Women's Soccer: Knights Drop Season Finale 4-2 to Dragons

By Billy Owens

Baltimore County, Md. - The Knights wrapped up its 2018 regular season on Wednesday evening with a tough 4-2 loss to Howard Community College on sophomore night at CCBC Essex Stadium.

The loss did not, however, affect the Knights NJCAA Region XX Division II ranking. Essex seeded No. 3 and will face No. 2 Montgomery in the regional tournament next Thursday, October 25, hosted by CCBC Catonsville.

Essex (7-8-1, 4-4 Maryland Juco) and Howard were neck-and-neck for all but the final four minutes of play, when the Dragons jumped ahead with two quick goals before Essex had a chance to respond.

The contest was the final home game for the Knights' four sophomores: midfielder Bailey D'Amico (Perry Hall), forward Jessica Silveira (Kenwood), and defenders Gracie Halpin (Loch Raven) and Madison D'Amico (Perry Hall).

"It was a tough season," interim head coach Joe Fiedler said. "We've had more injuries in this season than I've ever had with the women's team."

The Dragons (9-7, 6-2 Maryland Juco) had great offensive chances early on, taking five corner kicks in the first 17 minutes of play. The Knights' defense stepped up for each of them, with freshman goalkeeper Taylor Retkowski (Eastern Tech) making two saves and the rest being cleared out.

Howard's offensive persistence paid off in the 18^th minute, though, as Nikki Vieira put her team up 1-0.

Essex's first shot on goal didn't come until the 31^st minute; Cassandra Padellford snuffed out a quick shot by Halpin.

The Knights found some sophomore magic in the 40^th minute when Madison D'Amico struck a pinpoint-accurate pass to her sister Bailey D'Amico, who found the back of the net to tie it at one just before halftime.

Howard quickly regained the lead in the 52^nd minute with Vieira's second goal off an assist by Hailey Montoya, with Padellford saving a Bailey D'Amico shot on goal less than a minute earlier.

Both teams took to the offensive for the majority of the second half, as they combined for eight shots – two on goal – between the 62^nd and 79^th minutes.

Essex finally equalized in the 81^st minute, as freshman forward Mikayla Boyle (Eastern Tech) scored on a sure-footed free kick taken just outside the penalty box.

The Dragons would convert in the 87^th minute with a Vieira pass leading to a goal by Rylee Nieman.

Essex had one final chance to send the game to overtime when Boyle took a corner kick in the 89^th minute, but an offside call on Essex just after the kick ended all hope of a comeback.

Another quick field transition gave the Dragons a fourth goal, courtesy of Leigh McDonald with just seven seconds left, to lock up their final win of the regular season.

"Not happy with 7-8-1, but the girls gave it everything they have, and we've got regional [playoffs] so we'll take it from there," Fiedler said.

Essex now looks to prepare for its biggest game of the season next week, as the team will take on the red-hot Montgomery Raptors (10-2, 7-1 Maryland Juco) in the NJCAA Region XX Division I Tournament Semifinals, Thursday evening at CCBC Catonsville.

The Raptors defeated the Knights 7-2 on Sept. 18. The rematch is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m.