Columbia, MD - Marielle Henriquez (Laurel, MD/Reservoir) put in three goals and added a couple assists, but the Dragons were unable to stop the CCBC Essex Knights from winning for the second time this week between these two conference rivals.

After falling behind 10-0 in the first half during the first meeting between these two teams earlier in the week, the Dragons were determined to come out stronger on their home field. They were able to accomplish that with the early lead two minutes into the game when Henriquez took control of the ball behind the Knights' net and found a cutting Maddie Reeser (Sykesville, MD/Century) for the dunk in goal.

Essex tied the game less than a minute later, the Dragons responded immediately with an almost exact replica of the opening goal but this time it was Sandra Naylor (Elkridge, MD/Mt. DeSales) who benifitted from an Henriquez pass.

The Knights scored three straight to take the lead, but Howard fought back through goals by Henriquez and Kristen Ogle (Sykesville, MD/Century) to tie the game at 4-4 midway through the first half.

Henriquez scored again early in the second half to stop another Essex 3-0 run with Naylor scoring immediately after to cut the Knights' lead to just one. That would be the closest Howard would get as Essex closed the game on a 6-1 run with the only Howard goal over the last 24 minutes being Henriquez completing her hat trick.

Ogle was all over the field in the game with six ground balls, three caused turnovers and two draw conrols while Naylor and Reeser combined to get the other seven draw control wins for the Dragons. Defender Roos Van Remmen (Netherlands/Ety Hillesum Lyceum) collected a career high four ground balls in a game where both teams struggled to clear the ball and prevent turnovers.

The Dragons won't find any rest as they will face national powerhouse Monroe CC Tribunes on Monday, April 15 at 4 PM. The #3 ranked Tribunes have won 98 consecutive games and six straight national championships in an unprecedented dynasty of domination in the sport.