Sept. 29, 2007

Final Stats

ALLENTOWN, PA -- Freshman Scott Bukoski netted his team-leading 12th goal of the season just over three minutes into the second half and the eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins men's soccer team held off a furious push by host Muhlenberg over the final 30 minutes as the Blue Jays slipped past the Mules, 2-1, Saturday evening. The win improves the Blue Jays' record to 11-0 overall and 4-0 in the Centennial Conference, while the Mules fall to 5-3 overall and 2-2 in the Centennial.

Muhlenberg struck first in the 17th minute when Karim Assous took a through ball from Brendan Carroll about 25 yards from the goal and split a pair of defenders before sliding a shot past Johns Hopkins goalie Matt Mierley just inside the far post to give the Mules a 1-0 lead.

Hopkins needed less than seven minutes to get the equalizer as Mo Hamzeh played a perfect ball from the flank to the middle of the box and Akash Naik one-timed it past the out-stretched hands of Muhlenberg goalie Peter Bennett for this third goal of the year.

The score remained at 1-1 for the final 22 minutes of the first half, but the Blue Jays came out strong in the second half and Bukoski got the go-ahead goal off an assist from fellow freshman David Drake, who dribbled across the top of the box before zipping a pass to a cutting Bukoski, who wasted little time depositing it to the top shelf for his 12th goal of the year.

The Blue Jays carried the play for about the next 12 minutes and had a pair of golden opportunities, but Bennett came up with back-to-back saves on shots from in close to keep the Mules in the game.

Bennett's saves ignited the Mules, who carried the pace of the game for the final 30 minutes. Johns Hopkins sweeper Tommy McQueen kept the one-goal lead safe with a diving header on the line off a shot ticketed for the opener corner by Billy Dalton with just over 21 minutes remaining. Dalton later cranked a shot off the crossbar in the 84th minute on what proved to be the Mules' final shot.