Garden City, NY - In competitive match between two national contenders, the Dragons fought hard but were unable to find the back of the net in a 1-0 loss to the Nassau Lions.

Throughout the first half, the Dragons had numerous scoring opportunities. At the 20 minute mark, Kylie Toler (Fulton, MD/Reservoir) won a 50/50 ball in the Dragons backfield and dribbled through several defenders in the midfield. Toler threaded a ball through the Lions defense to Claudia Brush (Catonsville, MD/Catonsville) on the outside who took the ball to the corner and crossed it into Madalyn Nichols (Mt. Airy, MD/Glenelg) who took a one-touch shot that went just over the crossbar.

Just a few moments later, Shonagh Cleary of the Lions stepped to a ball that was bouncing around the outskirts of the Dragons defense. Cleary took several touches through the Dragons backfield and sent a shot over the outstretched hands of Howard goalkeeper Hailey Murray (Catonsville, MD/Catonsville) and into the net for what turned out to be the only goal of the contest.

Cleary had one more chance towards the end of the first half as Busi Sokoya (Columbia, MD/Long Reach) missed an unlucky clear for the Dragons and Cleary was able to make her way through the Dragons defense again. Murray was able to cover for Sokoya as her perfectly timed diving save for the Dragons kept the Lions lead to one going into the half.

The second half was scoreless for both teams, but was not without valiant effort from the Dragons. Rebecca Herriotts (Glenwood, MD/Mt. Airy Christian) had two solid shots on goal including one shot that boomed off the post and Clara Janush (Laurel, MD/Reservoir) had three attempts from long range. The Dragons kept up the pressure until the very end with several shots coming in the last five minutes of the game, but the Dragons persistence and hard work could not be rewarded with a goal.

The Dragons will have a chance at immediate redemption as they take on the Suffolk County Sharks on Saturday, October 5 at 1:00 PM.