Columbia, MD - The Dragons fell to the Hawks of Southern Maryland 4-0 in a rainy day matchup at home.
A number of early yellow cards and fouls on both sides of the ball made way for numerous shots for the Dragons and Hawks. About seven minutes into the start of the first half the Hawks were able to take advantage of a yellow card on the Dragons, that provided them with a corner kick and was put into the net by Bryce Wilcher. A free kick by Jason Fuentes (Columbia, MD/Hammond) seemed to open up an opportunity to score for the Dragons, but the kick went a tad bit too high for Dragons Forward Kyle Simmons (Laurel, MD/Atholton) to head the ball in and possession was turned over to the Hawks for a goal kick. A around the 24th minute of the game, Truce Norton (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills) looked to put the dragons on the board by ended up getting blocked by Hawks defender Tobias Lane. Freshman defender Aidan Atang () checked in for the Dragons at about the halfway mark, and brought a lot of much needed energy into the match. He was able to get three shots off but none were successful to put the Dragons on the board. A shot headed on by Fousseiney Diallo also proved unsuccessful at the 32nd minute mark as it was blocked by a Hawks defender.
Dragons checked back in during the start of the second half with an early boost of energy. Atang tried his hand yet again to put the Dragons on the board, but his shot goes just wide of the goal. About 35 minutes into the second half a corner kick for the Dragons finds its way inside to Kyle Simmons (Laurel, MD/Atholton) and was headed on just wide off the hands of Berthozat. A little under 30 had been left to play in the second half as the Hawks do their best to hold onto their 1-0 lead over the Dragons. With 19:41 left in the second half a misplay on defense by the Dragons opened up another scoring opportunity for the Hawks and a low shot by Joe Sampson found its way into the lower left side of the Dragon's goal. The Dragons continue to fight back on offense with a number of shots that just couldn't find their way into the net. Dragons looked for any way to recuperate and turn things around with a little over 17 minutes left to play in the second half, a long shot by Diego Ruiz (Odenton, MD/Meade) is saved yet again by Hawks goalie Berthazot. Hawks were able to capitalize at the 10 minute mark after a defensive save by Sanchez rolls off the hands and into the hands of Bryce Wilcher bringing the score to 3-0 for Southern Maryland. The Dragons continued to look for any opportunity to score in the final minutes of the game but the few attempts they had they just weren't successful on. Hawks find yet another way to move the ball at their pace and within the last 40 seconds of the match after a save by Dragons goalkeeper Sanchez, Bryce Wilcher lands his 3rd goal of the game for a hat trick bringing the final score to 4-0.
The Dragons will have a short time to reset as they will play host for another regional match in Columbia against Frederick on Thursday, September 28 at 4 PM.
