(Herkimer, NY) On Thursday night, the Men's Soccer Team suited up to compete in the first round of the 2018 NJCAA National Championship. Their opponents were the 8th Ranked Howard CC Dragons from Maryland. 

It was an extremely physical first half. Nassau knew they would need to strike early to get ahead from the start. JP Rodriguez executed and scored two goals for the Lions before the end of the first half. After halftime, the Lions came out ready to defend. It was a battle back and forth for most of the second half. A late penalty kick given on a shot block by NCC allowed HCC to score. The Lions successfully held them to just one point and took the victory 2-1. 

Head Coach Dan Fisher commented after the game, "I could tell the men were nervous going in, but they kept calm, cool and collected, and got the job done. Howard was a good team, so we had to play confident. I think this was the perfect preparation for the Championship game that we are shooting for."

The Lions go into the second round remaining the number one seed. They will take on Cayuga CC on Friday night.