After a 17-year drought, Nassau Community College captured the 2015 NJCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Championship with a decisive 4-0 result over eighth-seeded Bunker Hill Community College in Massachusetts recently. An integral part of the Lions defense was Mineola High School alum Eric Lopez.
No. 3-seeded Nassau (21-2-1) was led by a balanced effort on sides of the field as its offense received goal scoring contributions from four different Lions, while the defensive backline surrendered just two shots on target. Lopez played three years of varsity soccer at Mineola, graduating in 2015. He was All-Conference selection as a senior and was also selected to play in the Nassau-Suffolk All Star game. He was also a team captain.
Following a goal from Reece Dalton in the 36th minute with help from Frank Minton, the momentum was in the Lions favor as continued to overwhelm the Bulldogs (16-8-0) at the start of the second half. As a freshman at Nassau, Lopez walked on to the team and played in 21 of 24 of games starting in the national semi-final and final.
“This is a great accomplishment for a fine young man who has always worked hard to improve himself on and off the field,” Mineola High School soccer coach Paul Pereira said.
After a few missed chances early into the half, Nassau eventually added to its lead with strong effort by Benjamin Alonge who tallied his second goal of the tournament at the 63rdminute to make it 2-0. NCC struck again 15 minutes later to push the margin to 3-0 as Dylan Drasin’s cross from the left side found Marvin Eveillard as he recorded his 35th goal of the season.
Franky Villegas then secured the national title hopes for the Lions as he gave NCC a 4-0 lead in the 89th minute.
Prior to the trophy ceremony, Nassau’s Dan Fisher was named Coach of the Tournament while Alonge earned Tournament MVP honors. The victory marks the third national championship earned by the men’s soccer program with the previous titles being claimed in 1997 and 1998.
