Muskegon CC men's soccer defeats Lakeland CC 3-1 for NJCAA Region XII Championship

The Muskegon Community College men's soccer team won the 2019 NJCAA Region XII men's soccer championship on Sunday with a 3-1 victory over Lakeland Community College at Grand Haven High School. With the win the Jayhawks improve to 15-3-0 on the season. Lakeland season concludes with a 11-4-0 record. 

Muskegon jumped out to an early lead just 3:36 into the match when Ilias Varnavides scored unassisted to give them a 1-0 lead. The crowd had hardly settled back into their seats when Ricardo Sandulli found Pablo Real-Vasquez at the 5:25 mark to double the Jayhawks lead. In the 25th minute, Lakeland would cut the lead in half when Mikkel Quist scored on a pass from Matt Dobson. The score remained 2-1 at half time. 

Early in the 64th minute, tournament Most Valuable Player Evan Fles scored unassisted to seal the 3-1 victory. Muskegon dominated play out-shooting Lakeland 28-7 and had a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks. 

The Jayhawks now advance to the NJCAA Division I men's soccer Northeast District this week. Muskegon gets a bye into Saturday's championship game where they will play the winner of Monroe (NY) Community College and Prairie (IL) State College in Chicago Heights, IL. If they Jayhawks win they will advance to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in Tyler, TX.