Columbia, MD - In an instant classic, the #4 ranked Howard CC Dragons defeated the #5 ranked CCBC Essex Knights 13-12 with Drew Goode (Gambrills MD/Arundel) scoring his fourth goal in overtime to send the Howard faithful home happy.

In a game filled with story lines and drama, somehow the anticipation of the game exceeded expectations as former Dragons head coach Shawn Burke came into the game at 4-1 in his second stint coaching the Knights. The Dragons, playing in their first home game in almost 13 months, came in at 1-0 after a solid win at Anne Arundel.

Despite conceding the first goal of the game, the Dragons caught fire midway through the first quarter and scored five unanswered goals including a man-down goal by Nick Hinton (Sykesville, MD/Liberty) along with Cole Blanche (Mount Airy, MD/Linganore) being served up by one of Jordan Swoyer's (New Market, MD/Linganore) game high three assists.

Goode scored two goals early in the second quarter to keep momentum going for Howard and Blanche finished off the first half with a couple of late goals to put the Dragons ahead 10-6 at halftime. Hinton scored in the third quarter to complete his hat trick, but the Knights began to chip away at the Howard lead and scored with two seconds left to make it a 11-9 Dragons lead going into the fourth quarter.

Swoyer made a fantastic individual effort to muscle his way into a goal that extended the Dragons lead early in the quarter, but three goals by Essex including the game tying goal with just 90 seconds remaining in regulation sent the game into overtime. The Knights kept peppering the Howard goal, but Evan Hock (Sykesville, MD/South Carroll) and his 19 saves kept the Dragons alive. 

After three grueling minutes in the extra period, Jackson Krasny (Hagerstown, MD/Saint Maria Goretti) pressured the Knights on a clear attempt that allowed Jason McElroy (Frederick, MD/Oakdale) to scoop up the ball at midfield. His sprint into the offensive zone opened up Goode who found the back of the net with his teammates mobbing him in celebration.

The Dragons will have a week to collect themselves before hosting the #2 nationally ranked Harford Fighting Owls on Wednesday, April 14 at 4 PM.