Posted: Jun 08, 2021

Men's Soccer: Knights Earn Spot in National Semifinals with Win over Prairie State

By Rocco Geppi

Wichita, Kan. -- CCBC Essex men's soccer entered last night's NJCAA Division II Championships pool play match against Prairie State College (Chicago Heights, Ill.) needing a two-goal victory to advance to the semifinals.

Mission accomplished.

In the 30th minute of play, Henry Ortiz (Mt. Airy, Md.) finished a pass from Rin Yasui (Miyagi, Japan) to give the Knights a 1-0 lead.

Essex's second goal came in the 58th minute off the foot of Taki Murakawa (Hyogo, Japan).

Murakawa is now tied with Toga Katsuma (Honshu, Japan) for the team lead with nine goals.

Head coach Joe Fiedler's squad controlled the tempo of play the entire game.

The Knights (10-1) outshot Prairie State 32-9, and Knights' goalkeeper Brendan LeMaster (Bowie, Md.) had four saves.

It's the Knights fifth shutout victory of the season.

Essex also dominated corner kick opportunities 15-4.

CCBC Essex will play Heartland C.C. (Normal, Ill.) on Wednesday at 2 p.m., as the Knights seek its first national championship since 1974.

Goal deferential was key for the Knights win over the Bobcats, because Essex dropped its opening match 2-1 in overtime to St. Charles (Cottleville, Mo.).

In that game, Essex took a 1-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of play on a goal by Murakawa.

The Cougars tied the game in the 37th minute and scored the game-winner with 1:03 remaining in the first overtime.

St. Charles turned around the next day and lost to Prairie State 2-1, setting up the Knights margin of victory for last night.

The Knights last appearance in the national championship came in 1989.

Fiedler is now 121-57-9 (.671), which is the third most wins in Knights men's soccer history.

He trails only Ed Wren (158-56-14), who led the Knights to the 1974 national title, and Pete Caringi, Jr. (170-28-8), who took the program to the 1984 and 1989 national title games.

Both of those coaches have since been elected to the NJCAA Soccer and CCBC Athletics Halls of Fame.