Columbia, MD - A stellar all-around performance by the men in maroon secured a crucial conference/regional victory as Howard defeated the #7 ranked rivals in CCBC Essex 16-11.

The Dragons took the early lead on a Drew Goode (Gambrills, MD/Arundel) goal as he ran past his defender and buried the shot on the near side.

Johnny Chaisson (Glenwood, MD/Glenelg) made a great interception and took the ball all the way down the field before dishing it off to Bobby Solomon (Fairfax, VA/Woodson) for the goal into the roof of the net. Jackson Krasny (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) and Jack Watsic (Frederick, MD/Linganore) muscled their way to goals in the first quarter and Jeremy Sforzo (Vail, CO/Battle Mountain) scored on a Joseph Montesano (Edgewater, MD/Damascus) assist as the Dragons took a 5-3 lead after the first period.

Colvin Prosser (Kennesaw, GA/Lassiter) scooped up a ground ball and scored on a man-up opportunity early in the second half and Howard was up big thanks to a 4-0 run.

Prosser scored two more times in the third quarter to complete his hat trick, but the Knights surged back in the third and cut the Dragons lead to 11-10. 

Prosser and Solomon took over from there as they combined to score the next four goals to put the game to bed as the Dragons defeated CCBC Essex for the fourth consecutive meeting between the teams.

Tim Russell (Catonsville, MD/Catonsville) came through with another sterling game, making 14 saves while the defense did their job to hold off the potent CCBC Essex attack despite the Knights' dominance in the face-off circle.

With the victory, the Dragons secure the #2 seed in the Region 20 tournament where they are slated to face #3 seed Anne Arundel in the semi-finals on Friday, May 3 at 6:30 PM at Harford Community College. The #4 ranked Howard Dragons  defeated the Anne Arundel Riverhawks on the road 23-13 back on April 6 in the lone regular season meeting between the two teams.