Mighty Oaks Teams Compete in USCAA Nationals

The ESF men's and women's cross-country and soccer teams will compete in the 2016 USCAA National Championships Nov. 9-14 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

The men's cross-country team won the HVIAC conference championships last week in Milton, New York. Senior Michael Persson came in first place in the men's race and was named the 2016 HVIAC Runner of the Year. The women's cross-country team placed second in the HVIAC conference championships. Freshman Eden Zickler was named the HVIAC Rookie of the Year.

The USCAA Cross Country National Championship race will be held Friday, Nov. 11. The women's 6K race starts at 9:30 a.m. and the men's 8K race begins at 10:30 a.m.

The men's soccer team earned an automatic bid to the USCCA Soccer National Championship by winning the HVIAC conference tournament Oct. 23. The Mighty Oaks defeated the College of New Rochelle, 3-1, in the championship game.

The men's team will begin pool play as the No. 8 seed. The first game will be against #1 seed University of Maine - Fort Kent 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10. The following game will be 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12, against the No. 12 seed College of St. Joseph's. If the men's squad win its pool, it will continue on to the semifinals 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13, with the championship game at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 14.

The women's soccer team also earned an automatic bid to the USCCA Soccer National Championship by winning the HVIAC conference tournament Oct. 23. The team got a much-awaited win over the Panthers of Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 2-1, in the championship game.

The women's team will begin pool play as the No. 2 seed at noon Thursday, Nov. 10, when they face the No. 7 seed, NHTI. The next pool game will be noon Friday, Nov. 11, vs Johnson & Wales University - Charlotte. If the women's team wins its pool, the team will play in the semifinals 10 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 13. The hampionship game will be noon Monday, Nov. 14.

All of the men's and women's soccer games will be streamed live at soccer.theuscaa.com. Games can be viewed for free at standard definition or for $7.95 at high definition. Be sure to follow ESF Athletics on Facebook for tournament updates and results.