March 17, 2007

Box Score

SYRACUSE, NY - Maybe it was what the doctor ordered. Literally. After spending the week with his team battling a stomach flu, Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala didn't know what to expect from his squad in Saturday's game against eighth-ranked Syracuse. Whatever it was that the Blue Jays took sure worked as they jumped out to an 11-5 halftime lead and cruised to a 17-9 win that ran their winning to four games. The win is also Hopkins third in its last four games at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse slips to 2-3 with the loss.

The Blue Jays spotted the Orange two of the first three goals of the game before erupting for eight straight to take a 9-2 lead early in the second quarter. Amazingly the eight goals came from eight different players.

Freshman Steven Boyle ignited the spree with his ninth goal of the year off an assist from senior Jake Byrne, who punched home his second goal of the game just 57 seconds later to give the Blue Jays their first lead of the game (3-2). From there it was good ball movement and dodging that helped the Blue Jays build the 11-5 halftime lead.

Junior Kevin Huntley pushed the lead to 4-2 when he scooped up a loose ball and beat Syracuse goalie Peter Coluccini, who had lost control of the ball in the crease after a Blue Jay turnover. Boyle found a wide-open Mark Bryan 53 seconds later and Bryan blew one past Coluccini from eight yards out before Rabil made it 6-2 at the end of the first quarter with a 10-yard bouncer with 1:09 remaining in the period.

It took less than two minutes of the second quarter for the Blue Jays to push the lead to 9-2 as Stephen Peyser, Brian Christopher and Michael Kimmel all scored on great individual efforts. Peyser needed just 21 seconds of the period to score off the faceoff after the Blue Jays gained possession and cleared their zone, while Christopher came from behind the goal and beat Coluccini from the side. Kimmel closed out the lightning-quick spree as he worked to the middle of the field from the top of the box and picked the low corner from 10 yards out. Syracuse never had possession of the ball during the three-goal run.

The Orange rallied as expected by scoring three of the next four goal as Steven Brooks notched an extra-man goal just over a minute after Kimmel's tally to make it 9-3 and Kenny Nims made the Blue Jays pay for a failed clear just over three minutes later to slice the lead to 9-4. Another goal by Boyle with 4:30 remaining was answered by Nims' goal with just 13 seconds remaining before the half.

Syracuse took the ensuing faceoff and had a chance to score, but a loose ball situation turned into a goal at the buzzer for the Blue Jays as Rabil came up with a ground ball, raced to midfield and fired a pass to Byrne, who blistered one over Coluccini's left shoulder from 18 yards out. Originally counted, the goal was subsequently taken away and then added back to account for the 11-5 halftime score.

Any hopes for a Syracuse comeback were dashed in the first six minutes of the third quarter as the Blue Jays scored the first five goals of the second half to push their lead to 16-5. Rabil scored his third and fourth goals of the game during the spree, which also featured goals by Boyle, Kimmel and Christopher. Syracuse actually won the opening faceoff of the second half, but didn't have a sustained offensive possession until they won the faceoff after Christopher's goal with just under nine minutes remaining in the period.

The Orange scored four of the final five goals of the game as Brooks scored twice, Rommel tallied an extra-man goal and Brendan Loftus punched one home in the final minute. Boyle scored his fourth goal of the game with 2:37 remaining to account for JHU's only goal in the final 23 minutes.

Senior goalie Jesse Schwartzman led a solid effort by the Blue Jay defense as he posted 17 saves, including several of the point-blank variety. The 17 saves tie Schwartzman's season high and are tied for the third-highest single-game total of his career. He also became the eighth goalie in school history to amass 400 career saves as he now has 401 to his credit.

Boyle's four goals are a career-high and he added the one assist for a personal-best five points. Rabil continued his solid play against the Orange as his three-goal, three-assist effort improved his career totals to 15 goals and four assists in four career games against Syracuse. The six points also tied his career high. Byrne (3g, 1a), Huntley (1g, 1a), Kimmel (2g) and Christopher (2g) also registered multi-point games for the Blue Jays, whose 17-goal outburst is tied for their second-best ever at the Dome.

Brooks paced the Orange with three goals and one assist, while Leveille (1g, 3a), Nims (2g) Rommel (1g, 2a) and Dan Hardy (1g, 1a) also had two or more points for Syracuse. Coluccini made six saves in the first half before giving way to Chris Rotella, who had six saves and allowed six goals in the second half.

Johns Hopkins will return to action next Saturday when the Blue Jays host Virginia at Homewood Field. Game time for the matchup between the last two national champions is set for 1 pm.

Johns Hopkins (4-1) 6-5-5-1/17
Syracuse (2-3) 2-3-1-3/9

Goals: JH: Boyle-4, Rabil-3, Byrne-3, Christopher-2, Kimmel-2, Huntley, Bryan, Peyser. SU: Brooks-3, Nims-2, Leveille, Rommel, Hardy, Loftus. Assists: JH: Rabil-3, Boyle, Bryan, Byrne, Huntley. SU: Leveille-3, Rommel, Brooks, Hardy. Saves: JH: Schwartzman-17. SU: Coluccini-6, Rotella-6. Shots: JH-43. SU-45. EMO: JH: 1-for-3. SU: 1-for-4. Attendance: 7,408.