Cardinals Draw Against Catamounts in Scoreless Battle
FINAL: WVU Potomac State Catamounts: 0 CCBC Catonsville Cardinals: 0
On Tuesday, October 17th, the Cardinals hosted WVU Potomac State College on sophomore day. The Catamounts entered the game with a 3-3-3 record, with a very similar season to the 6-8-2 Cardinals. With this being the last home game of the season, Catonsville honored their eight sophomores, Jason Blanco, Paul Catalfamo, Caleb Akano, Cherif Haidara, Brennan Eibner, Abdou Loum, Mike Miranda, and Nkem Chimah.
The match started off with an action-packed first ten minutes, with both teams earning multiple scoring chances early. In what we expected to be an evenly matched battle, The Catamounts dominated the rest of the first half, holding the Cardinals to just two more shots. Potomac State controlled the ball extremely well and were able to constantly pressure Catonsville, which allowed the Catamounts to total 12 shots before halftime.
The "Big Red Wall" lived up to their name one last time at home. Catonsville's back line had to deal with consistent offensive play all game from Potomac State, but did not concede a single goal. Franklin Duarte (Meade) recorded some incredible saves to keep the Cardinals in the contest. Major help in the midfield from captain Caleb Akano (FTSC Yaba) also helped keep the Catamounts off the score sheet.
Offensively, the Cardinals did not have much production in the first half, but flipped a switch in the second. Forward Mykal Hogan (Boys Latin) earned the first massive scoring chance for the Cardinals by forcing a mistake in the Catamounts back line but was unlucky on the shot. We saw shots from Bradley Ramirez (Newton) and Gio Guerrero (North Stafford) towards the end of the contest that made you think Catonsville was going to pull this one off. Despite not being able to win the match, the Cardinals played a very resilient game that reflected their season perfectly. Catonsville has continued to fight all year after losing key player Paul Catalfamo (Kenwood) and still tripled their win total from last year. This team has a lot to be proud of and are entering the playoffs as a very strong team. The Cardinals face Frederick Community college in the first round of the Region 20 NJCAA playoffs this Saturday in a game that you will not want to miss.