Westfield, IN - In a wild, gritty season opener, the #11-ranked Howard Community College Dragons lugged out a 3-2 win over the #15-ranked Schoolcraft College Ocelots.
The Dragons built a 2-0 halftime lead, then held off a furious Ocelot comeback to take victory on opening day of the 2026 NJCAA Kickoff Classic, hosted at Grand Park Sports Complex in Indiana.
Howard's offense controlled the first half, dominating possession and out-shooting the Ocelots 7-3. Schoolcraft had their chances, but excellent goalie play from freshman
Julian Gugino kept it a scoreless draw for the first 20 minutes.
Howard would break the tie in the 22nd minute, as
Carson Feeser scored off a pass from defensive captain
Nicholas Mirecki. Later in the period,
Yeabsira Tesfaye launched a deep pass that connected with a twisting
Ethan Quander, who managed to contort his body to get a stunning debut goal. Thanks to the excellent scores from their newcomers, the Dragons led 2-0 at the half.
Schoolcraft's offense woke up at the start of the second half, with Devlin McGinnis scoring minutes into the period to make it 2-1 Dragons. Howard's offense began to struggle against a tough Schoolcraft side, and both teams got more physical as the game wore on. After just a single caution in the first half, four yellow cards were handed out in the second half, with three going to the Dragons.
A foul in the penalty box led to the Dragons final score, as Tesfaye buried his penalty shot to make it 3-1. The Ocelots kept the pressure up, out-shooting the Dragons 12-8 in the second half and earning seven corner kicks to just one for Howard. Faisal Nasrallah buried a long free kick in the 75th minute to make it 3-2.
With time running out, Schoolcraft ramped up their attacks, forcing
Julian Gugino to make excellent save after excellent save. Howard's defense, led by Mirecki and returner
Alan Gutierrez, held firm. Newcomers
Alonso Aguilar and
Angel Giron-Ramos held down the fort, and
Kiar Sani and
Biruk Yitayew's midfield play kept the Ocelots from establishing a solid attack. Schoolcraft would run out of time, as the Dragons took an impressive top-25 victory.
Tesfaye led the Dragons with five shots, three shots on goal, and an assist. Feeser had four shots on goal, while Giron-Ramos added two shots. Gugino made four saves, all of them jaw-droppers in an excellent performance.
The Dragons take Saturday off, before gearing up for a top-5 opponent in Northeast Community College on Sunday, August 23 at 12:00 PM.
