After a hugely disappointing loss in last year's Regional Semi-Final game against Anne Arundel that knocked them out of contention for the National Tournament, the Dragons did not repeat that mistake as they routed the Harford CC Fighting Owls 18-8. The win books Howard CC's ticket to the Region XX Final game against the CCBC Essex Knights and most likely guarantees the Dragons an at-large bid in the NJCAA National Tournament.

With the Regional Tournament being hosted at the Dragons Lair, Howard CC always felt confident that this would be the year they could really make some noise. In fact, the only time the Dragons have lost at home in the last two seasons was an overtime loss this year to #1 ranked Nassau CC.

The Dragons came out firing from the start as they shut out the Fighting Owls 5-0 in the first quarter and 8-1 in the first half. The third quarter saw a flurry of back-and-forth action with 11 combined goals between the two teams. Harford started to get the home fans nervous as they scored 4 of the first 5 goals in the second half to make it a four goal lead for the Dragons. But the fourth quarter was all Howard as they scored 8 of the last 10 goals in the game. 

Unsurprising to anyone that has followed Howard CC lacrosse this season, Austin Mitchell (Laurel, MD, Reservoir High School) stepped up big time in this game as he used his superior size and strength to score 5 goals and added two assists in a fantastic game for the man committed to UMBC next year. Freshman Kevin Curcio (Lancaster, PA, Manheim Township) was a key part of the offense as well with 3 goals and 4 assists while the always stellar Scott Dagnanleach (Hazel Grove, UK, Hazel Grove High School) also scored a hat trick while adding an assist and Zach Beard (Clarksville, MD, River Hill High School) turned in a routinely effective game on attack with 2 goals and two assists. Jackson Downs (Olney, MD, Sherwood High School) also accumulated two goals in the game before going down with what could be a potentially damaging knee injury in the second half.

However, the man of the match might well have been defensive stalwart Peter Emery (Ellicott City, MD, Howard High School) who came up with 8 ground balls and 8 caused turnovers in the game as he was a consistent play maker throughout the game with the long pole. Not to be out shown was his fellow defender Luke Matanin (Ellicott City, MD, St. Paul's School) who also collected 8 ground balls while also tallying 3 caused turnovers, 1 goal, 1 assist, and several punishing hits.

Mark Bowser (Carlisle, PA, Carlisle High School) was effective between the pipes as he usually is with 8 saves on 16 SOG to pick up his 11th win of the season.

The Dragons get to host the most anticipated game at the Dragons Lair for quite some time as the CCBC Essex Knights are all that stand in the way of HCC winning the Region XX title and guaranteeing a spot in the National Tournament. That game will be played on Sunday May 1st and is scheduled to start at 1 PM.