BEL AIR, Md. - The Harford women's lacrosse team clinched a share of the MD JUCO Championship with a 15-10 victory over Howard on Tuesday. The two teams split the regular season matchups and will share the conference crown.

The game did not begin in Harford's favor of Sophomore Night, but a strong defensive first half and an offensive outburst after the break helped the Fighting Owls send their sophomores out in style.

All-American Karley Bush was incorrectly issued a yellow card in the opening moments, and just moments later, when she received another yellow card, she was dismissed from the game just 10 minutes in. The Fighting Owls responded with five-straight goals while holding the Dragons' high-scoring offense to just two goals in the first half.

After the break, the Dragons fought back and inched closer, 8-7, but the game was decided in a 10-minute stretch where Harford seemed to possess the ball for the entire stretch, scoring six consecutive goals to stretch the lead to 14-7 and put the contest out of reach.

Natalie Decker netted four goals and Lacy Underhill scored three times on her Sophomore Night to lead Harford. Katie DeCarlo and Brittany Minsky also scored three times, while Megan Aro returned to the field and dished out three dimes.

The win allowed head coach Nikki Murphy to guide her team to its second consecutive MD JUCO shared Championship. The Fighting Owls now await to see if they will earn the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the Region Championships. Harford will receive a bye into the semifinals on May 2 at Anne Arundel.