Hawks Offense Takes Flight in 6-0 Win Over Cecil College

The College of Southern Maryland Hawks earned their first victory of the season on September 20, cruising past the Cecil College Seahawks 6-0.

Sophomore Karleigh Cohen netted two goals for CSM, bringing her season total to three. Her first goal of the game came in the 12th minute off an assist from freshman Ana Benitez. Benitez then followed with a goal of her own in the 17th minute, thanks to an assist from freshman Jennifer Nanosi. Cohen then secured her third career multi-goal game in the 34th minute when she converted another assist, this one from freshman Courtney Edelen. The Hawks held a 3-0 advantage going into halftime.

Sophomore Rowan Wright kept CSM's offense rolling in the second half, scoring her second goal of the season in the 65th minute with Nanosi providing her second assist of the game. Nanosi and freshman Kiara Hayes rounded out CSM's scoring for the day with their first goals of the season in the 75th and 89th minute, respectively.

"I was extremely excited for the girls pulling the win," CSM assistant coach Josh Burnett said. "They worked very hard both halves. I think all of the transitions we made at halftime just made the second half that much easier."

From the opening whistle, the Hawks never gave Cecil's defense time to rest. CSM had already taken 18 shots and scored twice by the time the Seahawks took their first shot 28 minutes into the game.

Every starting field player for CSM recorded at least one shot. By the end of the game, the Hawks had amassed 53 shots with 37 of those being on goal.

"It felt good that we could all contribute," Cohen said. "Even the defense was coming up and contributing into an offensive attack, which was really nice. It was a very dominant game."

In this game alone, the Hawks registered more goals, shots, and shots on goal than they did in the rest of their games combined (four goals, 20 shots, nine shots on goal).

Burnett said the offense was able to find success because they utilized a different offensive approach than what they had used in previous games.

"We took the opportunity to take some of our midfielders with better touches and push them forward to striker positions with the intent on using them to distribute to our girls with more powerful legs, our girls that tend to take shots on goal," Burnett said. "That actually led to most of the possession the entire game being in the other team's half so it really freed up our defensive line to really enjoy themselves, play the game, and play it well."

Sophomore goalkeeper Camille Cooley only had to worry about three shots in this contest, handling all of them with ease.

The Hawks will look to build a winning streak when they take on Hagerstown Community College on September 26 at 4 p.m. in La Plata.

"We had one of our players on Friday say it best; she said she knows that we can continue winning as long as we play every team the same way we just played Cecil," Burnett said.

In order for the Hawks to keep the momentum going, Cohen added she thinks the team has to "just to keep our head up and not get too big-headed and remain humble."