SPARKS, MD - The Harford Fighting Owls traveled to the USA Lacrosse facility to battle #3 ranked CCBC-Essex Knights in a battle between regional rivals. The contest was being held at the USA Lacrosse facility and home of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame. The Knights were prepared for the undefeated and #1 ranked Fighting Owls and took an early 3-1 lead in the first quarter. The Harford offense was plagued with miscues and CCBC Essex was able to captialize on the mistakes.
In the 2nd quarter, Essex continued to capitalize on mistakes, turnovers, and costly penalties by Harford. The Knights took a 4 goal lead at the 6:44 mark on Bradley David's unassisted goal. The game was halted in the 2nd quarter after a lighting fixture on the field shut off. The delay allowed the Fighting Owls to regroup. Once play resumed, Harford netted two goals but was down 4-6 going into halftime.
Both teams came out of the locker rooms looking to establish the momentum for the evening. Essex took a 4 goal lead midway in the 3rd quarter. But thanks to the offensive prowess of Kohl Wesner, the Fighting Owls battled back and netted consecutive goals. As the momentum began shifting back to Harford, a late turnover on an errand pass, deep in the Harford zone allowed Essex to score with 3 seconds remaining in the quarter. Heading into the 4th quarter, the Knights commanded a 9-6 lead.
The defending National Champions looked to erase the 3-goal lead and turned to their leading goal scorers, Wesner and Blaine Dail. Wesner and Dail scored quick goals in the opening minutes of the quarter. Wesner tied the game at the 9:33 mark with a dazzling move near the crease. Seconds later, Bail scored to give the Fighting Owls the lead. But Essex would not bow down and tied the game on Tracy Tucker's goal. Late in the quarter with the game tied, goalie Collin Fohner turned away shots to keep the game tied. With less than a minute left, Harford looked to make one final attempt to win the game. after a failed shot attempt, the Fighting Owls found an open Wesner who made a move to net the winning goal with 8 seconds remaining on the clock and seal the victory. Wesner led the Harford attack with 7 goals on the evening.

Up next......Harford will host Onondaga on April 13th.