Trio of Penn Fusion alums playing for national championship with Connecticut College

Matt Scoffone and Rye Jaran have a chance to cap their college careers with a second national championship and fellow Penn Fusion alum Gavin Mpiana has a chance to join them in lifting a trophy this time as Connecticut College takes on Amherst in a rematch of the 2021 final they won.

The national championship match will be played today in Las Vegas and will be broadcast live on NCAA.com at 3 p.m. eastern.

Scoffone, a senior forward from Thornton, Pa. who graduated from Bayard Rustin High School, has led the Camels in goals this season with 10 and has 25 goals to his name for his career. He drew the foul that set up the game-winning free kick in the Camels 1-0 win over Washington and Lee in the semifinal. Jaran, a Downingtown West grad, has started every game this season and has three goals and three assists.

Scoffone and Jaran were teammates on Penn Fusion’s 2002 ECNL team.

Gavin Mpiana, a native of South Africa, played for Penn Fusion’s 2004 ECNL team and graduated from the Hill School. He’s made 40 appearances for the Camels over his first two seasons and has 4 goals and an assist this year.

Amherst is in the national final four the fourth time in the last five finals. They lost the final to Tufts in 2019, to Conn College in 2021 and to St. Olaf last year. Amherst’s lone championship came in 2015. One local connection on this year’s team is Wilmington, Del. native Joseph Raymond. The reserve forward is the son of Ursuline Academy grad and former Stanford and WNBA center Valerie Whiting, a 2007 inductee into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame.