WEST BABYLON, N.Y. – Six teams will compete for an East Coast Conference Men’s Soccer Championship and the automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Championship that comes with it. With the expansion of the championship field to six teams from four, the ECC Men's Soccer Championship has added a First Round, which will kick off the tournament this Wednesday, November 1.
Championship Central
St. Thomas Aquinas (10-2-4, 7-0-1) is the No. 1 seed after winning the program's second regular-season title in the last three years. After finishing as the tournament runner-up in 2021 and missing the postseason in 2022, STAC bounced back in a big way as the Spartans didn't drop an ECC match this season. Kevon Evans leads the offense with a league-leading 32 points as the forward ties for first in the ECC in goals (12) and sits third in assists (eight) while goalkeeper Calle Olle Petter Gunnarsson boasts eague-leading numbers in goals against average (0.89) and save percentage (84.5 percent). The Spartans receive a bye for the First Round and will host the winner of Wednesday's First Round match-up between No. 4 District of Columbia and No. 5 Roberts Wesleyan.
The second ECC program without a loss this men's soccer season, Mercy (9-3-5, 5-0-3 ECC) earns the other bye with the No. 2 seed and will host the winner of Wednesday's First Round match-up between No. 3 Queens and No. 6 Staten Island. The Mavericks enter the tournament as the defending champions after playing Molloy to a 1-1 draw last season and advancing on penalty kicks (5-3) and have reached three of the last four ECC finals, winning the title twice. Forward Johannes Hanken Tjostheim powers the offense with 12 goals, which ties for first in the ECC, and 28 points, which ranks second while ECC Preseason Defensive Co-Player of the Year goalkeeper Eirik Elvestad tops the ECC with six shutouts, ranks second in goals against average (1.01), and sits third in save percentage (76.4 percent).
No. 3 Queens (8-7-2, 5-3-0 ECC) hosts No. 6 Staten Island (4-6-4, 2-3-3 ECC) on Wednesday evening in Flushing, N.Y. The Knights, who enter the tournament as the league leader in scoring offense with 2.71 goals per match, won the regular-season match-up against the Dolphins by a 2-1 margin back on September 30; Leo Pinto paced the offense that afternoon, scoring early in the first half before assisting on Tommy Gunn's security goal early in the second. Queens' Harry Cooke and Staten Island's Miguel Espinosa each lead their squads with eight goals apiece entering First Round action.
No. 4 District of Columbia (5-6-6, 3-1-4 ECC) hosts No. 5 Roberts Wesleyan (5-6-4, 3-3-2) on Wednesday afternoon in Leesburg, Va. UDC's Sergio Becerra, who ranks second in save percentage (77.4 percent) and third in goals against average (1.22) among ECC goalkeepers, will go up against the ECC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in Roberts Wesleyan's Tamas Nagy, whose 11 goals and 27 points rank third in the league. The regular-season match-up between the two squads ended in a scoreless draw back on September 16; Nagy fired off a team-high two of Roberts Wesleyan's five shots on goal but Becerra made all five stops.
Tickets for each game of the championship can be purchased in advance here. Ticket prices will be $8 for general admission and $4 for senior citizens, students, and children ages 2-5. Children under two will be admitted for free. Ticket prices will increase to $10 for general admission and $5 for senior citizens, students, and children ages 2-5 beginning at midnight on the day of the game. In addition, cash will not be accepted so walkup tickets at the venue still must be purchased through the ECC website (QR code will be available at the gate).
For those not in attendance, all five matches of the championship will be broadcast on the ECC Network. Viewers can tune in at www.eccsportsnetwork.com or by downloading the ECC Network app. To download the app, search "ECC Network" on Apple or Android mobile devices or on Amazon Fire, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku streaming devices.
2023 East Coast Conference Men's Soccer Championship
First Round - Wednesday, November 1
Game 1 – No. 4 District of Columbia vs. No. 5 Roberts Wesleyan - Leesburg, Va. - 2:00 p.m.
Game 2 – No. 3 Queens vs. No. 6 Staten Island - Flushing, N.Y. - 7:00 p.m.
Semifinals – Saturday, November 4
Game 3 – No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas vs. Winner of Game 1 - Sparkill, N.Y. - Noon
Game 4 – No. 2 Mercy vs. Winner of Game 2 - Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. - Noon
Final – Saturday, November 11
Game 5 – TBA vs. TBA; site and time TBD by highest remaining seed