Men's soccer team focused heading into national tournament

The Eastern Florida State College men's soccer team will open the NJCAA Division I National Tournament on Sunday afternoon.

The road to Wichita, Kansas began being paved that week in Melbourne as the freshmen watched a national champion get crowned on their field.

"We knew how important it was for us to get here, we watched it last year at our place, seeing how many people show up and we were missing out," sophomore defender Ryan Thomas said. "It was a real motivation for us and we got that across to the freshman class really early. We have worked to get to this moment. For the sophomores, this is our final chance to win something, we are excited."

And when they take the field against Murray State at 1:30 p.m., it will mark the program's return to the national tournament for the first time since 2019.

That season the Titans reached the National Championship Final, falling short of a national title. It is the only time a men's soccer team has played in the championship game.

 "For us sophomores, this has been the goal since last year and we know this is our last chance, but even for the freshman if we can make history and win a title, it will change their careers as well," captain George Wyatt said. "Every team win can change everyone's lives at this point."

It has been a long season for a group that comes in as the No. 2 seed and is 15-1, but for this group the season is just beginning and they are excited to show what they can do on the big stage.

"We know that it is lose and go home now, there is no room for error but at the end of the day what we have done together so far is what we need to do moving forward," Thomas said. "Just keep the intensity, we have shown that we can go to difficult places and get the result and in Kansas the environment is not what we are used to but it is just another thing we have to get used to. We have been building toward this moment. Work hard, keep doing what we have been doing and you never know what can happen."

Fans can watch the games live online at the NJCAA Network for $12 per day or $20 for the championship pass which does not include semifinals and finals which will be shown on ESPN+.