Columbia, MD – The Howard Community College women's soccer team tied 1-1 with the CCBC Essex Knights thanks to a late Kimberly Ruano (Laurel, MD/Laurel) equalizer.
Both the Dragons and Knights tried a number of tactics and skills to see who would land on the scoreboard first. With a few early shots by CCBC Essex, Dragons goalie Olivia Jackson (Ellicott City, MD/Centennial) landed her first two saves for the match against the Knights. Howard also found a few openings on offense with a shot by Yoselin Ortiz Cruz (Alexandria, VA/Alexandria City) that was saved by the Knights goalkeeper Reagan Canter and another by Ruano that went wide. Another shot by CCBC Essex was saved by Jackson, but at the 28th minute mark the Knights found themselves on the scoreboard first after a corner kick by Elena Heins, making the score 1-0.
The Knights remained in possession for much of the remaining minutes of the second half, finding a way to create a number of openings for themselves to shoot the ball. But the Dragons continued to stay ready on defense, with three saves by Jackson, putting her at 6 saves for the first half, along with a defensive save by Giselle Castillo (Falls Church, VA/Justice) and two blocked shots for the team denying the Knights any further attempts.
Going into the second half, the score remained at 1-0 with the Knights still leading, but spirits were high for the Dragons. An early shot attempt at the 47th minute by Ruano hit the crossbar, granting possession back to the Knights. The Knights continued to remain in possession for most of the second half, but the Dragons defense continued to show up for each other with a number of game changing blocks and saves that kept CCBC Essex at bay.
With time winding down and just a little under seven minutes left to play, Ruano scores a last-minute goal for the Dragons in the 83rd minute of the match tying things up with a score of 1-1. In the remaining minutes of the game, CCBC Essex takes four more shots in hope to separate from the Dragons, but three out of the four shots were saved by Jackson and one went high.
Ruano ended the match with five shots including two shots on goal and a goal. Jackson finished the match with an astounding 16 saves, surpassing her season high of 15 which she earned in the previous match against Harford CC.
The Dragons will be back in action on September 23rd, as they travel to Newark, NJ to face the Wolverines of Essex County College at 1:00 PM.
