Columbia, MD - The #6 nationally ranked CCBC Essex Knights proved their ranking to be worthy as they defeated the Howard Dragons by the score of 7-0.

Howard started the game off with a good amount of energy and composure as they created three good shooting opportunities with Kyle Simmons (Laurel, MD/Atholton), Jason Fuentes (Columbia, MD/Hammond), and Jefferson Estrada (Hyattsville, MD/Northwood) seeing their shots parried away.

After 15 minutes of play where the Dragons looked like the better team, the Knights settled into their game and were able to break the tie in the 24th minute. Despite some incredible saves by goalkeeper Danny Ventura (Laurel, MD/Reservoir), the Knights added a second goal just before halftime on a long free kick to make it a 2-0 deficit at the intermission.

The second half saw the Knights score just 17 seconds after the kickoff, a goal that deflated the Dragons quite a bit as the Knights go on to add four more goals over the final period.

Mateo Moore (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills) had two shots saved as his pace was a beacon of hope in the second half while Ventura made eight saves.

The Dragons will continue their long home stand with Westmoreland coming to town on Thursday, September 19 for a 4 PM game.