Columbia, MD - The Howard Community College men's soccer team came into Sunday afternoon's clash against Mercer County riding high. The Dragons were undefeated, ranked #20 in the nation, and boasted one of the stingiest defenses in the NJCAA. When the dust settled on their home pitch, it was #3 Mercer County Community College that left with a 3-0 win, handing the Dragons their first loss of the 2025 season.

For Howard, the loss was a gut punch, though not because the Dragons played poorly. Rather, it was that for most of the match, the Dragons looked like equals to their top-five ranked opponent.

From kickoff, the match had the intensity of a postseason showdown. Mercer, with their crisp passing, immediately tested Howard's back line. The Dragons were able to hold their ground until Jesse Van Den Berg scored a deep goal to put the visitors up 1-0.

Howard's defense kept it at 1-0 for the rest of the first half and almost the entire second half as they desperately tried to fight back. Kiar Sani (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia/St. Ragueal Church) had two good shots on goal, and Denny Mora (Hyattsville, MD/Northwestern) and Yeabsira Tesfaye (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia/St. Ragueal Church) both had good looks. Unfortunately, Mercer's defense held firm.

The second half became a physical, tactical battle. Mercer showed why they are among the nations elite, dictating the tempo of the game and winning key midfield matchups. Then came the moment that changed everything. In the 70th minute, an impressive pass from Takumi Hirose allowed Daniel Garcia to strike a goal into the right corner. That extended the lead to 2-0, giving Howard very little time to launch a comeback. A late goal made it 3-0 and Mercer held off the Dragons to had them their first loss of the season.

With the loss, Howard drops to 7-1-0 on the season. They'll look to rebound at home on Tuesday, September 23 against Carroll Community College at 2:00 PM.