March 5, 2005

Box Score

PRINCETON, NJ - Sophomore attackman Jake Byrne scored a career-high three goals, all of which came during a game-opening 6-0 run for top-ranked Johns Hopkins as the Blue Jays opened the 2005 season with a 9-6 win over third-ranked Princeton before a Class of 1952 Stadium-record 6,325 fans. The win is the fourth in the last five games for the Blue Jays against the Tigers.

Hopkins wasted little time jumping on the Tigers as senior Kyle Harrison opened the scoring just 39 seconds into the game. After losing the opening faceoff, Harrison intercepted a pass in his defensive zone to give the Blue Jays their first possession. Ten seconds later he fired a laser past Princeton starter Dave Law to give the Blue Jays a lead they would never relinquish.

Byrne then scored three of the next five goals for the Blue Jays to stake them to a 6-0 lead. Less than two minutes after Harrison opened the scoring he assisted on Byrne's first goal as he drew a defender at the top of the box and fed Byrne, who blew a low-to-high riser past Law. Freshman Stephen Peyser pushed the lead to 3-0 five minutes later with his first career goal off an assist from Byrne.

Princeton nearly got out of the first quarter down just three, but Byrne's buzzer-beater with less than a second remaining in the quarter made it 4-0. The Blue Jays nearly ran out the quarter, but senior Kyle Barrie found Byrne on the wing and Byrne quickly fired one past Law just inside the far post. That would be all the action for Law, who was replaced in the second quarter by senior Matt Larkin.

After a scoreless first six minutes of the second period, the Blue Jays pushed the lead to 5-0 when freshman Paul Rabil tallied his first career goal at the 8:27 mark. Rabil dodged to his left from the top of the box and hand-cuffed Larkin from 10 yards out. Byrne pushed the lead to 6-0 with a left-handed blast off an assist from Harrison.

Princeton began to cut into the lead as Scott Sowanick scored twice in a span of 50 seconds to make it 6-2. He broke the shutout at the 6:52 mark after coming from behind the goal and beating Hopkins goalie Jesse Schwartzman from the right side. Sowanick took a nifty cross-crease pass just behind the goal from Peter Trombino and stepped in front to beat Schwartzman at the 6:02 mark to give the Tigers life.

The Tigers had chances to cut further into the deficit, but were then stung by a goal that was credited to Rabil at the 3:23 mark. With the Blue Jays on the extra-man, Rabil fired a shot that Larkin saved, but didn't control. A Princeton defender came up with the loose ball and tried to pass it back to Larkin through a crowd of players in front of the goal. The ball eluded Larkin to give the Blue Jays a 7-2 lead. Sowanicks' third goal of the first half just 48 seconds before halftime made it a 7-3 game.

The Blue Jays put the game away in the third quarter as Barrie and sophomore Jamison Koesterer tallied in the final 6:04 of the period to push the lead to 9-3. Barrie scored off an assist from senior Peter LeSueur at the 6:04 mark and then fed Koesterer from behind the goal to pick up his second assist of the game.

Princeton made the final scored respectable by outscoring the Blue Jays, 3-0 in the final period. Jason Doneger, Sowanick and Whitney Hayes all tallied to account for the final scoring.

Byrne had scored two goals in a game twice last season and the three-goal effort also represents the first three-point game of his career. Rabil was officially credited with the two goals, while Harrison and Barrie both had one goal and one assist. Schwartzman registered a career-high 10 saves in goal for the Blue Jays, who won their fourth straight season-opener under head coach Dave Pietramala.

Sowanick's four goals for the Tigers were a career-high, while Hayes added one goal and two assists. Larkin had five saves and allowed five goals after relieving Law at the end of the first quarter. Princeton held a 30-29 advantage in shots, but the Blue Jays won 12-of-19 faceoffs.

Johns Hopkins will return to action on Tuesday night when the Blue Jays host UMBC in the Blue Jays' home-opener. The meeting will be the first between theBlue Jays and Retrievers since 1984.

#1 Johns Hopkins (1-0) 4-3-2-0/9

#3 Princeton (0-1) 0-3-0-3/6

Goals: JH: Byrne-3, Rabil-2, Harrison, Barrie, Koesterer, S. Peyser. P: Sowanick-4, Hayes, Doneger. Assists: JH: Barrie-2, Harrison-2, Byrne, LeSueur. P: Hayes-2, Trombino. Saves: JH: Schwartzman-10. P: Larkin-5, Law-0. Shots: JH-29. P-30. EMO: JH: 1-for-2. P: 2-for-4. Attendance: 6,325.