March 7, 2006

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Sophomore attackman Kevin Huntley scored four of his career-high five goals and added an assist during a 9-2 run that covered the final 20 minutes of the game as seventh-ranked Johns Hopkins rallied past 17th-ranked UMBC, 12-7, at Homewood Field Tuesday night. The Blue Jays, who avoided losing back-to-back games for the first time since the 2000 season, improve to 2-1, while the Retrievers slip to 2-1.

UMBC held a 5-3 lead when James Hyland scored the third of his four goals with 7:51 remaining in the third quarter, but the Blue Jays reeled off five straight goals to take an 8-5 lead early in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Michael Doneger's first goal of the season with 4:11 remaining in the third quarter drew the Blue Jays to within 5-4 and Hopkins needed just 40 seconds of the fourth quarter to take the lead for good.

Huntley's extra-man goal with 14:31 remaining tied the game and the Blue Jays struck again just 11 seconds later when sophomore longstick Ben O'Neill scooped up a loose ball in front of the goal off the ensuing faceoff and fired into an open net for his first career goal. Senior Greg Peyser's 12-yard blast from the top of the box just under a minute later made it 7-5 and Huntley found junior Drew Dabrowski alone on the side of the net and Dabrowski beat UMBC goalie Jeremy Blevins in close to give Hopkins what appeared to be a comfortable 8-5 lead.

UMBC had one final run left as back-to-back extra-man goals by Andy Gallagher and Hyland in a span of just 37 seconds midway through the quarter pulled the Retrievers to within one at 8-7 with over nine minutes remaining.

A scoreless four minutes followed the six-goals-in-six-minutes to open the fourth quarter before Johns Hopkins freshman Michael Evans jump-started the play that helped Hopkins to its final run. Evans forced a turnover at the top of the box in the Hopkins defensive end and raced the length of the field before flipping the ball to junior attackman Jake Byrne, who wasted little time beating Blevins for his second goal of the game. Huntley added three goals in the final 5:07, including one just eight seconds after Byrne's goal, to account for the final scoring.

A defensive first half saw the Retrievers carry a 3-2 lead into halftime. After Huntley opened the scoring with 8:25 remaining in the first quarter the Retrievers took a 2-1 lead with back-to-back goals by Evan Kay and Hyland. Byrne and Hyland then traded goals in a span of less than a minute late in the second quarter to account for the 3-2 halftime score.

UMBC's Terry Kimener, who had picked up a pair of assists in the first half, notched his second goal of the season less than two minutes into the third quarter before Hopkins' midfielder Paul Rabil and Hyland traded goals midway through the period. Hyland's goal gave UMBC the short-lived 5-3 lead that Hopkins erased with its 9-2 game-ending run.

Huntley's five goals and six points are career-highs, while Byrne added two goals and two assists. Rabil scored the one goal and added two assists and the Blue Jays held advantages in shots (38-25) and ground balls (37-34) and converted on 3-of-5 extra-man opportunities.

Hyland's four goals are a career-high, while Kimener matched his four-point effort with one goal and three assists. Blevins registered 12 saves for the Retrievers, who grabbed 12-of-22 faceoffs, but turned the ball over 16 times and failed on 9-of-21 clearing attempts.

Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday when the Blue Jays travel to Hofstra, while UMBC plays at Penn on Saturday.

#17 UMBC (2-1) 1-2-2-2/7
#7 Johns Hopkins (2-1) 1-1-2-8/12

GoalsU: Hyland-4, Gallagher, Kay, Kimener. J: Huntley-5, Byrne-2, Dabrowski, Rabil, Peyser, Doneger, O'Neill. Assists: U: Kimener-3, Mundorf. J: Byrne-2, Rabil-2, Evans, Huntley, Stanwick . Saves: U: Blevins-12. J: Schwarztman-7. EMO: U: 2-for-5. J: 3-for-5. Attendance: 976.

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