Cardinals Drop Home Opener 4-3 to Howard Community College in Double Overtime

Catonsville, MD- In head coach Mike Kozlowski's home debut the Cardinals appeared to be in the driver's seat with a 2-0 lead after the 70^th minute. The scoring started in the 17^th minute when freshman forward, Dyego Monteiro, beat Howard's goalkeeper from close range to give the Cardinals the early lead. The lead grew to 2-0 midway through the 2^nd half when sophomore midfielder, Muhammed Maroof, netted another for the Cardinals. Freshman goalkeeper, Anthony Maseda, shutout the Dragons for the first 74 minutes and tallied 5 saves on the night.

The Dragons would not go down without a fight as they responded with two quick goals in the 75^th and 80^th minute by Lassana Diakite and Alexander Estrada respectively. It did not take long for Catonsville to reclaim the lead as freshman forward, Malek Shedid, found the back of the net in the 81^st minute to give the home squad a 3-2 lead. Just as it looked like the Cardinals were going to come away with the victory, Dragons Bradley Muma, scored in the 88^th minute to send the game to overtime.

One overtime was not enough to decide a winner as each side went scoreless during the 10 minute period. It was in the 103^rd minute that Dragons forward, Anderson Marroquin, scored the game winner spoiling the home opener for the Cardinals.

The loss brings Catonsville's record to 1-2 on the season. There is an opportunity for the team to overcome this double overtime loss as the Cardinals will be back in action on Friday, August 30^th at 4PM as they play host to Mercer County Community College.

Written by: Michael Patton and Colin Douglas