Sharks Look To Capitalize On Last Year’s Playoff Appearance

The Miami Dade College men’s soccer team is looking to launch its second act, a year after returning to the national soccer scene after a three decade-long hiatus. 

Last year, the Sharks finished with a strong 13-5-2 record and qualified for the National Junior College Athletic Association playoffs. They lost in their first round matchup to Arizona Western College, a heartbreaking double overtime 2-1 loss.  

Now the Sharks, who were ranked No. 14 in the country before dropping out of the Top 20, are poised to build on last year’s momentum. 

 “Yeah, I mean, we want to compete to try and win a league championship, and win a regional championship, and win a national championship. I mean, why else would you play if you don’t want to win?” said Miami Dade College head coach Giuseppe DePalo. 

The team stumbled a bit at the start of this season going 2-4-2 while playing four teams that were ranked in the top-ten of the national polls. 

They tied top-ranked Iowa Western Community College 1-1 in their first game, lost 2-0 to second-ranked Indian Hills Community College, defeated Monroe University, who started the season ranked 10th in the nation, 2-0 and tied eighth-ranked Illinois Central College 2-2. 

DePalo believes the challenging matches will serve the team well later in the season when they start to click.  

“We’re pretty sound defensively,” DePalo said. “Our goalkeeping is good, our defending is good, and our midfield play has been pretty solid as well.  So [we just have] to put the final pieces together up front.”

To get back on track, the Sharks will count on an experienced group that includes 19 returning players. Among the standouts are forward Facundo Ochoa who was tops on the squad with six assists and added 13 goals and sophomore Cheick Dounkasse who leads this year’s squad with three goals. Goalkeeper Samuel Cavo led the team with 26 total saves in 10 games.

Giuseppe was Coach of the Year and Calvo was tabbed Keeper of the Year.

In addition, Cavo, Ochoa and defenders Jeremy Levivier and Agustin Bezara earned first-team All-Conference honors. 

“I think we have a better team than last year,” said defender Agustin Sinelli. “I think we have more depth. Last year, we had a good season, but [in] the end, we couldn’t get the results we wanted. I think this season, we have a lot more potential to win everything.

That nucleus will blend with 16 freshmen including defender Daniele Malanga from Italy and midfielder Matteo DePalo, who is Giuseppe  DePalo’s son. 

“During the preseason, I really saw our potential, and I think that we’re a really good team that [can] just improve from this point,” Matteo DePalo said. 

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