Region XI Men's Soccer Tournament preview: MCC vs. Dakota County

2016 NJCAA Region XI Men's Soccer Tournament Bracket

The 14^th ranked Marshalltown Community College men's soccer team will open up the 2016 Region XI Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will host No. 7 seed Dakota County Technical College at 3:00 PM on Wednesday afternoon.

The Tigers (13-3-1/12-3-1), ranked No. 14 in this week's NJCAA Division I poll, and the Blue Knights (7-8) will square off in postseason play for the second straight year. As the top-overall seed in 2015, MCC defeated Dakota County 6-1.

TIGERS CLOSE OUT REGULAR SEASON RANKED NO. 14

MCC is 12-4-0 all-time vs. Dakota County, including a 4-2-0 record in the Region XI Tournament. The Tigers closed out the 2016 regular season winning four of their final five matches while the Blue Knights enter postseason play on a six-match losing streak.

2016 marks the fourth time the Tigers have received the No. 2 overall seed dating back to 2005. During the stretch, the Tigers have never been seeded lower than No. 3. 

Freshman Kino Ryosuke (Hyogo, Japan/Takigawadaini) has led the Tigers offensively with 16 goals and a total of 38 points on the year which both rank second in the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference. Six other Tigers have scored at least four goals this season for MCC.

Defensively, sophomore Rafael Pereira is tied for first in the ICCAC with a 0.78 goals against average and nine total shutouts while playing the most minutes of any keeper in the conference. Fellow sophomores Pedro Oliveira (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil/Colegio Estadual) and Fernando Gutierrez (Ibiza, Spain/I.E.S. Algarb) have anchored the back line for the Tigers.

The Blue Knights have been led by Hamza Abujalil's 11 goals and 12 assists on the year. Tony Branca has posted a 3.25 goals against average in net for the Blue Knights.

Iowa Western Community College, ranked No. 3 in the latest NJCAA Division I poll, received the top-overall seed in the upcoming tournament. The Reivers, who defeated MCC in the 2015 Region XI Championship in double overtime, will host No. 8 seed Northeast Community College on Wednesday. The Hawks defeated No. 9 seed Scott Community College in Monday's play-in game.

Other tournament pairings on Wednesday feature No. 3 seed Iowa Lakes Community College vs. No. 6 seed North Iowa Area Community College. Fourth-seeded Indian Hills Community College will entertain No. 5 seed Iowa Central Community.

The four teams to advance to the semifinal round will square off at the Cownie Soccer Complex in Des Moines, IA on Saturday afternoon. The championship match will be held at the same location on Sunday afternoon.

BY THE NUMBERS (2016 Totals)

LAST 5 MEETINGS vs. DCTC

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