Roadrunner Soccer Earns Fifth Seed in National Tournament

Date:

AC to Kick Off Quest for Title Nov. 14 in Wichita

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 4th 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 the championship game will air on an ESPN channel.

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

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

Gary Stallard
Sports Information Director Gary Stallard, who also serves as a Liberal Arts Instructor, begins his eleventh season with Angelina College. Following a career as a U.S. Marine, Stallard completed his bachelor’s degree at Stephen F. Austin University, where he majored in English and Journalism. For more than 16 years, he has worked as a sports writer/columnist/photographer for the Lufkin Daily News; he continues to contribute free-lance articles on occasion. Stallard has won several awards for writing, including the Golden Hoops Award for basketball writing in 2003, Regional Sports Writer of the Year in 2004, and the Texas Press Association’s first-place award for column writing in 2007 and in 2014. He has also done basketball, football and baseball radio and live streaming play-by- play and color commentary for an ESPN affiliate. Currently Stallard serves as play-by-play broadcaster for AC basketball, baseball and softball games. Prior to arriving at Angelina College, Stallard taught English at Lufkin High School for four years. He currently teaches Developmental Writing classes at AC. He and his wife Susan live in Lufkin.

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