On Wednesday, Sept. 7 the NECC Knights Men’s Soccer team opened the 2022 campaign by defeating Southern Maine Community College 3 to 1 at Portland, Maine.

Both teams were warming up before the game doing their normal pre-game routine. The referee called the captain of both teams for a toss up to see who would get the ball first.

It was Southern Maine getting the ball first by winning the coin toss from Northern Essex.

The referee blew the whistle at 4:03 p.m. for the start of the game.

The Knights 10 minutes in into the game did a quick change — it was Sem Millambo of Lawrence who came in for Zack Mahaba of Boxford.

The Knights’ first foul came 15 minutes into the game by Andrew Valdez of Lawrence.

On the 26 minutes the Knights were awarded a penalty kick. It was Jonathan Diaz of Methuen who took the shot and scored the first point of the game to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.

On the 31 minutes a foul was called on Jake Igoe of Haverhill. Southern Maine was awarded a free kick.

Six minutes between his first goal Diaz did it again, his second goal of the game put the Knights 2-0.

On the 41 minute the referee pulled a yellow card to Gabe Moreira of Dracut.

I had a chance to talk to head coach, Coach Eusebio Marote after the game and asked how important was having a 2-0 lead at the half.

 “It’s huge we’re going into the second half, you know being in the good end of it …gives you more confidence that you finished off the game on top,” he said.

The Knights in the first half had nine shots on goal while Southern Maine had seven. The Knights also had three corner kicks while Southern Maine had none. Both teams committed three fouls while Knights goalkeeper had four saves in the first half and Southern Maine three. In the first half the Knights just had one yellow card while Southern Maine none.

On the 48 minutes of the game Sam De Amorim of Methuen cored the third goal of the game. All three goals for the Knights were unassisted, two from Diaz and one from De Amorim.

On the 52 minutes Matheus Moreira of Dracut  was issued with another yellow card which means he had two yellow card which equals a red card. The Knights played the final 38 minutes with one man short.

On the 68 minutes the Knights goalie Anhuar Ramos Garcia of Nashua, New Hampshire, was issued a yellow card.

Coach Morate was issued a yellow card for arguing the call in the field during the 71 minutes of the game.

“I personally spoke one time about a foul on one of my players that I thought it was dangerous play, I think he didn’t see it, you know my players could get really seriously injured. I’m here for my players I had to talk about it because it got on scene overlooked, I think we deserve a penalty in that situation so it was a little miscommunication I guess with me and the ref. At the end of the day it is what it is I believe it was my first one as a coach so it’s going to happen one day,” he said.

Southern Maine first yellow card of the game came in the 74 minutes. It was David Wilson of Merrimac.

Emerson Murillo of Haverhill had a yellow card in the 75 minutes.

On the 82 minutes Laszlo Dorogi of West Boylston scored the first goal for Southern Maine, an assist of Eriksen Shea of Freeport, Maine.

Southern Maine outscored the Knights in the second half on shots on goal 14 to 3 .

“We were a man down like 38 minutes left in the game,so being with a man down obviously a lot more tired to go forward, you got to defend a little harder. Teams are putting a little bit more pressure on you so at that point you focusing on not allowing a goal keeping the lead three goal up so it’s a good cushion trying to defend out we finished it off,” Coach Marote said.

The Knights had four saves in the second half while Southern Maine one. Both teams had two corner kicks while the Knights had seven fouls and Southern Maine two.

NECC Knights Women’s Volleyball are practicing and working really hard for this upcoming season. Their season is set to begin on Sept 8, against New Hampshire Tech on the road.

 Their head coach is Mike Pelosi of Haverhill.

Coach Pelosi will be entering his fourth season managing the club.

Coach Pelosi and his coaching staff did a little work over the off-season to improve this volleyball team and hopefully when the season ends to reach the ultimate goal, which is winning the Region 21 championship.

“…I would say preparation will be the big piece, I think we had some good talented players last year but we just not spend a good quality time on the court to get our self prepared for the game we practice but I thought we could’ve practice harder and longer and then definitely getting there getting warmed up properly and be ready for the beginning of the match so those are two big areas I think we have a group that is much more committed this year and willing to put in all the time necessary to get us to that high level,” Coach Pelosi said.

One thing that Coach Pelosi learned from last season and wants to work on for this upcoming season he mentioned more buy in.  “I think one thing as I’m trying to make more collaborate process with the players is there is more buy in. So rather for example coming into practice being on time rather than just sanding out of the player punish them if they don’t comply actually having them come together and create their own set of rules so they can hold each other accountable,” he said.

Coach Pelosi said before he recruits a player to be on the team he looks at their attitude and determines if a certain player will fit in or not on his team.

“I look at attitude a lot I think assistant Coach Marissa [Reardon] and I are very good at teaching the sports, so attitude it’s a big piece so if we have a player show up consistently have a positive optimistic outlook making effort to get along with their teammates and a big one is accept feedback, if they want to accept feedback and put in a good effort that’s critical. We also look for a lot of fundamental skills and I would say basic athleticism it’s pretty important thing so we can get them we can progress them very quickly on their volleyball skills if they already had good hand coordination and a good balance and also players that are willing to fill in a role it’s very helpful…” he said.

Coach Pelosi and I talked about the team members that they lost last year either because of academic  issues or transferring to another college/university.

He mentioned to me “… When I first took over the position I set certain bench marks for myself to measure my own success the first one that comes to mind is win record but that’s not the only one. Another one of my major bench mark is attention retention rate.  How many players come back and it’s consistently been lower than I hope. I was hoping for at least 50 percent or higher retention rate.  We usually about 30 percent of a third of the players come back. Initially I interpreted that maybe I can do things a little bit better but I had conversations with other volleyballs coaches from other community colleges and find that that number is fairly consistent so we do lose a lot of players. We have some players transferring out that’s one thing, academics is always a challenge so we tried to provide a lot of suggestion and support for players academically to help them be successful academically…” he said.

One of the returning athletes  who is playing in  her second year for the Knights Women’s Volleyball team is Ashley Dominguez of Lawrence. Dominguez last season for the Knights played in just 10 matches.

I asked her the adjustment that she and her teammates are doing to become a better volleyball player than what they already are.

“I think that all of us had made pretty good adjustment we trying to make sure that we be  consistent with serves, consistent with getting all those balls even if their  out. I think we just making little tweaks that is going to help us in the long run hopefully,” Dominguez said.

They still don’t quite have a lot of chemistry together but they are on the right path. “I think right know we’re getting our chemistry, we’re learning a lot from each other, we are learning how we played, we are learning how we communicate on and off the court in our own way to make our team successful,” she said.

One difference that she noticed this season than last year is the team as a whole is  bonding faster and she hopes that will transfer over in the court.

One of the recruits for this upcoming season is Eliany DeJesus of Lowell.

I asked her if she played women’s volleyball in high school and does she thinks the competition is  going to be harder now in college?

“Yes, I did play women’s volleyball at Lowell High School and I do think  the competition is  going to be a lot harder just because it is the collegiate level but I can’t wait for what the season has to bring for me and my girls,” she said.

Is she nervous  or excited for the season to start in a few days?

“I am some-what in between just because I have taken volleyball off for a year but I know that with practice we will get it together and work great as a team,” she said.

She also said to me one area that she got better in was serving and she has been more consistent with her toss. One area that she would like to work on more is passing the ball to her teammates.

In order for her to stay on her school work and not be left behind in her courses she is going to use the support that Northern Essex has, which is academic coaching and academic advising.

She is currently majoring in Criminal Justice.

Another recruit for this upcoming season that will be playing for the Women’s Volleyball team is Eliany’s twin sister Kiana DeJesus of Lowell.

“I feel high school and college it’s a very different level. I played at Greater Lowell Technical High School and Kingsborough for about three years and took one year off and the way that we played high school it’s very different from collegiate volleyball but I also think high school does give you a little prep… but overall college volleyball it’s a little bit harder than high school volleyball,” she said.  

She is very excited for the season to begin this upcoming Thursday and to see different talent and bonding more with her teammates and be a better volleyball player than what she already is.

Some of the improvement she has made is that she is better at is reading the ball and getting there faster she wants to improve on confidence, she said. She mentioned to me that she has “lack of confidence”.

She had different offers to play in college for example Salem State and SNHU. She choose Northern Essex because her family lives in Haverhill and Lawrence.

She is looking forward to creating memories with her teammates during the season. “Memories last a life-time and people could be here today gone tomorrow but I’m looking forward to the memories, bus ride home, the laughter, hanging out as a team,” she said.

She currently majoring in Behavioral Science.

Last season NECC Soccer had a rough year. They are looking to bounce back this upcoming season and hopefully winning the ultimate goal which is winning a Region 21 championship.

They are working really hard over the summer to prepare for this upcoming season and looking for a different result than last year and to turn the page.

NECC soccer head coach is Coach Eusebio Morate, Morate told me some of the improvements that they did for this upcoming season.

“… What we did was we recruited hard we went to a lot of high school games local schools like Methuen, Haverhill, Lowell, Winter tech and stuff like that,.” “We got some new recruits this year, I think we have nine new returners and about 10 to 11 recruits so this year we should have more depth in the bench that will help us, guys will get tired well have some good sub in the bench to keep the game level high…” he said.

I asked coach Morate a hard question I ask him which returner that was on the team last year that is in the team this year that he is most impressed by? 

 “It’s a hard one I believe all the guys that  came back last year and worked hard this summer… a couple in particular Zack [Mohaba] and Javier [Bushell], two guys that are leaders on the team they been running captain throughout the summer always communicating with me and see how the guys are doing so I think they will be impactful players for us this year,” he said.  

Samuel De Amorim of North Andover got recruited by Coach Marote and his coaching staff.  De Amorim got recruited during a soccer game that he played against Dracut he also had offer to play for Quincy University.

“ I chose NECC [be]cause I like how coach talk to me I like how he came up to me and showed me everything here and that’s pretty much it”  De Amorim said.

Zak Mahaba of Boxford it’s know playing in his second year for the Knights “Me personally I just been non stop grinding during the off-season in the gym in the field…” he said.  Also Mahaba said that he has faith on the team.

Education it’s a big issue if you don’t have your grades up you can’t play sports. So, I ask Mohaba how he is able to stay on track with his school work while playing soccer ?

“For me personally I usually have my classes in the mornings from the morning until practice I’m in the library  eating lunch and doing my school work until practice” Mohaba said.  Mohaba he currently majoring in computer engineer. 

On Mother’s Day May 8, the NECC Knights faced Community College of Rhode Island (CCRI) Knights  in the championship game for the Region 21 tournament in  Fraser Field in Lynn.

The NECC Knights defeated CCRI 13-1 to become Region 21 champions.

Todd Tringale of Saugus was on the mound for the NECC Knights and for the CCRI Knights it was Jacob Sanantonio of Carston R.I.

First pitch was at 12:04 p.m. Tringale walked the leadoff hitter Dylan Barlow of Warwick, R.I. but Tringale settled himself by striking out the next three hitters.

The CCRI first baseman Rafael Rodriguez of Providence, R.I. got injured when Richie Williams stepped on him. Carlos Molines Berrocal  of Montreal Canada came in the game to play left field as Marcus Bothelo moved from left field to first base.

The Knights had Williams on first when Jarred Coppola of Lynn hit an RBI triple that scored the first run of the game that followed with Richard Matos de la Cruz’s RBI single.

The Knights were up 2-0 when Clay Campbell of Goffstown N.H., struck out swinging and both runner moved up as the Knights double steal. Lucas Berube of Dighton  ground out to the shortstop as the Knights left runners on second and third as they were trying to break the game open early on.

Tringale strike out two of the three batters that he faced in the second inning.

In the bottom of the second  Kyle Hsu of Brookline N.H.,  lead it off with an infield single. Kameron Levesque of Hooksett N.H.,  was at the plate when Hsu was between first and second. The  catcher threw the ball to the first baseman and Hsu went to second and advance to third on a low throw by the second baseman. Levesque walked as the Knights of Northern Essex had runner in the corner with no one out when Richie Williams was at the plate when Levesque stole second. Williams walked and it was a wild pitch that allowed Hsu to score to make it 3-0 The Knights Bear ground out to a double play that scored the fourth run of the game. White hit a triple. He was left stranded at third as Coppola ground out to short to end the inning.

Tringale struck out two of the three batters that he faced as Tringale worked himself a 1,2,3 inning.

Berube connected a double to left field with two outs in the inning. Hsu hit a line drive to the first baseman and jumped in mid air and almost caught the ball. Instead the runners were in the corners for Levesque as Hsu stole second. Levesque walked as the Knights have the bases loaded for Williams. Sanantonio threw a wild pitch that scored the fifth run of the game. Bothoth runners moved up 90 feet. Williams flied out to right field to end the inning.

In the top of the third Tringale pitched a 1,2,3 inning.

In the bottom of the third inning Bear reached on base on an error on the shortstop which brought White to the plate that he already had two triples heading into his third at bat of the game. White hit an opposite field double to the left field wall that scored the sixth run of the game. Coppola reached on a the ball that landed between center and right field. Matos De la Cruz knocked home the 7th run of the game on a sacrifice fly. Campbell double over the head of the left field the Knights had the runner in second and third when the pitcher throw a wild pitch that allowed the 8 run of the game.

CCRI Knights change their pitcher they bring in to pitch Matt Winn of Cranston, R.I., to Berube the first pitch that he saw he hit a fly ball to left field that knocked home the 9 run of the game.

On top of the 4th inning Santonio reached on a error on Hsu that couldn’t came up with the scoop cleanly with one out in the inning. Charos Pena of Providence R.I. ground out to a double play to end the inning.

In bottom of the fourth with two outs in the inning, Bear walked, which brought White at the plate where he was he is already 3 for 3 with three extra base hit. White reached on first on the shortstop he bobbled it and couldn’t came up cleanly. Coppola walked. The Knights had the bases loaded with 2 outs when Matos de la Cruz struck out  swinging to end the inning.

In the top of the 5th inning after Tringale quickly got the first two out. He walked he walked Dylan Barlow and he struck out Caleb Harri, he made him to chase on a high pitch to end the top of fifth.

CCRI Knights brought Nate Campbell of Johnston, R.I., to pitch the bottom of the fifth. Campbell got things going for the Knights with a base hit and Berube walked and the Knights got two runners on with nobody out. Luis Colon of Lawrence came to pinch hit for Leveque. He e hit a sacrifice fly that scored the 10th run of the game and the Knights were up 10-0. Williams single to extend the Knights lead 11-0 Kevin Rodriguez of Manchester N.H., came and pinch hit for Bear as he hit a fly ball to short to end the inning.

Jack Swarbrick of Haverhill came in the ball game to replace Tringale. Joseph Settle of Melbourn FL.,  came to replace Levesque on right field and Nick Panzini of Methun came and replace Berube behind the plate.

After Swarbrick got the first out of the inning on a strike out he walked the next two batters that he faced. The pitching coach Evan Glew came and Swarbrick got his rhythm back striking out Molines Berrocal on a 1-2 pitch. Swarbrick hit Pena while Bothelo was batting Swarbrick allowed a wild pitch that scored the first run of the game for CCRI. On a 3-2 pitch Bothelo strikeout on a high pitch that would’ve been ball 4.

CCRI brought Dlyan Barlow  of Warwick R.I. to pitch in the 7th inning. The Knights went quickly as they did not score.

On top of the inning the eighth Knights  brought Thomas Catteneo of  Guilford, CT to pitch. He pitched a 1,2,3 inning and a great catch by Hsu in first robbed a base hit to end the inning.

In the bottom of the 8th inning Nick Panzini of Methuen doubled then Hsu hit a double as the Knights went back to back double to drive home the 12th run of the game. Two outs in the game Williams walked the Knights had two runners on for Rodriguez he scored the 13th run of the game on a fly ball error that the third baseman dropped the ball. White hit a fly ball to right fielder and made the sliding catch to end the inning.

Catteneo just gave up a hit to the lead off batter then he retired the next three batters that he faced with a line out and two ground out as the Knights defeated CCRI to win the Region 21 championship.

After the game Coach Mejia told me “it was great. It was a good feeling, the boys worked really hard for that. You know the players are the ones who won championship this team is a tight team, they finished a complete season undefeated in New England…” he also mentioned “I just told them to enjoy it. This his school has been playing baseball since the early 80s and it’s only the ninth time in school that we were able to win a regional championship…” Mejia said.

Nick White was named the Most Outstanding Player of the Region 21 Tournament.

“I was definitely surprised I didn’t play on Thursday I was out with a little shoulder issue I came back and continue doing what I am doing. I am happy to have it, very blessed,” White said.

On Saturday May 7th the number 1 seed NECC Knights faced the number 2 seed Massasoit Community College in Frasier  Field in Lynn, Massachusetts. The winner of this game would advance to the NJCAA Region 21 championship game on May 8th.

Knights defeated Massasoit 6 to 1 to advance to the Region 21 championship game.

NECC Knights warmed up doing their pre-game routine before the game taking ground balls and hitting in the cage.

The Knights had Jayden Volker of Coventry, R.I., on the mound. Volker struck out t the side in the first inning.

Massasoit had Josh Perez of Fall River on the mound with 2 outs in the inning. Nicholas White from Townsend walked, which brought Jarred Coppola of Lynn to the plate. White stole second on the very next pitch Coppola hit a single up the middle to score the first run of the game. On a 3-0 count Richard Matos de la Cruz of Boston hit base hit through shortstop. Clay Campbell of Goffstown, NH was at the plate when the Knights completed a double steal. They had runner on second and third, a chance for Campbell to score two more runs but instead Campbell struck out looking to end the inning.

Volker had Massasoit in check striking out 2 of the 3 batter and retiring the first 6 batters that he faced so far including striking out five batters already. This is confusing

The Knights had runners on first and second with two outs when Chris Bear struck out swinging to end the second inning and the Knights did not scored.

Volker with one out in in the third inning hit Kyle Cummings of South Easton following a walk to Franciso Navarro of Chirique, Panama. Max Kelly ground out to a fielders choice with two outs in the inning .Matt Kelly flied out to the center fielder as Volker escaped in and out of trouble as Massasoit did not score.

On a 2-0 pitch Nicholas White got hit by pitch in the leg. White remained in the game after Coach Jeff Mejia and the trainer came and checked on him. Coppola was at the plate when White advanced to second on a wild pitch. Coppola walked.

The Knights was set up first and second nobody out with one of their best hitters Richard Matos de la Cruz swung and missed a ball in the dirt, a good block by the catcher but it was enough for both runners to move up 90 feet. Matos de la Cruz brought home the second run of the game on a sac fly to center. Campbell walked Joseph  Settle  of Melbourne, FL on a 1-2 pitch he flied out to center field. It was enough for Coppola to advance to third.

Perez threw the ball to first to try to pick off Campbell from first, instead Perez threw the ball away which Campbell advanced to second and third on the same pitch. Berube walked and the Knights had runners in the corners with two outs. That would will be it for Perez allowing 3 runs, runners in base is his responsibility.

PJ Moniz of Berkley came to pitch when Levesque was at the plate when the Knights scored the fourth run of the game on a double steal. The catcher threw the to third and the third baseman threw the ball back to home as White was safe. Levesque fly ball to second to end the inning.

On the top of the fourth inning with two outs in the inning Berube throw out the runner trying to steal second to finish the top of the 4th inning.

With one out in the bottom of the 4th inning Bear reached on base on a throwing error by the shortstop. White was batting when Bear stole second. The Knights had runners in scoring position with one out. White struck out swinging on a curve ball. Bear advanced to third on a wild pitch when Coppola was batting. He e struck out looking on a curve ball that clipped the inside corner of the plate.

Volker struck out the side in the 5th inning. Massasoit brought a new pitcher in the fifth inning, it was David Lawrence of New Bedford.

In the bottom of the fifth inning Campbell walked and he got thrown out at second trying to steal for second out of the inning. Settle ground out to the third baseman to end the inning.

Volker was on the mound to begin the 6th as he has been brilliant all game long. He gave up a base hit to Nick Thineault of Bridgewater to lead off the bottom of the six Matt Kelly ground out to a double play a nice sliding catch of Settle to end the top of the 6 inning.

In the bottom of the 6th inning the Knights went quietly.

On top of the 7th inning the Knights brought a new pitcher, it was Alex Sweeney of Raymond, NH. He came and did the job, retiring the three batters that he faced during the inning.

On the bottom of the 7th inning with one out White hit a double between center and right. Coppola followed with a 2 run home run through left field. Matos de la Cruz got hit by pitch. Kevin Rodriguez of Manchester, N.H. came and pinch run. Rodriguez got caught stealing trying to advance to second.Campbell walked. Kyle Hsu of Brookline N.H., came and pinch hit for Settle.

In the top of the eight inning Sweeny came on to pitch for his second inning of work. He pitched a 1,2,3 inning.

In the bottom of the eighth inning Jomar Angel Cruz of North Easton came to pitch for Massasoit. The Knights went quickly as they did not score.

Tyler McDonald of Haverhill came to relieve e in the 9th with two outs. He gave a single to Matt Kelly and Evans connect with a RBI double to make it 6-1 ball game as Jadon Ricci of South Easton ground out the second baseman for a 6-1 Knights win.

I asked Coppola after that game if he ever played in a Region 21 game.

“ I’ve never played in a Region 21 game just because of COVID I feel like every year we definitely would but it never happened because of COVID and we are excited to get through tomorrow,” Coppola said.