The Howard CC men's soccer team faced a nationally ranked Division I opponent in CCBC Essex and were unable to come away with the upset as the Dragons fell 2-0.

The Knights came into the match as the top team in the MD JUCO standings and made sure the Dragons were aware of it. Much of the first half was mired by sloppy play in the midfield and a lot of physicality on both sides. With the game starting to get chippy, the referee tried to get it back under control as he handed out a yellow card to Essex player Cameron Stone in the 31st minute. However, it was Stone who set up the first goal of the game as his long ball found speedy forward James Canoles whose shot got past goalie Brayan Czepinski (Ellicott City, MD, Marriotts Ridge HS). 

CCBC Essex didn't stop there as Michael Johnson was able to slide a loose ball in the box over to Roman Bubalo who smashed home the second goal of the game. This was the last meaningful play Johnson was involved in as less than a minute later, his studs up challenge on Edgardo Gonzalez (Beltsville, MD, High Point HS) forced the referee to flash a direct red card on Johnson. The Dragons took the ball right after that foul and were able to create a great chance, but Jonathan Horrocks (Clarksville, MD, Mt. Hebron HS) hit the shot just wide of the goal.

With the Knights down to 10 men for the entire 2nd half, HCC turned the pressure on started by a great shot on goal by Rogers Kiriggwajjo (Uganda, Old Kampala SSS) that forced a save from the CCBC keeper. The Dragons continued to get forward as Horrocks had a nice shot saved. Midfielder Pa Lung (Myanmar, Long Reach HS) found some space at the top of the box for a shot, but the Essex defense came up with a big blocked shot. The Dragons were able to get a few more shots late in the game, but the Knights had thoroughly parked the bus and HCC was held scoreless.

The Dragons schedule doesn't get any easier as they next travel to conference rival Harford CC on Thursday October 15th at 7:30 PM.