Through the first two games of its current season, the College of Southern Maryland men’s soccer team is dealing with several injuries and thus far the Hawks have been outscored 19-1 in a pair of setbacks capped by Tuesday’s 6-1 setback to visiting Cecil College in their home opener.
CSM (0-2) opened the season with a 13-0 trouncing at CCBC-Essex on Aug. 22, then five days later the Hawks were upended as the Cecil Seahawks scored three goals in the second half despite playing a man down. CSM forward Methias Cifuentas scored the Hawks’ first and only goal of the season with just under eight minutes remaining in the first half of Tuesday’s setback, ending a 127-minute scoring drought to start the season.
“It’s been rough,” Cifuentas said about the start to the season. “We try to give as much effort as we can. We don’t have everyone on the field that we need. We’ve had some injuries and some eligibility issues. We try to give as much effort as we can. We had a bad pretty season. But it felt pretty good to get that first goal. That was my first college goal.”
With the team struggling on both ends of the field thus far and still compromised by several injuries, CSM men’s soccer coach Moussa Mounir was reluctant to comment about the team’s performance through the first two games. Mounir admitted he would be willing to talk about the Hawks’ efforts once they had a few more games under their belt.
On Tuesday, Cecil (1-0) got two goals each from Jannis Braun and Izak Battle Jr., but the Seahawks only owned a modest 3-1 lead at the intermission after Cifuentas got the hosts on the board. CSM also appeared to gain another momentum edge when Cecil’s Joshua Duzan was given a red card with just over 30 minutes remaining in the second half. But it was the Seahawks that tallied the next three goals, all shorthanded, to pad their advantage.
In fact, CSM will spend the first three weeks of September at home looking to regain its winning ways and gather some momentum. The Hawks will host CCBC-Catonsville on Sept. 3, welcome Carroll Community College on Sept. 10, host Prince George’s Community College on Sept. 12, welcome Anne Arundel CC on Sept. 17 the host WVU Potomac State on Sept. 20.
Meanwhile, the CSM women’s soccer team (0-1) was idle on Tuesday after opening the season with a 5-2 setback at CCBC-Essex on a day when Amber Jones scored the only goal for the Hawks who also benefited from an own goal. CSM will host Carroll CC on Sept. 10, PGCC on Sept. 12, Anne Arundel CC on Sept. 17, WVU Potomac State on Sept. 20, then Washington Adventist on Sept. 22.
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