Five Programs Represent Region 20 at Soccer Nationals
Arnold, MD – Five soccer programs represented Region 20 at their respective 2022 national tournament in November. Montgomery College Men's Soccer competed in the Division I tournament while CCBC-Essex and Anne Arundel Community College each qualified their men's and women's team to compete in the Division II and Division III tournament respectively.
Division I – Men - Montgomery College
After avenging an early season loss to top ranked Monroe College in the District Title game, Montgomery claimed their spot in Division I pool play. Earning a ranking of 12, Montgomery was placed in a pool with new #1 Daytona State, and #8 Cowley. Montgomery and Daytona State opened tournament play on November 13th in Melbourne's Orlando Health Stadium. After playing a nil-nil first half, scoring opened in the second frame where the two teams would combine for five goals. Daytona scored first but Montgomery's Sota Matsuo tied the game with a penalty kick goal. Less than five minutes later Daytona would find their second goal and just seconds after they would add their third. Matsuo responded in the next minute to bring the score to 3-2 but the defenses held serve until the final whistle.
Montgomery and Cowley opened Day 2 of tournament action with the Raptors seeing limited rest. Goalkeeper Thomas Mauro would stop six shots for Montgomery but Cowley was able to beat him on three others. Montgomery only managed two shots in the contest and they were held scoreless, losing the contest 3-0.
The Raptors did not advance from pool play but add an impressive tournament appearance to a stellar 2022 campaign. Sophomore Diego Ramirez earned National All-Tournament Team for his performance for Montgomery.
Division II – Men – CCBC-Essex
In Division II Soccer, CCBC-Essex qualified both their men's and women's programs to compete on the national stage. The CCBC-Essex men earned their trip to the tournament after defeating Frederick Community College 5-1 in the Region 20 Championship. Holding on to a top five national rank all season, the Knights earned the #3 seed for the tournament and placed in Pool C with #6 Heartland and #10 Georgia Military. CCBC-Essex opened their tournament against Georgia Military on November 14th in Tucson, Arizona. Caleb Pritchett would score the only goal the Knights needed in the 38th minute as the CCBC-Essex defense held Georgia Military to four shots and one corner in the contest to hold them nil.
After a day off, CCBC-Essex met #6 Heartland for their final game of pool play. Though the end result was similar, the Knights held off a much more tenacious attack as Heartland outshot CCBC-Essex 21-13. This time it was Toga Katsuma scoring in the first half with an assist from Kazuma Ishizuka that would be all the scoring the Knights would need in the game. Robin Schulze made three saves for the Knights and the defense kept Heartland from scoring, moving CCBC-Essex to the semifinal round after their second consecutive shutout.
The semifinal match saw CCBC-Essex and #4 Morton College battle for a spot to advance to the Championship contest. The teams held each other scoreless in the first half. Shortly after the second half whistle, Toga Katsuma put the Knights on the board after a service from Caleb Pritchett. With less than five minutes left in regulation, Morton would net the tying goal and force overtime. The two teams held each other scoreless through the first OT and moved to a second 10-minute period. A heartbreaker from Morton in the 108th minute gave them the 2-1 victory over the Knights, eliminating CCBC-Essex from the tournament.
The tournament capped the CCBC-Essex men's third national tournament trip in three years in which they finished runner-up in the previous two trips. Kazuma Ishizuka and Toga Katsuma were both awarded National All-Tournament honors.
Division II – Women – CCBC-Essex
The CCBC-Essex women also captured the Region 20 Championship after defeating the College of Southern Maryland 3-1 in October. However, they still had one more challenge before punching their ticket and advancing to the national tournament as they hosted Sussex County in the East District Championship. In the November 5th contest, Samantha Grace and Mackenzie Hunt connected in the 81st minute to secure the 1-0 victory and qualify the Knights for a trip to nationals in Tucson.
Similar to the men, the CCBC-Essex women were placed in Pool C, however, they were the #10 seed with #3 Heartland and #6 Jones; Jones, a team they played to open their season in August. The Knights opened their tournament against Heartland and held the #3 seed scoreless in the opening half. The Knights peppered the Heartland keeper with five shots in the first half but weren't able to find an open net. In the second half Heartland was able to break the drought, scoring twice despite Reagan Cantner's work between the pipes. CCBC-Essex dropped the opener 2-0.
The next day the Knights would return to action against #6 Jones. The two met on August 27 with Jones taking a 5-0 victory. In the same fashion as Day 1, the CCBC-Essex defense held their opponent from scoring in the first half. Through most of the second half the defense and goalkeeper Reagan Cantner held off the Jones attack, wasting most of the 24 shots that were taken by their opponent. Unfortunately, in the 81st minute Jones would find the net. They would add two more goals before the final whistle to take a 3-0 victory.
CCBC-Essex did not advance from pool play but started the season ranked and ended the season with a national tournament appearance, claiming their place among the best in the country.
Division III – Men – Anne Arundel Community College
Representing Region 20 in the Division III Men's and Women's Tournament's was Anne Arundel Community College. The Anne Arundel men punched their ticket after winning a combined Region 20, Mid-Atlantic District Tournament in October. Anne Arundel bested Prince George's 1-0 with a late goal off of a free kick by Nehemias Rubio.
Anne Arundel opened their tournament against national tournament host and third ranked Genesee. After suffering an early penalty kick goal, the Riverhawks would surrender three more first half goals to face a 4-0 halftime deficit. A fifth Genesee goal in the second half would conclude the scoring with Anne Arundel dropping their opener 5-0.
After playing the late game on Wednesday, Anne Arundel played an afternoon game on Thursday against #7 Raritan Valley. Another early goal would put the Riverhawks behind but the defense held to keep a 1-0 halftime score. Anne Arundel would pepper the Raritan Valley keeper and make several runs to threaten scoring but struggled to get the ball to roll their way. Two second half goals by Raritan Valley would see Anne Arundel fall behind 3-0 before Davis Bosley found the net in the 70th minute off a pass from Nehemias Rubio. Scoring would go stagnant beyond that point with the game ending 3-1.
Sam Adams from Anne Arundel was named to the National All-Tournament Team. The tournament appearance was the Riverhawks second consecutive.
Division III – Women – Anne Arundel Community College
To earn their right in the national tournament, the Anne Arundel women's soccer team had to travel to Suffolk Community College for a District Title game. The Riverhawks previously bested Suffolk in September in a 2-1 overtime game. The October district game would also require extra time as the teams were held nil-nil through 90 minutes. With time running out in the first overtime, Madelynn Rowe scored to lift Anne Arundel over Suffolk and punch their ticket to the national tournament at Herkimer, NY.
Anne Arundel, seeded 8th, drew top ranked Dallas College – Brookhaven to open the tournament on November 9th. The Riverhawks fended off a swarm of offensive attacks for most of the first half until Brookhaven found an open net in the 42nd minute. Anne Arundel would surrender three more goals in the second half to drop their opener 4-0. Anne Arundel keeper Kaitlin Kenney would make 12 saves in the contest.
Anne Arundel would also open Day 2 of play as they welcomed competition from #5 ocean County in the 11:00 a.m. contest on Thursday. Another stellar defensive stand by the Riverhawks kept the game scoreless at the half. In the second half Ryann Brooks would attack a loose ball near the keeper and net the Riverhawks first and only goal of the tournament to take a 1-0 lead over Ocean. The defense and keeper Kaitlin Kenney remained solid and completed the shutout, earning the Riverhawks the victory.
Sophomore defensive leader Asylin Weseman earned National All-Tournament team for Anne Arundel. The tournament appearance was Anne Arundel's first since 2014 and 11th in program history.