BEL AIR, MD – The sixth-ranked Anne Arundel Community College men's lacrosse team fell to fourth-ranked Howard Community College, 13-7, in the NJCAA Region XX semifinals Friday evening at Harford Sports Complex.
Stephen Moheiser led the Riverhawks' offense with three goals and an assist, all recorded in the fourth quarter. Jordan Kopf and Ethan Gaeng each added a pair of goals, and Caden Cote tallied one assist. The AACC defense held the Dragons to a 27% shot efficiency, and was backed by 12 saves from Hugh Edwards
Howard scored the first five goals of the game, netting three in the latter part of the first quarter, before Gaeng put the Riverhawks on the board with 4:57 left in the half. The goal marked the 23rd on the season for the freshman, and Cote recorded his team-leading 26th assist of the season on the helper.
Howard scored two more to close out the half and extended its lead to 8-1 with a pair of goals four seconds apart to open the third. Gaeng netted his second of the night with 7:53 left before Moheiser fed Kopf to cut the Dragons' lead to five with 4:18 in the quarter.
The Dragons scored the next two, including a man-up score, to extend their lead to 10-3, and the teams traded goals to close out the third quarter.
Moheiser bookended the scoring in the fourth with a man-up goal to start the frame, and closed it out with a pair of goals :19 seconds apart in the final minute.
Chris Greenstein went 10-for-20 at the faceoff x with eight groundballs and two caused turnovers for the Riverhawks. James Dipietro also caused two turnovers and had four groundballs.
Overall, Howard held a 39-30 lead in groundballs, and committed 18 turnovers to AACC's 21. The Dragons outshot the Riverhawks, 48-32, with a 26-20 lead in shots on goal.
Howard advances to play top seed and second-ranked Harford Sunday in the Region XX championship game.