ARNOLD, MD (April 3, 2019) – In a clash of two of the top-ranked men's lacrosse teams in the nation, #4 Howard Community College defeated host #5 Anne Arundel Community College, 23-13, Wednesday afternoon at Siegert Stadium. The Dragons used a six-goal run in the third quarter to break open the game before going on another six-goal spree in the fourth.
Conor Mackrell led the Riverhawks (4-4, 1-1) with five goals, while Jordan Kopf added four. Ethan Gaeng scored twice and assisted two others, and Caden Cote scored twice and tallied an assist.
Jake Polinsky scored a game-high seven goals to go with one assist for the Dragons (6-2, 1-1). NJCAA goals leader Bobby Solomon added five goals and a pair of assists, while Colvin Prosser netted four goals. NJCAA assists leader Jeremy Sforzo scored three goals to go with two helpers.
Howard took the lead less than a minute into the game on a Solomon unassisted tally. The Riverhawks came back to take the lead on back-to-back goals from Kopf and Cote midway through the first period. The Dragons rattled off three straight, bookended by Solomon tallies to retake the lead for good. Gaeng scored his first of the game late in the first half to send the Riverhawks into halftime trailing by one, 7-6.
Just 13 seconds into the second half, the Dragons started their six-goal spree, including a man-down unassisted goal from Jake Mackenzie. Gaeng again came through for Anne Arundel, netting a man-up goal with 2:33 to play to put a stop to the streak.
Early offense again stymied the Riverhawks at the start of the fourth quarter as Polinsky went directly to goal after a faceoff win from Jake Griffin, edging the Dragons' lead to seven just 11 seconds into the stanza. The goal sparked another six-goal run from Howard Community College.
Late in the fourth, however, Mackrell got hot, planting three of his five goals in the frame, including a man-down goal with 10 minutes remaining
Griffin finished the day 13-28 at the faceoff x for Howard Community College. Chris Greenstein paced the Riverhawks with a 14-22 effort, giving way in the fourth to Rahsaan Jonson, who finished 4-9
Hugh Edwards made 12 saves for the Riverhawks, including nine in the second half. Tim Russell stopped nine shots while giving up eight goals in 44 minutes of action. Cruz Hanson gave up five goals on seven shots in the remaining time.
As a team, Anne Arundel outshot Howard, 51-41, while Howard held slim advantages in groundballs at 32-27. Anne Arundel cleared the ball on 11 of 18 opportunities, and Howard converted 16 of 22 opportunities.
The Riverhawks are back in action Saturday on the road at Harford Community College in a 1 pm NJCAA Region XX tilt. Howard hosts #6 Genessee Saturday at noon.