Harford Captures Men's and Women's Soccer, Volleyball Region Titles
Bel Air, MD – Harford Community College captured Region titles in each of the fall sports they competed in. The Fighting Owls earned championships in Division I men's soccer and women's and Division II volleyball.
Men's Soccer, Division I
The first team to clinch the Region 20 title was the men's soccer team who defeated the #11 ranked Montgomery College Raptors on Saturday, November 2nd. The contest, held at Montgomery College, pitted two soccer rivals that came into the match on win streaks. The contest was a defensive and physical battle as each team struggled to find the back of the net. Montgomery College's best scoring opportunity came in the 2nd half off a header from a corner kick. The header trickled past the left post, narrowly missing the net. The Fighting Owl offensive attack was shut down by a tough Raptor back line. Both Lawrence Taishier and Rex Pearce had chances to break the tie with shots in the box but they were turned away by keeper Xavier Mendia. The match ended in regulation tied 0 to 0. In overtime, both teams struggled to find scoring chances. With the match looking to head to penalty kicks, Coach Bill Wardle made a strategic move by replacing starting keeper Louis Reichert with Archie Bennett. The move proved to be vital as the teams went to penalty kicks. In PKs, both teams scored on the first 2 attempts. On the 3rd attempt, Bennett made an incredible stop on striker Mateo Munoz to give Harford the advantage. Xavier Roy took Harford's 3rd attempt and powered his shot by the Raptor keeper. On the 4th PK, Montgomery College netted a score and stopped Sebastian Frandsen's shot. The teams traded 5th attempts. On the 6th attempt, Bennett came up with another huge stop. Alfonso Silleard Soriano netted Harford's 6th attempt to give the Fighting Owls the upset victory and the Region 20 Championship!
Harford advanced to the championship contest with a 7-0 victory over Hagerstown Community College.
Harford's men's soccer program hosted the East District on November 9, battling #10 Harcum. The Fighting Owls would fall 3-1 to end a remarkable season.
Volleyball, Division II
On Sunday, November 3rd, the #1 seeded Harford volleyball team took on the College of Southern Maryland Hawks in the semi-finals. The Fighting Owls (ranked #21 in the NJCAA) were looking to stay undefeated in a rematch of last year's Region 20 championship. The Hawks proved to be no match for the powerful offensive Harford attack. Harford breezed through the semi-final contest winning in straight sets, 25-16, 25-15, 25-15. Laura Piva (14 kills), Morgan Barnett (30 assists), and Karen Jimenez(9 kills) led the Fighting Owls.
Harford advanced to the championship match against the #3 seed Hagerstown Hawks. The championship match was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded leads throughout the first two sets. Harford was able to hold off Hagerstown and win the first two sets 25-19 and 25-19. The action of the 3rd set was a repeat of the earlier ones. However, Hagerstown took the advantage late in the 3rd set. But sophomore Laura Piva and Morgan Barnett turned the momentum back to Harford with several consecutive kills. The 3rd set went to tie breakers with the teams trading points. With Hagerstown up 26-25, the resilient Fighting Owls rallied with three straight points to win the set 28-26 and their 2nd consecutive Region 20 championship.
Hagerstown advanced to the championship match with a 3-2 victory of #2 Montgomery.
Other tournament results:
Quarterfinals: November 2, 2024 (at Montgomery)
11:00 AM: Garrett 0, Harford 3 | Box Score
11:00 AM: Carroll 0, Montgomery 3 | Box Score
2:00 PM: Potomac State 0, Hagerstown 3 | Box Score
2:00 PM: Allegany 1, Southern Maryland 3 | Box Score
Women's Soccer, Division I
Harford women's soccer closed the fall championship season for the Fighting Owls on Tuesday, November 5th as they took on the Montgomery College Raptors. The local rivals battled to a 0-0 tie earlier in the season and the championship match was hyped to be a similar affair. Harford controlled the pace of the contest early in the first half by playing most of the match in their offensive zone. The Fighting Owls rattled off 9 shots in the first half. The second half looked similar until midway Montgomery's Mary Earles sneaked a shot past keeper Kaylee Norstrand to give the Raptors a 1-0 lead. After the goal, the Raptors took a defensive approach and packed the defensive side with extra defenders. The strategy didn't stop freshman, Soraya Ramirez. At the 71-minute mark, Ramirez lofted a shot over the Raptor keeper to tie the match. Both teams traded opportunities late in the half but ended at 1-1. Going into overtime, the teams were noticeably tired from the physical contest. Neither team found an opportunity in the 1st overtime. Midway in the 2nd overtime, Soraya Ramirez raced down the sideline and made a cut to the middle to unleash a long booming shot that netted the game winner and gave the Fighting Owls their 3rd consecutive Region 20 championship!
Montgomery advanced to the region championship game with a victory over Hagerstown in the semi-final. Hagerstown and Montgomery swapped goals to enter halftime tied 2-2. Montgomery netted the first goal of the second half to their first lead of the match. Hagerstown responded to tie the game 3-3. In the 84th minute Montgomery's Kendra Wotchuin scored the game winner as the Raptors closed Hagerstown 4-3.
Men's Soccer Division I All-Tournament Team
Carlos Pazoz, Hagerstown
Thijs Veldhoest, Montgomery
Yohsuke Ono, Montgomery
Xavier Fernandez Mendia, Montgomery
Nicolas Granadino, Montgomery
Alfosno Soriano Cortes, Harford
Xavier Roy, Harford
Kian Pucher, Harford
Rex Pierce, Harford
Christian Lopez Contreras, Harford
Mahomet Doucoure, Harford
Volleyball Division II All-Tournament Team
MVP - Laura Piva, Harford
Morgan Barnett, Harford
Clara Pauni, Harford
Karen Jimenez, Harford
Emily Gasaway, Hagerstown
Paige Elliott, Hagerstown
Alaryss Medina, Hagerstown
Julia Williams, Southern MD
Caleigh Bergling, Southern MD
Jaynna Crocker, Montgomery
Milena Bates, Montgomery
Emonie Fennel, Potomac State
Karley Badorf, Carroll
Paolo Chirino, Garrett
Emmy Wilson, Allegany
Women's Soccer Division I All-Tournament Team
True Benshoff, Hagerstown
Soraya Ramirez, Harford
Candace Kobus, Harford
Summer Mencer, Harford
Saylor Bare, Harford
Brianna Walker, Harford
Beryl Johnson, Harford
Natalie Zambrano, Montgomery
Emilia Webb, Montgomery
Kendra Watchuin, Montgomey
Mary Earles, Montgomery
(With contributions from Harford Athletics)