Much joy and tears after Nassau Community College won Division III junior college crown last Sunday

There were tears of joy along with beaming smiles after Nassau Community College captured the junior college Division III national soccer championship last Sunday.

As time wound down in the title game in upstate Herkimer, Franky Villegas scored to put an exclamation point on both his season and NCC's crowning victory.

"It gives me a great feeling that we're on top," Villegas, from Uniondale, said. "The hard work paid off."

Nassau (21-2-1) came into the game having beaten Bergen CC and Richland CC to set up a rematch with Bunker Hill, whom the Lions had defeated in August. The semifinal was a difficult test against a perennial contender in Richland, but Nassau won 3-2 in overtime. Once that match had concluded, the idea of winning the whole thing became overwhelming.

"During the semifinal, I was crying knowing we were going to a championship game," Villegas said. "During the championship, there was a smile on my face. I never would have believed I'd win a national championship."

Reece Dalton scored in the 36th minute against Bunker Hill (16-8-0) to put Nassau up 1-0. Benjamin Alonge made it 2-0 at the 63rd minute, and Eveillard scored off a cross from Dylan Drasin to add another in the 76th. It was Eveillard's 35th goal of the season, second most in the nation.

"We were pretty confident going in just because we had a great game in the semifinal against Richland," said coach Dan Fisher. "Once we got past the semifinal we were pretty confident going into the final."

Fisher credited a tough schedule throughout the year for helping the team prepare for the postseason run and said he saw the potential in this season's squad from the start. Villegas said he recognized the chance Nassau had from the outset to add itself to the history of the 1997 and 1998 championship teams and wanted to end his career there with success.

"In the beginning of preseason, I just remember the good atmosphere we had, the great communication we had with the team," Villegas said. "We had good-sized players who worked hard.

"We had a good team this year and could win a national championship."