Bel Air boys’ soccer outdoes weather, North Harford

No. 17 Bel Air High boys’ soccer team weathered the nagging rain and declared its dominance yet again, Monday, beating Upper Chesapeake Bay Athletic Conference foe North Harford, 5-0.

Lacing a goal in the first three minutes of the game, senior captain Matt Billé took a pass from fellow senior captain Justin Gayo to set the high scoring pace for Bel Air (6-1-1 overall, 2-0 Chesapeake Division), which totaled three goals in the first half.

“They came out very strong,” Bel Air head coach Dominic Rose said. “We wanted to try and put a goal in right away, which they did, and we just didn’t want to give them a chance to build up any momentum and get in the game right away.”

Bel Air sophomore Carson Kalama and junior Danny Morgan each netted a goal in the first half, while juniors Ryan Tritsch and Jordan Traore round up goals in the second half  against the Hawks (3-5-1, 1-1-1 Chesapeake Division).

“We had a ton of space on the outsides and we just worked the ball around pretty well through the middle,” Kalama said.  “We got the balls outside and crosses in and just finished up the scrap.”

Holding North Harford through 80 minutes of scoreless soccer, the Bel Air defense allowed the two shots on goal in the first half, and
didn’t see a true scoring threat till later in the second half.

“We just want to keep our shape,” Gayo said of the Bobcats’ defense. “Once we keep our shape, we can defend anyone.  We just have to try and pinch our outside midfielders in and make them go around us.”

North Harford’s best two chances to put points on the board came halfway through the second half when senor Mitchell Tracy took a shot on goal and picked up a foul just outside the box, lining up the free kick for senior Dylan Tipton, which ricocheted off the crossbar.

“It wasn’t our best effort,” North Harford head coach Matt Johnstone said.  “It is just a different game when the ball is skipping all over
the place.  But both teams have to deal with it. They just played better.”

The Bobcats defeated the Hawks earlier this season, 1-0, but did so on Monday while battling another enemy: rain.

“You really have to focus on the form, just pick a place in the net and just hit it,” Billé said. “It’s hard to play with the ball skipping
around like that.”

Bel Air will likely have to battle the elements again Tuesday when they take on Aberdeen.

“We have to keep playing like that,” Rose said for the Bobcats’ upcoming game with Aberdeen. “It could decide who wins the Chesapeake Division. “We just have to do more of the same as we did with Perry Hall and what we did here.”

North Harford will wait to see how the Bobcats do with the Eagles before playing Aberdeen, Thursday.

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