Cincinnati State Hosts CCBC-Essex For North Central District Title Saturday

By Robert White/Cincinnati State Sports Information

Cincinnati, OH---The Cincinnati State men's soccer team will host the Community College of Baltimore County-Essex in the NJCAA North Central District championship game on Saturday, Nov. 3.

Saturday's match features two of junior college's perennial powers. Indeed, two years ago Cincinnati State and CCBC-Essex played for the same title. Cincinnati State won that contest, 2-0, en route to a berth in the finals of the national championship.

This season Cincinnati State compiled a 13-5-1 regular season record and tied for the Ohio Community College Athletic Association title. The Surge then won the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 12 tournament, capped by last weekend's regional championship victory against Schoolcraft College.

Cincinnati State has jumped back into the top ten in the NJCAA national poll, ranking No. 9 in the country. CCBC-Essex, which has won its regional title each of the past three seasons, enters Saturday's game ranked No. 20.

"We feel really good going into Saturday's game," said Cincinnati State sophomore Justin Mitchell, the team's leading scorer with 46 points on the season. "The best part about this group of guys is that we all buy into a team concept," added Mitchell, an All-Region 1st Team player who has scored in seven of his last eight games.

Saturday's district championship game will be held at the Xavier University soccer complex starting at 2 p.m. The winner will advance to the NJCAA National Tournament hosted by Darton State College in Albany, Georgia.

Throughout Saturday's game, Cincinnati State will be accepting donations on behalf of the Red Cross to help those affected by the devastation of Hurricane Sandy.

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Cincinnati State (www.cincinnatistate.edu) offers more than 100 associate degree and certificate programs in business technologies, health and public safety, engineering technologies, humanities and sciences and information technologies. Cincinnati State has one of the largest cooperative education programs in the United States.