Nov. 13, 2005

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Senior Adam Simon was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player after scoring five goals in three games, including the final goal in Johns Hopkins' 3-0 win over Grove City in the ECAC Division III South Men's Soccer Championship title game on Sunday. The Blue Jays ended their season with a 14-2-5 overall record, while the Wolverines finished at 13-6-5.

The tournament championship marked Johns Hopkins fourth ECAC title in five attempts, having also won in 1999, 2001, and 2003 in between three NCAA tournament berths. The Blue Jays have now defeated the Wolverines in all three meetings, including a 2-1 win in the 2001 ECAC semifinals and a 1-0 win in the 2004 regular season.

Hopkins went up early on Grove City as senior Manbaj Gill, who played defense most of the season, scored his only goal of the year unassisted at 7:50. Gill found the ball in a scramble 10 yards from goal and fired a direct shot over the head of sophomore keeper Michael Manahan.

The Blue Jays doubled the score before halftime when freshman Matthew Carlson scored in a similar situation as Gill did, coming up with the ball after a deflected shot and scoring unassisted at 28:46. Johns Hopkins led 2-0 at the break, with a 13-5 advantage on shots and a 5-2 edge on corner kicks.

Hopkins controlled the game even more in the second half, when it out-shot Grove City 17-1 and had a 7-0 advantage on corners. Simon scored the security goal off a cross from classmate Traver Davis at 75:35 to give the Blue Jays their final 3-0 lead. Johns Hopkins finished ahead on shots, 30-6, and on corners, 12-2, and forced Manahan to make 13 saves in goal for Grove City. Hopkins junior Dan Coble made two saves in his 12th win of the year.