Columbia, MD – Howard Community College's men's soccer team will begin their 2026 campaign by making history, as the Dragons have been ranked 11th in the NJCAA Division II National Poll.

The eleventh-place ranking marks the highest the Dragons have been ranked in the preseason since joining Division II soccer in 2020.

Howard is coming off a 15-2-1 season that saw them finish ranked #14 in the nation at year's end. They finished as the #1 seed in Region 20, but would come up just short in the Region 20 championship game. The goal this season is to take the next step to a berth in the national tournament.

Under third-year head coach Rob Ryerson, the Dragons have become a force to be reckoned with in Region 20. They have gone 23-9-2 over the last two seasons, have been a top-four seed in both years, and started both 2024 and 2025 with six-game winning streaks. This season will see the Dragons return seven starters from last year's team, including leading scorer and All-American Yeabsira Tesfaye. He and fellow returner Kiar Sani finished with a combined 24 goals last season (13 for Tesfaye, 11 for Sani). The Dragons also return starting goalkeeper Jonathan Sanchez, who finished 2025 with eleven clean sheets in net.
 
Howard will begin their 2026 campaign by participating in an invitational in Indianapolis, where they face two teams both ranked in the top-25. Their opening day opponent, the Schoolcraft College Ocelots from Livonia, Michigan, enter this season coming off a 14-2 season and are ranked #15. The Dragons' second opponent will be the #5-ranked Northeast Community College Hawks from Neosho, Nebraska. A national powerhouse, Northeast finished last season with a 13-2-1 record and made the national tournament as an at-large bid.
 
Howard's game against Schoolcraft will be on Friday, August 21 at 4:00 PM. They then face Northeast on Sunday, August 23 at 12:00 PM.