Senators Win Back-to-Back Championships

STONE RIDGE – The defending Mid-Hudson Conference Champions hosted the Mid-Hudson Conference Championship game on Wednesday for the second consecutive year in a row, taking on Westchester Community College. Senators would successfully defend their title, defeating Westchester by a score of 1-0.

The Senators dominated possession and tempo for most of the contest but were unable to capitalize early. The score was 0-0 until an Anthony Murcia goal during the 41:00 min, assisted by Modou Badjie. The Senators held the advantage on total shots 27 to 5, shots on goal 11 to 3, and corner shots 6-2. Cody Baker finished with 3 saves for the contest.

“A great team performance from the guys tonight,” said head coach Jamal Lis-Simmons. “I’m extremely proud of the way we played and our mentality throughout the game. Anthony Murcia came off the bench today and made an immediate impact with the goal. We dominated possession and tempo most of the game and created a lot of quality opportunities, but we didn’t take our chances and they’re keeper made a few big saves, he was definitely their man of the match.”

With the victory, the Senators win back-to-back conference titles for the first time since 2011-2012.

“This is another big moment for our program and establishes the standard that we’re looking to achieve moving forward,” said head coach Jamal Lis-Simmons. “Big shout out to our 6 Sophomores, Jesus Martinez, Modou Badjie, Erick Alvarez, Odirlei Thomaz, Edwin Cuesta, and Anthony Mendez. These guys are a huge reason for the success of our program over the last two years. They leave Ulster undefeated in conference play over the last two years (10-0), with 2 championships and only allowing 3 goals in those 10 conference games.”

“Respect to a good Westchester team, they showed great character throughout the game and made it difficult for us,” continued Lis-Simmons. “This has been a very intense rivalry over the last few years and in a great show of respect and sportsmanship both teams joined for a photo at the conclusion of the game.”

The Senators now look to prepare for the Sub-District Tournament. They will take on Mercer Community College in the first round Saturday, October 29th in Trenton, NJ. The start time for that matchup is 12:30 p.m.