Rockland, NY – The #7 seeded Dragons pulled off a fantastic upset in the consolation bracket of the NJCAA DIII National Tournament, defeating #3 seeded Genesee 5-4. The Dragons finish the year with a 12-8 record in another very successful season for Coach Kate Seagroves.

Howard struck fast as Grace Pritchett (Dayton, MD/Linganore) scored in the first minute of the game when Claudia Brush (Catonsville, MD/Catonsville) back heeled a pass to her for an open look in the box.

The Dragons doubled their lead five minutes later when Kristen Ogle (Sykesville, MD/Century) took a free kick from the left side just outside of the goal box and she curled it into the near side on a gorgeous shot.

Despite another great save in a fantastic first half by goalkeeper Cassandra Padellford (Truckee, CA/Truckee), Genesee was able to collect the rebound and hammer it home to make it a 2-1 Dragons lead after 30 minutes of play.

Howard kept up the pressure early in the second half as Hailey Montoya (Redlands, CA/Redlands East Valley) crossed it over to Nikki Vieira (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Colégio Adventista) who hit a one-timer into the goal for her 19^th of the season to put the Dragons ahead 3-1.

Less than 10 minutes later, Vieira was able to pick up the ball at the top of the box and dribble inside where she was collided into and was given a penalty kick. Pritchett stepped up to the spot and knocked it in for her second of the game and 13^th of the season and Howard went ahead 4-1.

Genesee earned a penalty kick themselves shortly thereafter as Leigh McDonald (Loveland, CO/Mountain View) appeared to make a great tackle but the referee pointed to the spot none the less as the Cougars scored to make it a 4-2 game.

With 20 minutes left to play, Montoya was able to poke it through to Kylie Toler (Fulton, MD/Reservoir) who hit a powerful volley straight over the Cougars' goalkeeper and the Dragons were remarkably ahead 5-2 against the #3 seeded team.

The Cougars would not go down quietly as they scored two more goals as the high scoring affair continued to sway back-and-forth in the contest. Genesee threatened the Dragons goal for large portions of the contest, but Padellford had a valiant performance with 11 saves on 24 shots against.

Howard managed 13 shots in the game, but five of those found twine as Howard was able to close out their 2018 season on a very high note with the victory.

Video Highlights Courtesy of NJCAA TV: