Harford Men’s Soccer Battles Hagerstown to 1-1 Tie

From the HCC sports desk:

BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford men’s soccer team broke a scoreless tie in the 77th minute, but a lucky bounce in the 79th minute knotted the score as it played Hagerstown to a 1-1 tie on Saturday at Harford Stadium.

The Fighting Owls (1-2-1, 1-0-1 MDJUCO) saw freshman Jon Bizzell (Kingsville, Md./Redeemer Classical) fire a ball that the Hawks (1-1-1, 0-0-1 MDJUCO) keeper couldn’t control into the back of the net at the 76:38 mark, but Alex Menea’s high arcing shot would bounce off sophomore keeper Taylor Dize (Bel Air, Md./Salem Christian) and take a lucky bounce into the goal at the 78:55 mark to knot the score.

Time would expire with the score tied, to send the game into overtime, but neither team would see a significant scoring chance in the first overtime, or the second, with each keeper accounting for one save during the extra time on the way to the 1-1 tie.

The game was a physical one, with both teams combining for 29 total fouls, 19 against Harford and 10 against Hagerstown, while five cards were drawn, four for the Owls and one for the Hawks.

Harford struggled to stay onsides all day with 12 offsides calls, but pelted the Hagerstown defense with 21 shots, while the Hawks managed just 13. Hagerstown keeper Brian Kukucka made eight saves in 110:00 while Dize tallied four and the Hawks held a 4-3 advantage on corners.

The Fighting Owls return to action on Wednesday when they begin a five-game roadstand as they travel to Cecil for a 2:30 p.m. match against the Seahawks.