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HAWKS WIN REGION XX CHAMPIONSHIP
November 2, 2005 -
The CSM men's soccer team defeated
Catonsville 2-0 to win the Region XX Soccer Championship on Saturday.
CSM had already won the MDJUCO championship, finishing the regular season
9-0-1 in conference play.
Two goals early in the second half proved to be the difference. With
35:00 left in the game, Ben Waldham crossed the ball from the left side of
the field to Mike Mitchell, who one touched the ball to Dan Heaney, who
found net from 20 yards out to put CSM up 1-0. It was a textbook goal,
the best Hawks have scored all season. One minute later the Hawks got
all the insurance they would need, as Juele Lawrence played the ball to
Dario Paul, who broke in on goal. The Catonsville goalkeeper misjudged
Dario's speed, overcommitted, and Dario was able to tap the ball into the
goal and give CSM a 2-0 lead.
CSM was able to control the ball most of the rest of the second half, as
Hawk keeper Michael Shifflett picked up his seventh shut-out of the season.
The first half was tight, as both teams appeared nervous playing for the
Regional Title. Both teams has some quality chances, but the score was
deadlocked at the end of the first half at 0-0.
Head Coach Tony Galeano assessed his team's performance:
"Overall I was very pleased. I gotta admit that the first half was a
bit rough, but that happens in championship games. We got it together
in the second half and showed why we are the best team in the state."
Five Hawks were selected to the All Tournament Team: Daniel Heaney, Jorge
Lopez, Michael Mitchell, David Mongey, and Ben Waldmann.
CSM (15-1-1) will travel to Louisburg, NC on Saturday, November 5 for a 1:00
PM play-off game, with the winner advancing to the National Tournament.
Second ranked Louisburg gave the seventh ranked Hawks their only loss back
in September in the Essex Classic.
"We are very excited to play Louisburg again. As I said before, we
could not have played any worse than the last time we played them, so I am
very curious to see what happens down there. We learned so much when
we lost to them 7-1, and since then we have made some big changes in our
formation, and we have won ten straight.
"We need to bring our "A" game, but I really feel we are up to the
challenge. They are a great team, but I can also say, so are we!
They are number two in the country, so all the pressure is no them and not
on us" said Galeano as he looked forward to the play-off game.
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