Arnold, MD – The Dragons dominated possession and shots in the NJCAA district championship match, but ultimately fell to the Oxford College of Emory University Eagles in a dramatic 3-2 game. Thanks to their tournament semifinal win combined with the loss by Prince George's, Howard Community College was named the Region 20 Division III champions before the match even began as they claimed a second consecutive regional championship.

The Dragons got off to a great start with several great chances and hit pay dirt in the 9^th minute as Luis Wardcantori (Fulton, MD/Reservoir) won the ball in the middle of the field to start the forward movement. His pass to Joshua Martinez (Hyattsville,MD/High Point) was followed by a great through ball to Brandon Muma (Silver Spring, MD/Paint Branch) who hit the ball into the top corner of the net to put Howard ahead 1-0.

Wardcantori continued to be the playmaker as his over-the-top through ball to Lassana Diakite (Mali/LCAD) opened up a shot that went just wide of the net.

Howard was a bit fortunate to have two Eagles goals waived off as a header from a corner kick was ruled to have been possible due to a foul and a second that was from an offsides. The Dragons also had a goal ruled out for an offsides call a few minutes later as Joshua Martinez (Hyattsville,MD/High Point) was just off on a rebounded shot by Julio Medrano (Hyattsville, MD/High Point).

The Dragons kept the pressure up for most of the first half, outshooting the Eagles 18-2 forcing the Oxford goalkeeper into seven saves.

Howard had a glorious chance just two seconds into the second half as Walter Gonzalez () hit a low cross that Anderson Marroquin (Elkridge, MD/Hammond) hit well but was parried away by Tuke. Gonzalez nearly scored twice in the moments after that as his header off a corner kick went just wide followed by a shot from the left side that was saved by Tuke.

Despite all of the momentum going Howard's way, it was Oxford who found the net as a corner kick was head on by Brandon Simon and was finished from point-blank range by Eduardo Barquet to tie the game at 1-1 after just four minutes of play in the second half.

Howard continued to create chances and piled the shots towards the Eagles goal with the ball staying almost entirely on half of the field. After a foul was called just outside of the top of the 18 yard box, a tricky set piece saw Martinez back heel a pass to Alexander Estrada (Ellicott City, MD/Oakland Mills) who powered a straight shot into the net to take the lead.

Immediately following the go-ahead goal, the Eagles charged back as they drew a foul from 30 yards away from the Dragons net which was curled into the goal box and headed into the net by Barquet to tie the game at 2-2 to the disbelief of many

After not making a save for the first 70 minutes of the game, Howard goalkeeper Darbouzeson Casseus (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills) made two great ones on fast break chances that kept the Dragons from having the game totally flipped upside down.

Everything changed in the 66^th minute as Brandon Muma (Silver Spring, MD/Paint Branch) was given a straight red card after a confrontation in the middle of the field that forced the Dragons to play a man-down for the rest of the contest.

Despite playing with just 10 men, Howard continued to enjoy the majority of possession and chances over the last 20 minutes of regulation and always looked to be the favored team to find the tie-breaking goal.

With less than a minute remaining, a clearance by Casseus was picked up by the Eagles Ryan Rohling who hit a through ball over the top of the Howard defense and was caught on by Parker Morford who chipped the ball over the Dragons goalkeeper and into the top corner of the net for the dramatic, championship winning goal for Oxford Emory.

Head coach Stefan Draganov was full of praise for both teams on the day, "We are really proud of what our team did today. They played really well and they did what we asked them to do. Our opponents were mentally tough today and were able to take advantage to go through."

Howard had three of their men named to the All-Tournament team including Marroquin, Martinez and Estrada.

The Dragons season will end at 10-7 after a great close that saw them win five of the last six before the district championship loss. Howard will be forced to say goodbyes to one of the most accomplished sophomore classes in Dragons history as the 10 player graduating class includes captain defender Estrada and the most prolific goal scorer in the history of Howard soccer in Marroquin.