Roadrunner Earn Fifth Seed in National Tournament

By GARY STALLARD

AC Athletics

            There may have been a little less drama, but there certainly was no less excitement when Angelina College hosted its “Bracket Reveal Watch Party” Tuesday on the AC campus.

            The gathering celebrated the Roadrunner men’s soccer team, which qualified for the upcoming NJCAA Division I National Tournament kicking off on Sunday, Nov. 12 in Wichita, Kansas.

            AC earned its berth by beating Tyler Junior College 2-1 in Friday’s Gulf South District Final. The automatic bid was the reason for the lack of drama as compared to AC’s 2022 watch party, when the Roadrunners had to wait and see if they’d earned an at-large bid.

            Now, the ‘Runners know they’re Wichita-bound, and they know their opponents – and one of those teams is definitely familiar.

            The Roadrunners (13-0-2) will open the tournament’s pool play as the overall No. 5 seed. AC joins 4^th seed (and defending national champion) Monroe College (NY) and No. 9 seed Cowley College (KS).

            Cowley and Monroe open the tournament on Sunday, and the Roadrunners get their first match against Cowley at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. AC then faces Monroe at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday to close out pool play. Last year’s Roadrunners lost an overtime thriller on penalty kicks to Monroe in the opening round of the national tournament’s pool play in Melbourne, Florida. The Mustangs then moved on to capture the national title.

            This year’s four pool winners advance to Thursday’s semifinal round. The championship game takes place on Saturday, Nov. 18.

            All the matches take place at the Stryker Athletic Complex in Wichita. Pool matches will be live streamed on the NJCAA Network (subscription service), while championship game will air on an ESPN channel.

            For updates, check with the Angelina College Athletics web site (angelinaathletics.com).

            For further information, contact AC’s Sports Information Director at gstallard@angelina.edu.

            Link to NJCAA Network: https://www.njcaa.org/network/live