UNION COUNTY COLLEGE 1, RICHLAND COLLEGE 0

HERKIMER, N.Y. — For just the second time in more than a decade a school other than Herkimer County Community College or Richland College can lay claim to the NJCAA’s Division III men’s soccer championship. New Jersey’s Union County College Owls earned that distinction with their 1-0 shutout of Richland at Herkimer’s Wehrum Stadium in the 2009 title match Sunday.

Richland, the national champion four of the previous six seasons, dominated play in the first half but was unable to get the ball past Union County goalkeeper Shelson Dorlenus, the most valuable player at the Final Four. Dorlenus stood up to the Thunderducks’ pressure and made two big saves in the 14th minute of play. He took a long, hard initial shot off his chest then recovered in time to reject a second shot from in close off the rebound. A third Richland shot was headed out of bounds by Union County defender Thomas Taylor to help keep the match scoreless.

Richland, which out shot the Owls 9-5, kept the pressure on until the end. Dorlenus slid to smother the ball and cut off a run by Thunderduck midfielder Brett Garrett with 5:15 left in the contest to preserve the shutout.

The only goal came 65 minutes into the match when Kemar Richards converted a second chance into a goal. Richland goalie Damian Peralta had deflected the first Union County shot up and off the crossbar but the ball came back to the front of the goal and Richards knocked it home. Gregory Pogorzelski was credited with an assist.

A push in the box had deprived Union County of a goal five minutes earlier. The Owls had put the ball in the net 12 1/2 minutes into the second half but an official whistled the play dead on the foul in front of Peralta.

Joining Dorlenus in receiving tournament accolades were all-stars Richards, Patrick Osei-Frimpong and Michael Oppong of Union County, Peralta, Brian Benitez and Victor Almendariz of Richland, Christian Parra and Kariym Balthazar of Herkimer, and Oswaldo Hernandez and Thomas Garcia of Nassau Community College.

Prior to Union County, the last championship not won by Richland or Herkimer went to Macomb Community College of Michigan in 2001. Herkimer had won titles the previous two years and added championships in 2005 and 2008. Richland won three in a row in 200, 2003 and 2004 then added back-to-back championships in 2006 and 2007. Herkimer also won the first three titles after the NJCAA split soccer into two divisions in 1994 and Nassau, the other semifinalist this fall, won titles in 1997 and 1998.

Union County’s win also prevented a Richland sweep of the men’s and women’s championships. The Thunderducks’ women’s squad defeated Maryland’s Montgomery College-Rockville 2-1 in their title match prior to the men’s contest Sunday. Richland’s men and women had previously pulled off championship doubles in 2004 and 2006.

HERKIMER COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 4, NASSAU COMMUNITY COLLEGE 1

HERKIMER, N.Y. — The Herkimer County Community College Generals scored three times in the second half Sunday and defeated top-seeded Nassau Community College 4-1 to earn a third-place finish in the NJCAA’s Division III playoffs.

Scoring for the Generals were Kariym Balthazar, Yanik Brudy, Chet Johnson and Gustavo Pereira.

Balthazar, who scored the only goal in the first half, found the net with a header after teammate Joey Lontrato beat a defender on the left side of the field and passed it to a waiting Balthazar near the right post for the 1-0 lead.

Herkimer had two other chances in the first half when both Balthazar and Pereira had open shots on the Lions’ goalkeeper. Demetrios Touros made unbelievable stops against both players to keep his team in the game.

The second half turned Herkimer’s one-goal lead into a three-goal cushion with Brudy, Johnson and Pereira all tallying.

Compiled From Evening Times and Evening Telegram Staff Reports