"I'm so happy for our players and for this school,” said City head coach Osborne Carter. "This is a great accomplishment for them. The CUNY championship was our goal from the beginning of the season, and today we were able to achieve it. I certainly think that we belong in the NCAA Tournament. We will give it our best shot on Wednesday, no matter who we play.”

On a bitter cold and windy day, Hunter gave City all that they could handle as the Beavers were unable to put the pesky Hawks away until the closing stages of the contest. The Beavers opened the scoring in the 20th minute on a goal by freshman defender Richard Lopez (Queens, NY). Following a deflection, Lopez controlled a loose ball in the box and fired a hard grounder into the lower right corner of the net, beating Hawk's senior keeper Daniel Djura (Ridgewood, NY) from ten yards out.

City had numerous opportunities to add to their lead as they dominated most of the first half. However, the Beavers led just 1- 0 at halftime. "I never felt comfortable today,” Carter admitted. "Although I felt that we were the better team, Hunter certainly gave us something to think about in the second half with the way they played. They put up a very good fight and we were fortunate enough to hold on for the win. We certainly had our opportunities to put the game out of reach but could not do so until the very end.”

Hunter missed a golden opportunity to even the score at 1-1 in the 71st minute of action as Hawk's senior defender Baffour Acheampong (Kumasi, Ghana) narrowly misfired on an off-balance attempt from point-blank range, pushing the ball past the left post.

City junior midfielder Santiago Helman (Queens, NY) set-up the Beavers second goal of the game in the 85th minute, as he served a twenty-yard lob from the left sideline directly onto the foot of freshman Vinceslas Colas (Brooklyn, NY), who was streaking down the right side of the pitch. Colas settled Helman's high-arching pass, took a dribble, and then tapped the ball past Djura, who had taken a step towards Colas.

Colas was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament after scoring a goal in all three games, including the game-winners against New York City College of Technology (quarterfinals) and York (semifinals).

"I never imagined that I would be the MVP of the tournament,” Colas said. " I was a bench player at the beginning of the season. I got in better shape as the season went along and became a starter on a championship team. "This is a great feeling,” Colas said.

Each team took eight shots in the contest. CCNY freshman keeper Neal Khalid Salim (Westchester, NY) made six saves to earn the victory.
 

2003 CUNYAC / Brine Men's Soccer ALL-STARS

Bronx, NY- CCNY midfielder Santiago Helman was named CUNY Athletic Conference Player of the Year, as voted by the CUNY Athletic Conference coaches. Helman, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, helped lead the Beavers to their first CUNY championship since 1993. Medgar Evers freshman forward Hugh Chin (Brooklyn, NY) was named Rookie of the Year after finishing fourth in the conference in scoring (1.38 points per game) this past season. CCNY head coach Osborne Carter was selected as Coach of the Year.

Player of the Year
SANTIAGO HELMAN, CCNY, MF, JR 2 goals, 1 assist

Rookie of the Year
HUGH CHIN, MEDGAR EVERS, F, FR 10 goals, 2assists

First Team All-Stars
DAMION BHOORASINGH , YORK, GK, SO 2.27 gaa, 2 shutouts
FRANCESCO ODDO, STATEN ISLAND, D, SO 1 goal, 4 assists
NOEL ESCOTO, CITY TECH, D
FABJON LUMAJ, CCNY, D, FR
ASMIR DZEMOVSKI, STATEN ISLAND, M, JR 15 goals, 4 assists
NOEL WATSON, MEDGAR EVERS, M, SO 4 goals, 10 assists
JASON BOWREY, JOHN JAY, M, SR 6 goals, 5 assists
MARWAN AMER, STATEN ISLAND, M, JR 8 goals, 1 assist
JUAN GOMEZ, CCNY, M, SO 6 goals, 3 assists
DOUEY WRIGHT, CCNY, F, SO 7 goals, 1 assist
ERNAND PELLUMBI, CCNY, F, SO 7 goals, 3 assists

Second Team All-Stars
VALON OSMANI, STATEN ISLAND, GK,SO 0.76 gaa., 9 shutous
RYAN REID, YORK , D, SO
DAVID LOVERCHECK, HUNTER, D, FR
CLINT MCGREGOR, MEDGAR EVERS, D, FR
SERGIO NUSFAUMER, STATEN ISLAND, D, SO
JOSEPH AWADJIE, BROOKLYN, M, JR 5 goals, 2 assists
CHEICK KEITA, YORK, M, JR
SLAWOMIR BALON, JOHN JAY, M, FR 6 goals, 3 assists
BAFFOUR ACHEAMPONG, HUNTER, M , SR 1 goal, 2 assists
CHRIS ABBAS, STATEN ISLAND, F, SR 8 goals, 4 assists
MARLON REID, CITY TECH, F 5 goals, 2 assists

Coach of the Year
OSBORNE CARTER, CCNY

CCNY SET FOR NCAA’S FOR FIRST TIME

City College, under first-year head coach Osbourne Carter, earned CUNYAC’s automatic berth to the NCAA’s on Saturday, beating Hunter College in the final, 2-0. The #6 seeded Beavers are led by junior midfielder Santiago Helman and sophomore forward Ernand Pellumbi (7 goals) and a talented crop of freshmen including CUNYAC Tournament MVP Vinceslas Colas.

The Beavers first round opponent, Wheaton was the winner of the NEWMAC Conference and led by senior midfielder George Thomas (12 goals) and junior back Barry Finnerty (18 assists).

NCAA First Round
Wednesday, November 12 • 1:00 pm
#6 CCNY @ #3 Wheaton (MA)