WSOC Takes on Top Seed Delta College at NJCAA Nationals

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BATAVIA, New York --- The Massasoit women's soccer team will compete in its first NJCAA National Tournament in 32 years, when the No. 8 seed Warriors face top ranked Delta College at Genesee Community College on Thursday.

Massasoit (11-0) and Delta (16-0) both boast undefeated records as the pair of unbeatens will match up at 11 AM and can be watched HERE.

ABOUT THE WARRIORS
Massasoit went 9-0 in the regular season en route to winning the Region 21 Championship and earn the automatic bid to the NJCAA National Tournament.

The Warriors defeated Holyoke 1-0 in the regional finals, thanks to a second half goal by freshman Kiana Fernandes.

It marked Massasoit's first regional title since 1999 as the Warriors had reached the finals five times in the past nine years and finally broke through against league perennial power Holyoke CC.

ABOUT THE PIONEERS
Delta, located in Michigan, is aiming for its third-straight NJCAA National Finals appearance and to win back-to-back titles entering Thursday. The Pioneers are undefeated at 16-0 and have won 28 straight with their last loss coming to Brookhaven in the tournament championship back in 2019.

Delta has been ranked No. 1 from the start of the 2021 season and leads the nation in total goals (113) and goals per game (7.06).

To get to the national tournament, the Pioneers, the lone Region 12 Division III team, defeated Harper in the Great Lakes District Semifinals, 19-0, before topping 5-0 in the district finals.

Faith Webber leads the Pioneers and ranks second in the nation with 30 goals on the season.  

NOTHING BUT O's FOR OLMSTEAD
Freshman goalie Ailish Olmstead and the Massasoit defense has put forth an incredible 2021 campaign. For the season, Massasoit has only allowed two goals, with Olmstead letting in only one goal in 10 games in net. The keeper leads the NJCAA in goals allowed (1), goals against average (0.11) and save percentage (.968). She has posted nine shutouts on the season.

FERNANDES FINISHES
Freshman Kiana Fernandes led Massasoit in goals, tallying 19 on the year. The rookie has scored a goal in 10 of 11 games, and started the 2021 campaign with multiple goals in her first seven collegiate contests, including two hat tricks. The 19 goals in a season mark the most by a Massasoit women's soccer freshman since Anya Welch-Batsone in 2018.

Fernandes goal total of 19 ranks tied for seventh in the country.

JIM OF ALL TRADES
Head coach Jim Stapleton, the Region 21 Coach of the Year, led the women's soccer team to its first Region 21 Championship in 22 years and first NJCAA Tournament appearance in 32 years.

Stapleton, in his seventh year leading the women's soccer program owns a record of 55-42-3 overall. Along with coaching women's soccer, Stapleton has also served as the head men's basketball coach. Now in his 20^th season coaching men's hoops, his teams have gone 278-202. Combined, Stapleton is 334-244-3 at Massasoit across the two sports.

No stranger to success, Stapleton coached the men's basketball program to school's only two regional titles and in 2017-18 men's hoops made the program's first-ever national tournament appearance.

AWARDS
All-Region 21 Awards
Kiana Fernandes, 1^st Team
Ailish Olmstead, 1^st Team
Emily Blake, 1^st Team
Zariah Connolly, 1^st Team
Taylor Anzivino, 2^nd Team
Vanessa Dos Anjos, 2^nd Team
Jim Stapleton, Coach of the Year

NJCAA Player of the Week
Kiana Fernandes
Ailish Olmstead