CUMBERLAND — Howard entered Tuesday’s game ranked number 20 in NJCAA Division II and hadn’t played a competitive game through its first five.
Allegany College gave them its first true test, but the Dragons (6-0) survived on the road, winning 3-1.
“Good effort today, we came out and played an undefeated team now, they’re 6-0, 5-0 coming in,” ACM head coach Mo Pratt said. “That’s only the second goal they’ve conceded. We played last night, playing on 22 hours rest, that’s hard for anybody.”
Entering Tuesday, the Dragons won each game by at least four scores and had three consecutive clean sheets.
“It is a moral victory, we’ll use this to build,” Pratt said. “We have to get rest tonight and move forward, but it is a good moral victory.”
The Trojans (1-4) allowed 21 shots including 13 on goal led by Calvary Christian graduate Levi Carrington’s 10 saves.
“We purposefully came out a little conservative and tried to stay compact,” Pratt said. “Knowing that we were on no days rest, so we weren’t parking the bus, but we were playing conservative and trying to take advantage. It worked really well for a while.”
Two of the Dragons’ goals were off of second-chance shots following saves from Carrington.
Bryan Barrientos was responsible for both, scoring with 32:04 left in the first half and 13:22 to go in the second half.
About eight minutes after Barrientos’ first goal, Gavin Clayton (Mountain Ridge) sent a cross to Alex Forbes who evened the score at 1 for Allegany.
“I think that did great for the confidence,” Pratt said of tying the score. “That one, (it showed) we can play. It’s a nationally-ranked team coming in here undefeated. That’s a lot of confidence for us. That’s a thing we’ve been struggling with is scoring goals. To run a play and it was nice, well conceived and well executed.”
Denny Mora answered with 10:29 before halftime, finding the bottom left corner to put Howard in front 2-1.
The Dragons finished with a 21-11 lead in shots, 13-7 on goal and 8-6 in corner kicks.
“We’re almost conceding possession for the chance to not give up quality shots,” Pratt said of the difference in possession and shots. “Stay compact, stay behind the ball and play from there.”
Jonathan Sanchez recorded a pair of saves for Howard.
The Trojans host Hagerstown (2-4-1) on Monday at 5 p.m.
“We’re neighbors, so it’s a good rivalry,” Pratt said. “A lot of guys on our team played club soccer and even local high school soccer against the Washington County teams. They got Washington County boys on their team and some of the local clubs we got guys that played against each other, so that’s a rivalry also that they’ve had for years. We even have some guys that played club soccer with guys on the Hagerstown team. There’s always that friendly neighborhood rivalry, it’s good for soccer, good for the local jucos.”