Fighting Owls Men’s Soccer Team Dominates, Blanking Salem

From the HCC Sports Desk…

BEL AIR, Md.—Freshman Santiago Meija (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) scored twice from the same spot as the Harford men’s soccer team blanked Salem, 4-0, on Saturday afternoon at Harford Stadium.

The Fighting Owls (6-7-1) have won their last two straight games, while freshman goalie Taylor Dize (Bel Air, Md./Salem Christian) notched his fourth shutout this season with the win over the Oaks (2-4-0).

Harford controlled the game from the start, as the Owls outshot Salem, 36-7, including a second half which saw Harford take 20 shots to the Oaks’ one.

Freshman Steve Landreth (Churchville, Md./Harford Tech) tallied the first, and eventual game-winning, goal of the game as he took a pass with room to run down the left side, dribbled around a defender and fired into the upper left corner from eight yards out at the 20:44 mark.

Harford would take the 1-0 lead into halftime, but Meija tallied his first score of the game just nine minutes into the second half, at the 54:21 mark after taking a cross from freshman Jared Ferguson (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) on the far side.  Meija shot from 12 yards out and hit the post, but his ball then bounced past the Salem keeper to give the Owls a 2-0 lead.

Less than 15 minutes later, Meija took a cross from Landreth in the center and fired from almost exactly the same spot as his first goal to put Harford up, 3-0, at the 68:16 mark.

Sophomore CJ Murray (London, England/Kaiserslatern) added the final tally for Harford after he tapped the rebound from freshman Sean Conlon’s (Weisbadin, Germany/West Nottingham Academy) shot past the keeper at the 85:39 mark to give the Owls the 4-0 win.

Harford also held a 9-2 advantage over Salem in corner kicks, while Dize totaled two saves in the 90:00 and Salem goalie Tom Cristino corralled 12 shots.

The Fighting Owls return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Chesapeake for a 4:00 p.m. match.

Soccer Game Summary (Final)
                              Harford Men’s Soccer
                Salem vs Harford (Oct 04, 2008 at Bel Air, Md.)
 Salem (2-4-0) vs. Harford (6-7-1)
 Date: Oct 04, 2008  Attendance: 52
 Weather: Sunny, clear, cool breeze