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Courtesy Photo / Delta College Athletics
Delta College captured the NJCAA Division III national championship in women's soccer last week, going 3-0 and capped the incredible run with a 3-0 victory Sunday night over Mohawk Valley CC.
BY DAN STICKRADT
WEB AND CONTENT EDITOR | DIRECTOR OF NEWS
MICHIGAN SOCCER NETWORK | NATIONAL SOCCER NETWORK | PREMIER MEDIA GROUP
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BATAVIA, N.Y. – Delta College is back on top once again.
The Pioneers, ranked second in the nation entering the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III national tournament, competed on the national stage for eighth consecutive season. Delta College capped off a storybook and perfect season on Sunday night with a 3-0 victory over Mohawk Valley Community College in a game played at Genesee Community College.
The NJCAA title was its second in five years and first since the 2020 season for Delta.
The Pioneers were 3-0 at the national tournament, held Nov. 12-17, and posted three shutouts with a 17-0 scoring edge at the event. Delta also defeated Rhode Island Community College (6-0) in the quarterfinals and Suffolk Community College (8-0) in the national semifinals to aid the tournament sweep.
Delta College, coached by Damon Amey, finished the season with a perfect 15-0-0 record. The Pioneers also finished 7-0-0 to win the Region XII conference title during the regular season – their eighth straight Region XII title. Amey was tabbed NJCAA Division III National Coach of the Year for the second time in his career after guiding his team on a memorable journey without a loss or tie and capped with the national championship.
Amey’s Pioneers were dominant this season, outscoring the opposition 88-4 with 12 shutouts. Delta College recorded clean sheets in 12 of 15 games (.800 percentage of games played ended in shutouts), averaged 5.87 goals per game offensively, while the team defense was simply stout after posting a paltry 0.27 goals-against-average.
Only three teams were able to score on the Pioneers – Schoolcraft CC (2-1 on Sept. 18, Jackson College (4-1 on Oct. 19) and Joliet CC (11-2 on Nov. 1). The team ended the 2024 campaign with four straight clean sheets and posted shutouts in five of its last six games.
Sophomore Anna Sabo (Grand Blanc HS) played either on the backline or at holding midfielder this season and earned NJCAA Most Valuable Defensive Player at the national tournament, where the Pioneers never conceded a goal.
Freshman forward Isabella Workman (Saginaw Heritage/Nationals-Blue Girls Academy) was named the NJCAA Tournament MVP after scoring five goals in the three games to lead the Pioneers. Workman led Delta College with 16 goals and one assist for 33 points this season and is one of five Pioneers to score at least seven goals this season.
A total of 24 player registered at least one point this season and 20 different players scored goals during the campaign.
Workman, who finished tied for ninth in the NJCAA in goals scored, netted what proved to be the game-winner at the 30:08 mark to put her team into the driver’s seat. Sophomore Peyton Pratt (Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg) provided the assist on the first goal.
Sophomore Kendall Jackson (Rochester) scored an unassisted tally just 37 seconds into the second half (45:37) to give her team a 2-0 cushion.
Less than two minutes later, Delta struck again, this time off the foot of Sabo, who scored unassisted to cap the scoring at the 47:25 mark.
The Pioneers defense did their part in thwarting everything that Mohawk Valley CC threw their way. Delta outshot Mohawk Valley by a commanding 29-2 margin, including 13-0 with shots on goal, and even held a 6-2 advantage off cornerkicks in the match.
Freshman goalkeeper Mia Warner (Bay City Western HS/Midland Fusion) netted her team’s 12th shutout of the campaign while not collecting an official save in the championship match. Defenders Sydney Lambert, Aidda Freeman, Avery Benjamin, Sarah Sharpe, Kati Roti, Ciara Kelly and Abigail Hendy also aided the clean sheet for the Pioneers, who had 23 different players gain minutes during the national championship game.
2024 DELTA COLLEGE ROSTER
Avery Benjamin, fr. CB (Mount Pleasant HS)
Abygail Burnash, fr. M/D (Flushing HS)
Paige Freed, fr. D (Midland HS)
Aidda Freeman, soph. D (Gaylord HS)
Abigail Hendy, fr. CB/M (St. Johns HS/Nationals-Capital Area)
Ava Hoffman, fr. M (Chelsea HS)
Kendall Jackson, soph. M (Rochester HS)
Ciara Kelly, fr. M/F (Essexville-Garber HS)
Reagan King, soph. M (Midland Dow HS)
Mady Kler, soph. (New Haven HS)
Sydney Lambert, fr. M/D (Midland Dow HS/Midland Fusion)
Mikalah Lewis, soph. D/M (Sterling Heights HS/Nationals Union-Red)
Sadie Locascio, fr. D (Swartz Creek HS/Michigan Jaguars)
Catherine Mueller, soph. M (Freeland HS)
Peyton Pratt, soph. F/D (Middleville Thornapple-Kellogg HS)
Ashlyn Peterson, fr. G (Frankenmuth HS)
Katie Roti, fr. D (Grand Blanc HS)
Anna Sabo, soph. D/M (Grand Blanc HS)
Alaina Schalk, soph. M/F (Midland Dow HS)
Grace Sczepanski, soph. F (Midland HS)
McKenzie Sexton, fr. F (Swartz Creek HS)
Sarah Sharpe, fr. D (Midland Dow HS)
Kaylee Shattuck, soph. F (Port Huron HS)
Molly Siler, fr. M (Mount Pleasant HS/Midland Fusion-Green)
Brooke Swartz, fr. M (Bay City Western HS)
Ella Tucci, soph. M (Big Rapids HS)
Maddy Uhelski, fr. F/M (Bay City Western HS/BASA-Premier)
Alexa Verhelst, fr. M/F (Madison, Wisc., Memorial/SC Wave)
Mia Warner, fr. G (Bay City Western HS/Midland Fusion)
Isabella Workman, fr. F/M (Saginaw Heritage HS/Nationals Girls Academy-Blue)
OLLEGE MEN’S SOCCER: Survive and
(Have a story suggestion for the Premier Media Group and the Michigan Soccer Network regarding club soccer, high school varsity, amateur soccer, collegiate soccer or professional soccer involving teams, players or coaches with Michigan ties, contact Communications Specialist/Web and Content Editor/Director of News Dan Stickradt via email at stickradt@michigansoccernetwork.com or dstickradt@thepremiermediagrp.com, or call 248-884-1051 or 248-525-2349. Dan Stickradt is a 31-year veteran of the Michigan Media circles and recently joined the staff full time in March of 2024. Want to schedule a broadcast game or live show, contact PMG/MSN Director of Broadcasting Jonathan Turner for availability and pricing at jonathan@michigansoccernetwork.com and jonathan@thepremiermediagrp.com.)
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