COLUMBIA, MD - The Howard Dragons put up a valiant fight against one of the best teams in the NJCAA, ultimately falling to the #2 ranked Nassau Lions 11-6. The Dragons fall to 2-8 on the season with one game left to play in the regular season while Nassau improves to 7-1 on the year.

Nassau controlled the game early on, taking a 5-0 lead early in the second quarter as the Dragons struggled to find their offensive rhythm. Gianni Karam (Ellicott City, MD/Mount Hebron) got Howard on the board on a feed from JT Harich (Point of Rocks, MD/Brunswick) which started a 4-0 run for the Dragons as Joe Hathaway (New Market, MD/Oakdale), Ethan Varani (Clarksville, MD/River Hill), and Cyrus Frid-Denikos (Elkridge, MD/Howard) joined the party.

Down 5-4 at halftime, the Lions scored first in the second half only to see Karam answer back immediately to make it a one goal deficit once again. Karam would finish his hat trick late in the third quarter to make it an 8-6 Nassau lead, only to see Howard get shut out in the fourth quarter for an 11-6 Lions victory.

Karam, Frid-Denikos, and Harich all finished with three points each to lead the offense. Kobe Brown (Chicago, IL/Lakes Community) led a fantastic defensive effort with Jameson Smith (Sykesville, MD/Century) and Mason Bowler (Noblesville, IN/Nobelsville) contributing to an all-around great game. Braden Chaney (Sykesville, MD/South Carroll) replaced Charlie Wendel (Glenwood, MD/Glenelg) at the start of the second quarter, making 12 saves along the way.

The Dragons will close out their regular season schedule when they travel to Anne Arundel on Wednesday, April 17 at 5 PM. The two teams met back on March 13 with Howard winning that game 13-2.