Six members of the Region 21 and Northeast District champion Northern Essex Community College men’s soccer team were named to the All-Region teams as announcedNov. 7. Highlighting the selections were Jadiel Bomfim (Nashua, NH) who was named Co-Regional Player of the Year, and Eusebio Marote who was named Region 21 Coach of the Year.
The Player of Year Bomfim was joined on the first team with three of his teammates in goalie Will Paganini (Derry, NH), forward Sam Lucena (Tyngsborough) and midfielder Nikos Kakavitsas (Athens, Greece). Second team honors went to center-back Jonathan Lopes (Nashua, NH) and midfielder Christian Colem.
Marote, who was hired to restart the program prior to the 2019 season following a 20-plus year hiatus has led the Knights to their best season in school history. He picked up his 40th career win in last week’s championship game.
Bomfim, who repeated as player of the year led the region in scoring for the second consecutive year as he recorded 15 goals and seven assists for 37 points on the season. He was also named the NJCAA Player of the Week back in mid-September when he recorded a five-goal week in a pair of wins against CCRI and NHTI. Heading into the national tournament he has 42 career goals in his two seasons with the Knights.
Paganini, a two-year starter in goal for the Knights lands on the All-Region first team for a second consecutive year as he has played all but two minutes of the season in goal for the Knights and recorded an .857 save percentage to go along with a .75 goals against average. He’s recorded nine shutouts on the season and from September 24 through October 22 recorded a shutout streak that spanned 571 game minutes. He was named the NJCAA Goalie of the Week the week ending October 20th.
Lucena has made an immediate impact on the field for the Knights in his first season. He finished second on the team in scoring, which was also good for second in the region with 11 goals and four assists for 26 points. He recorded a hat trick back on September 10th in the Knights 8-0 win over NHTI.
Kakavitsas finds himself on the all-region team for a second consecutive year as he earned second team honors in 2023. A stronghold in the defensive midfield he’s recorded two goals and two assists on the season.
In his rookie campaign, Lopes has been a stronghold on the backline for Knights which held the opponent to just 12 goals in 16 games. Offensively he’s contributed three goals and assists on the season while causing problems for the opposition’s attack on the offensive end.
Colem, playing primarily on the outside backline, has generated plenty of offense as he leads the region with 11 assists and has seven goals of his own for 25 points.
Women’s Volleyball
Three members of the Northern Essex Community College women’s volleyball team earned All-Region honors as announced by the region Nov. 7. The Knights finished the season with a 13-8 overall record and finished as Region 21 semi-finalist.
Ashley NivarMartinez (Lawrence) was named to the All-Region First Team, while Cherly BritoRosario (Lawrence) picked up second team honors, and Nileyshka Rigual (Lawrence) was named honorable mention.
This is the second career All-Region recognition for NivarMartinez as she led the Knights attack and finished second in the region with 171 kills which amounted to 2.67 kills per set. Defensively she added 165 digs which led the team and ranked fifth in the region.
BritoRosario ranked among the top setters in the region as she dished out 304 assists on the season for an average of 4.28 assists per set, both of which ranked fourth in the region. From the service line, she also served up a region-best 85 service aces. Defensively she picked up 186 digs which also ranked fourth in the region.
Rigual played a key part in the Knights’ attack and ranked fourth in the region and second on the team behind NivarMartinez in kills with 134. She also added 139 digs and 56 service aces in her rookie campaign.
