Howard Community College Advances to NJCAA National Semifinals
MAY 14, 2018, UPDATE: It was a year of firsts for the Howard Community College (HCC) men’s lacrosse program. The team made history earlier this month by securing its second consecutive Region XX Championship, and the college went on to its first-ever back-to-back Final Four appearance.
The season ended Saturday in the semi-finals of the 2018 NJCAA Men’s Lacrosse National Championship in Syracuse, New York, against Onondaga Community College’s Lazers, with a final score of 12-23 and HCC ranking fourth in the nation. Onondaga continued on to win the championship, with a 9-11 win over Nassau Community College.
May 7, 2018 UPDATE: The Howard Community College’s (HCC) men’s lacrosse team advanced to the NJCAA national semifinals on Saturday with a 16-9 win over Harford Community College. The victory for the dragons took place at HCC and was the third this season against the Fighting Owls.
HCC’s Dragons will play defending champion Onondaga Community College in the first national semifinal on Saturday, May 12, 2018, at 1 p.m. at Onondaga in Syracuse, New York. The game will be a rematch of last season’s national title game, in which Howard fell just short to the Lazers 15-14.
A live broadcast of the game can be seen at www.onondagalazers.com/live.
Howard Community College’s (HCC) men’s lacrosse team made program history Sunday by defeating Harford Community College’s Owls 17-9 to secure its second consecutive Region XX Championship.
HCC’s Dragons dominated Harford in the first quarter, said Head Coach Erik Foust.
“The guys were very focused and playing very well together – just playing for each other,” he said. “It was an exciting day. Everyone really tuned in to what needed to be done.”
Watch the game highlights on our YouTube channel.
The Dragons ended the first quarter with a score of 8-0. Will Smith led the Dragons in scoring early, ending the first quarter with a team leading three goals. Chris Rinehart, was just behind Smith in the quarter, adding two tallies. Behind Smith and Rinehart, Ian Decker, Braden Martin, and Alex Stephanos all added a goal to close out the quarter.
Rinehart scored quickly in the second quarter, extending the lead by the Dragons to 9. Harford got its first goal of the game in the second quarter. However, the Owls would only score once more in the half, allowing the Dragons to extend their lead to 15-2 entering halftime.
After the half, Howard came out looking to close out the game. In the third quarter, HCC outscored Harford again, extending the lead by one goal. Rinehart, Smith, and Austin Norton, all added goals in the quarter.
The Owls began making a comeback in the fourth quarter with five scores. But it wasn’t enough to defeat HCC, who took the region title.
“I’m very proud of this team,” Foust said. “I think any time you win a conference or a regional championship, it’s something to be really proud of. I’m really happy they came out and just took care of business like it was nothing. That made me very happy.”
Next up, the Dragons will return to action on Saturday, May 5, 2018, at the Dragons Lair at HCC against Harford Community College’s Owls for the first round of the NJCAA National Tournament.
“We know them very well, but they also know us very well,” Foust said of Harford. “It will probably be a more competitive game than the last one. We’re just preparing like any other game. We’re just playing lacrosse.”
Region XX Tournament Offensive and Defensive MVPs
Defensive MVP – TJ Ellis
Offensive MVP – Chris Rinehart