Men's Soccer: Knights Drop Two Tough Matches, Look to Rebound, Learn

By Billy Owens 

BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD -- The Knights men's soccer team opened its 2018 season with two tough losses during the 5th Annual CCBC Essex Knights Soccer Kickoff Classic.

Ranked No. 15 in the 2018 NJCAA Division I preseason poll, the Knights fell 6-1 to No. 3 Monroe College Saturday evening and 8-1 to No. 5 Eastern Florida State College on Sunday afternoon.

"We do it every year, we do it for a reason," head coach Joe Fiedler said. "We want to play more difficult teams, and hopefully it prepares us for our league schedule."

The Knights (0-2) dropped their final match of the weekend on Sunday 8-1 to the Eastern Florida State Titans (2-0).

A pair of injuries hurt Essex early on, as freshman forwards Oscar Cruz-Osorio and Brenden Hollingsworth were each helped off the field in the first half.

The Titans' blisteringly quick pace of play caught the Knights off guard all day long, as they totaled 25 shots, 17 on goal.

Down 2-0 midway through the first half, Essex cut Eastern Florida's lead in half as freshman forward Isaiah Price (Bowie) struck quickly after finding himself one-on-one close to the box.

Sophomore goalkeeper Kyle Cooper (Calvert Hall) made nine saves Sunday, but the Titans' speed made it easy for them to turn defense into offense very quickly.

"I think from 18 to 18 we're OK," Fiedler said. "The problem resides in other parts of the field."

Saturday, the Knights lost their season opener 6-1 to the Mustangs (2-0).

Monroe dominated on offense the entire game, attempting 20 shots and 16 shots on goal compared to Essex's 11 shots and 5 shots on goal.

The Mustangs used six different players to score goals.

In the second half, the Knights found themselves down 6-0 with under 15 minutes remaining before Price ended the shutout with an unassisted goal.

"They're big and physical and we're going to have a tough time with it, but that's why we do this," Fiedler said. "We want to schedule tough teams. We don't want to play bad teams."

The Knights look to rebound and find their first win of the season on Thursday when they host Harcum College. First ball is scheduled for 7 p.m.