Women's Soccer: Knights Fall 7-2 to Raptors, Drop Second Straight

By Billy Owens

BALTIMORE COUNTY, Md. - Essex dropped its second game in a row yesterday afternoon after falling 7-2 to the Montgomery Raptors at CCBC Essex Stadium.

The Knights (2-4, 1-2 Maryland Juco) faced an uphill battle from the very beginning, as the Raptors were coming off a 17-0 thrashing of Monroe College this past weekend and were brimming with offensive confidence.

"I think we did okay," head coach Joe Fiedler said.

Essex had a few early offensive opportunities of their own in the early stages of the first half, but were unable to capitalize.

Montgomery (2-2, 1-1 Maryland Juco) soon regained possession and opened the floodgates on the Essex defense, scoring four goals between the 10th and 20th minutes of the first half.

Missed opportunities plagued the Knights all afternoon, as only one of their six corner kicks led to a goal and they only scored twice from their six shots on goal.

By contrast, the Raptors were efficient on offense all day, scoring six goals from nine shots on goal in the first half alone and landing seven goals from 11 shots on goal total.

Montgomery added another goal with just under 10 minutes left in the first half for a 5-0 lead, but Essex finally broke through before halftime as freshman forward Taylor West (North Point) found the back of the net in the 42nd minute.

The Raptors punched in another goal with less than a minute left before halftime to retake a five-goal advantage.

The second half was more back-and-forth between the two teams, but the Raptors struck first with another goal in the 57th minute to go up 7-1. The Knights quickly responded a few minutes later as freshman forward Victoria Aulestia (Sparrows Point) scored off a corner kick by sophomore midfielder Bailey D'Amico (Perry Hall).

The Essex defense held on toward the end, not allowing any goals in the last 30 minutes of play, but the offense couldn't further close the 7-2 gap before time expired.

"It is what it is," Fiedler said. "We need to learn how to go to the ball better."

The Knights look to break their losing streak later this week as they travel to face conference foe Harford Friday at 4 p.m.