Herkimer College will send its men’s groups on tour as it acts as host of the NJCAA Division III national tournaments that begin Wednesday.
Herkimer’s men are ranked as Region III-A champions protecting national champion Dallas College-Richland for their eight-team tournament at Genesee Community College.
Mohawk Valley Community College will join local enthusiasts at the Herkimer’s Wehrum Field tournament. The undefeated Mohawk Valley are third in a tournament with protective champion Dallas College-Brookhaven, winner of two of the last 3 national championships, and Delta College of Michigan, two-time runner-up in Brookhaven and winner of Brookhaven in the spring. Season played between the two, seeded in front of the Hawks.
The tournaments have replaced venues since last fall when women played in Batavia. The men’s tournament has been played in Herkimer each and every season since 2009.
The game begins at 11 a. m. on Wednesday at either venue with the semifinals on Friday and championship games on Sunday at 1 p. m. Comfortable games will be played on Wednesdays on Thursday.
The women of the NJCAA to Herkimer for the first time since 2009. Richland earned the name that year in a four-team tournament with Mohawk Valley finishing third.
Mohawk Valley, undefeated and without a draw (14-0-0), makes the Utica short with an organization of players whose family, friends and the best teammates and coaches of the school will also have shorts to encourage them. Twelve of the Mohawk Valley 23 players have played in the top schools of the Center State Conference and five in the schools of the Tri-Valley League. Kylee Rickard is a sophomore who played across the border from Section II in Canajoharie.
More: Local high school stars take the field at the NJCAA Women’s Soccer Tournament
Sauquoit Valley rookie Alyssa Shepherd (12-13), Gillette (22-17), Bates (16-13), Sauquoit Valley rookie Alyssa Shepherd (12-4) and Poland’s second-placed Jordyn Squire (6-11) are top scorers while goalkeeper Hannah Pcola, Mt. Markham, allowed two goals in 12 starts.
The Hawks earned their Region III name with an 11-1 victory over Finger Lakes Community College.
Mohawk Valley will play the final quarterfinal on Wednesday, scheduled for 6:30 p. m. Start against Rowan College of South Jersey-Gloucester (10-5-0), seeded No. 6. The game begins with Brookhaven (13-0-1) and Anne Arundel Community College of Maryland (5-7-0) at 11 a. m. m. Genesee Community College (10-3-1), the time Region III begins and the fourth seed, plays at 1:30 p. m. opposite Ocean County College of New Jersey (8-2-0), and Delta (1four-1-2) faces Bristol Community College (10-four-0) of Massachusetts at four in the afternoon.
Brookhaven beat Mohawk Valley 3-1 in the fall semifinals. Delta beat Mohawk Valley 5-1 in the spring semifinals in Cranford, New Jersey.
Brookhaven won 2-1 in last year’s name-names matchup.
Mohawk Valley is a two-time champion. The Hawks last won 10 years ago at Tompkins Community College and earned their first name in Herkimer in 2003.
The women played their last tournament in Herkimer in 2009. Wehrum Stadium was intended to be the site of the 2020 tournament before the coronavirus pandemic delayed the season until the spring semester and venues were changed.
Richland beat Herkimer 3-0 last fall in the fifth assembly of the two schools in a national championship game. Schools are ranked 1-2 this year for the fourth time in 10 years with corresponding records of 13-0-1.
Herkimer returns to the tournament with 2021 All-America Ali Somow, a local graduate of Thomas R High School. Proctor d’Utica and the top scorer of the Generals with 11 goals and seven assists. Somow had two goals and two assists in Herkimer’s 6-0 shutout at Jefferson Community College, while goalkeepers Cathal Carney, a freshman from Springfield, Massachusetts, and Jon Bovair, a Canastota sophomore, played a role and made two saves.
The Generals earned their regional name by defeating Onondaga Community College 3-1 on Halloween Eve at Tompkins Cortland. Carney made 3 saves while Onondaga scored only the goal so far against Herkimer this season. Nichlas Kamfjord, a senior from Norway: the country city of Herkimer County, scored two of the goals, while classmate Yamato Fujishima had two assists and rookie Shuntaro Morimoto, his compatriot from Japan, scored the other goal.
Kamfjord (8 goals – four assists), Fujishima (7-9) and Morimoto (6-3) are among the 17 foreign generals and the 3 most sensible scorers after Somow.
Carney had allowed one goal until the regional final. He played a goalless draw in overtime against the Mohawk Valley men and blanked Ulster Community College in a game the Generals won 1–0 with a golden goal from Somow in the 109th minute.
The Generals will play at four p. m. On Wednesday he opposed Raritan Valley Community College of New Jersey (11-3-1), the seventh seed. Richland meets No. 8 Community College of Rhode Island (7-6-1) at 11 a. m. m. to start the day, and at 13:30 the game will be Camden County College (13-2-0) of New Jersey vs. No. five from Suffolk County Community College (14-2-0) on Long Island. Genesee (13-3-2), the other access of the III Region and seeded No. 3, plays the schedule of 18:30 hours. party. One last drink on the court of his house in front of No. 6 Anne Arundel (11-4-0).
If they had the best seed in the quarterfinals, Herkimer and Genesee would meet in Friday’s semifinal. The Generals won 2–0 when the teams played in Herkimer on October 5.