By Amber Dowdy
LocalSportsJournal.com

The Muskegon Community College men’s and women’s soccer teams are about to begin postseason play.LSJ Logo incert

The men’s squad finished the regular season with an overall 7-8-1 record and a 3-5 mark in the Michigan Community College Athletic Association.

The Jayhawks will begin regional play against Schoolcraft College on the road on Wednesday.

The men’s roster was freshmen-heavy this year, and Coach Ben Ritsema said inexperience hurt the team at times, but they hung tough, finished close to .500 and qualified for regionals.

“We did well on adjusting to the pace of the college game at the beginning of the season, but as we played nationally-ranked teams, we struggled for sure,” Ritsema said.  “Some games were better than others, but with a young team you do get inconsistent play.”

One freshman who did not struggle very much this year was Jebenal Rodriguez, who led the team in the regular season with seven goals.

“Jube had a great season for us,” Ritsema said. “He is calm under pressure and always came ready to play. He scored some big goals for us this season. I would say that he exceeded expectations that I had for him and his impact on the team was very impressive.”

Sophomore Miguel Flores, last year’s leading scorer, had six goals and nine assists.

The women’s team finished the regular season 3-8-1 overall and 2-6-1 in conference play. The Jayhawks will begin regionals on Saturday against Schoolcraft College at Grand Haven High School.

The women’s team was led in the regular season by freshman forward Brianna Wade with six goals. She was followed closely by sophomore standout Alyssa Benedict, who landed five goals.