Columbia, MD - A strong effort by the Howard men's soccer team saw them keep their season alive with a big 4-1 win over the Northern Virginia Nighthawks in the Region 20 tournament quarterfinals.

In a game that rarely lacked for intensity and action, the Nighthawks had the first good chance on goal as a deflected free kick saw Danny Ventura (Laurel, MD/Reservoir) make a diving save to keep the ball out of the Dragons' net. Just two minutes later, the Dragons saw a corner kick by Jason Fuentes (Columbia, MD/Hammond) get a flick on header by Kai Onabiyi (Netherlands/) to Kyle Simmons (Laurel, MD/Atholton) on the back post who headed the ball into the top right corner of the net to put Howard ahead in the ninth minute. 

Northern Virginia earned a free kick just outside of the 18 yard box late in the first half which was powered into the net to tie the game at 1-1 going into halftime. 

The Dragons took the lead back early in the second half as a Fuentes through ball found a wide open Aidan Atang (Fulton, MD/Reservoir) on a run behind the NOVA defense as he slotted the ball around the goalkeeper to take the lead at 2-1. 

Howard doubled the lead midway through the half as Atang played Fuentes in on a beautiful through ball. The ensuing scramble in the goal box saw the ball fall to Boubacar Sissoko (Beltsville, MD/High Point), allowing him to play a Truce Norton (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills) into the box as his one-timer shot into the corner of the net added to the Dragons lead.

One more insurance goal for the Dragons late in the game came from a counter attack as Mateo Moore (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills) fought through a trio of Northern Virginia players to tap the ball into an empty net to close the door on the Nighthawks.

The Dragons will advance to the semifinals where they will take on the #1 seed CCBC Essex Knights on Thursday, October 26 at 1 PM.