Nine players on the 2016-2017 soccer squad scored at least one or more goals this season for the Sea Devils. Leading the way offensively were sophomore midfielder Brian Leite, freshman midfielder Alfredo Martinez, and freshman midfielder Pedro Ugarte each with 2 goals scored this season.
Defensively, a freshman led unit led the way with Isrrael Orrego, Andrew Barton, Keaton Simmons, and Alex Degrassi played valuable minutes in their game appearances this season for Coach Ponton and the coaching staff.
Sophomores Andrew Barton, Cristian Calderon, Brian Leite, and McCartney Barrier, provided valuable leadership on the pitch throughout the season by showing high levels of intense play and strong communication to teammates.
As for the Sea Devil netminders, freshman Martin Zambrano and redshirt freshman Daniel Alecio provided the minutes in goal this season for the Sea Devil Men's Soccer program. Zambrano and Alecio would combine to allow 4.59 GAA, 117 Total Saves (Zambrano-94, Alecio-23), .693 Save% (Zambrano-.729, Alecio-.657), and 984:00 minutes played (Zambrano-772:22, Alecio- 211:38).
Freshmen Travis Anttila, David Graham, Dan Jacobo, and Carlos Ochoa each recorded their first career goals this season as well for the Sea Devils.
SHARE YOUR SUPPORT TO SEA DEVIL SOCCER
Share your support to the Sea Devil Soccer program this week and weekend during the 2016 NJCAA Region 10 Conference Tournament by following the teams' on their respective social media outlets.
Sea Devil Women's Soccer Social Media:
Twitter: @SeaDevilWSoccer
Instagram: @SeaDevilWSoccer
Official Hashtags: #InSquadWeTrust #SeaDevilWSoccer
Sea Devil Men's Soccer Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/capefearmenssoccer/
Instagram: @CapeFearMensSoccer
Official Hashtags: #SeaDevils #CapeFearMensSoccer #SeaDevilMSoccer
SEA DEVIL 2016 NJCAA REGION 10 TOURNAMENT COVERAGE
Sea Devil Men's Soccer vs Spartanburg Methodist Men's Soccer: Preview (Available Tomorrow)
Sea Devil Women's Soccer vs TBA Women's Soccer: Preview (Available Friday)
Courtesy of Trent Brinkley
