Men's Soccer: Knights Take Intra-Campus Match, Prep for Harford

Recap by Oluwaseun Adeniji

Baltimore County, MD -- The Knights defeated intra-campus rival CCBC Catonsville 2-1 on Tuesday, after freshman Clement Blamo Jr. (Dundalk) broke a 1-1 tie with four minutes remaining in regulation.

Freshman Carlos Guzman Hernandez (Easton) tallied the other Knights goal and sophomore Gaige Robinson (Perry Hall) had an assist.

Records: CCBC Essex (9-2-0, 7-1-0 Maryland JUCO) CCBC Catonsville (5-7-1, 3-5-1 Maryland JUCO)

Location: Rosedale, MD

How It Went Down 

• In the first minute, a free kick from 20 yards lands Guzman-Hernandez a shot on goal, but Cardinals' sophomore goalie Brandon Basilio (Crofton) makes the save.
• Five minutes later, Guzman-Hernandez had another go at it, but this time his shot sailed high.
• During the 10th minute, Guzman-Hernandez made three corner kicks, with the latter reaching inside the box; however, Basilio took away any chance of a shot on frame.
• At 12:59, Jordan Hunt (Eldersburg) put a shot on goal, but the Knights' freshman goalie Dylan Guarino (Kenmore East) came off his line to punch it out of harms way.
• In the 20th minute, Carlos Guzman Hernandez scored the Knights' first goal – his second goal of the season.
• At 24:46, the Cardinals' Hunt took a shot on Guarino, but it went high.
• The Knights' next chance came at 33:47, when freshman Jake Dengler (John Carroll) sent a free-kick off the post and out of bounds.
• At 40:22, freshman Varmah Siryon (Dundalk) sent a corner kick into the box, but his teammates could not punch it in the goal.
• With 2:24 left in the first half, freshman Henry Mulli (Parkville) scored for the Cardinals to tie it at one. After the ball was played into the box, a Knights defender failed to clear it with a header and Mulli's shot beat Guarino. 
• Minutes into the second half, freshman Bryan Roney (Easton) put a header on goal, but Basilio made the save.
• At 65:42, Cardinals' sophomore Hugo Baptiste's (Mares) header attempted travelled wide passed the net.
• Three minutes later, Robinson was taken down in the box and was awarded a penalty kick. Basilio came up big again, going low to his right to stop the Robinson kick, then making another save on sophomore Maycol Nunez's (Washington-Lee) rebound shot.
• With just four minutes left, Blamo Jr. scores the game-winner – his sixth goal of the season.

Quotes 

On the game overall: "We played well, we just didn't score," said Knights' head coach Joe Fiedler. "They had a nice little game plan against us. Our guys didn't follow what I wanted, and we just didn't score, that's it."

On Blamo's game-winner: "Blamo's [something else], that's what I can say," said Fiedler. "A lot of speed, just a lot of talent. He manages to always score a good goal for us. I just didn't expect this at the beginning of the year, and he's really come through so that's really good."

Next up for CCBC Essex

The Knights host Harford Community College this evening at 7 p.m. in a match with Maryland JUCO conference and NJCAA Region XX implications.

The Fighting Owls enter the game 9-3-2 overall and 6-1-1 in the conference. They're coming off an impressive 2-0 win over Montgomery on Tuesday, which helped the Knights back into a tie for first.

Now, the Knights will look to upend Harford and hope Prince George's can take care of Montgomery on Tuesday, to regain sole possession of the conference.

As for the region, the Fighting Owls trail the Knights by a half game in NJCAA Region XX Division I play. A win tonight by either team could all but guarantee the number one seed and first round regional tournament bye.