Haverhill, MA (October 22, 2025) – The Northern Essex Community College men's soccer team picked up a 2-1 victory over Springfield Tech on Tuesday evening and in the process secured the top seed in the upcoming Region 21/Northeast District tournament set to get underway next week. The win improved the Knights record to 7-1 in conference and 10-3-1 overall.

The Knights win also marked the 50^th career win for head coach Eusebio Marote who restarted the program in 2019.

NECC jumped out to 1-0 lead in the 15^th minute which would serve as the loan goal in the first half. Oriol Jean (Haiti) collected a lose ball on the left side of the box and beat the keeper to his short side to stake the Knights to early advantage.

In the early moments of the second half Maxim Chriss (Lexington) would double the Knights lead and also serve as the game winner as he grabbed a rebound off a shot from Gabriel DosReis (Somerville) and collected the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and blasted the shot into the upper corner for a 2-0 lead in the 48^th minute.

Springfield would cut the lead in half in the 64^th minute, but was unable to equalize.

NECC outshot the Rams 17-11 for the match, while putting nine shots on target.

The Knights will now host the Region 21/Northeast District semi-final on Friday October 31^st at 7:00pm against a yet to be determined opponent at Whittier Tech High School. The Knights who have earned the post-season tournaments top seed for a third straight season will be looking for their second consecutive and second all-time championship. The championship game is set for Sunday November 2^nd.