Box Score
BEL AIR, Md.—The No. 4 Harford men's soccer team defense was stingy and the offense was selfish as the Fighting Owls (8-8-2) dominated No. 5 Chesapeake, 4-0, in the opening round of the NJCAA Division-I Region XX Tournament on Saturday at Harford Stadium. The Owls held the Skipjacks (8-5-1) to just five shots, only one on goal, while firing 21 shots of their own, nine on goal. With the win, Harford advances to the semfinals of the Region XX Tournament on Wednesday, where they will face No. 1 CCBC-Essex at 5:30 p.m.
The Harford offense came out firing, pelting Chesapeake keeper Jordan Durner with three shots within the first 10 minutes, two on goal, before freshman Corey Schmidt (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) put a ball into the lower left corner from eight yards at the 14:23 mark to give the Owls a 1-0 lead.
Nearly 30 more minutes would tick off the clock before freshman Chris Stone (Baltimore, Md./Archbishop Curley) added an insurance goal with a rocket from about 50 yards away, just in front of midfield, that found the upper left corner during the 43rd minute to give Harford a 2-0 lead heading into the half.
The Owls continued to control the game in the second, scoring two goals before allowing the Skipjacks their first, and only, shot of the period. Freshman Kyle Bem (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) gave Harford a three-goal lead after taking a left-side cross from sophomore Santi Meija (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) and finishing the ball into the upper right at the 62:10 mark. Freshman Nick Milich (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) would increase that lead to four just 48 seconds later as he headed Schmidt's cross into the right corner from two yards out at 62:58 and Chesapeake wouldn't challenge sophomore keeper Taylor Dize (Bel Air, Md./Salem Christian) until the 82nd minute as Harford rolled to the 4-0 win.
Dize had a quiet day, facing just five shots and tallying one save in 90:00 while Durner totaled five saves on the day. Harford outshot Chesapeake 21-5, allowing just one shot in the second half, while holding a 5-2 advantage on corner kicks.
The Fighting Owls return to action on Wednesday when they host top-seeded CCBC-Essex for a regional semifinal matchup at 5:30 p.m. at Harford Stadium. The first semifinal game between No. 2 Hagerstown and No. 3 College of Southern Maryland is slated to begin at 3:00 p.m.
