Columbia, MD – Six different goal scorers highlighted a great team effort for Howard as they comfortably dominated the Southern Maryland Hawks despite conceding the first goal of the game.
A long free kick by Ethan Carpenter bounced over the Dragons defense and into the waiting foot of Miles Payton who volleyed into the far side netting to put the Hawks ahead after seven minutes of play.
Star striker
Anderson Mejia Marroquin (Elkridge, MD/Hammond) was able to tie the game up eight minutes later as a through ball by
Cesar Torres (Jessup, MD/Hammond) put him through on goal to score for the 13
th time in the campaign.
Marroquin turned provider in the 34
th minute as a through ball by
Gustavo Benitez (Beltsville, MD/High Point) gave Marroquin a chance to pull back a pass to
Matias Britos (Sykesville, MD/Liberty) who tapped into the goal for the first time in the season.
Going into the second half with the game still very much in the balance, Anthony Rodriguez was able to latch onto a deflected shot and power it home into the bottom right corner of the net to give Howard a much needed insurance goal.
With fatigue setting in for the beleaguered Hawks, the Dragons began to run away as
Daniel Fuentes (Clarksville, MD/River Hill) scored on a long
Adam Russo (Mt. Airy, MD/South Carrol) cross before
Eze Ruben (Laurel, MD/Laurel) slotted home a penalty kick when Marroquin had his shirt pulled back in the box.
David Jeun (Columbia, MD/Wilde Lake) was able to score his first goal of the season a year after scoring against the Hawks in the 2017 season thanks to an unselfish play by
Noel Diaz (Silver Spring, MD/Paint Branch) to set him up.
Kevin Villalta (Silver Spring, MD/Springbrook) earned his second start of the season between the pipes for Howard, notching his first win with just one save on the day as the Dragons outshot their opponents 40-6.
Howard will hit the road for a critical conference match against top dogs Montgomery College on Friday, September 28 at 4 PM. The Raptors are first in the Maryland Juco Conference with 15 points thanks to a 5-0 conference record and are 9-1 for the season.
