Box Score Sept. 8, 2007
Final Stats
BALTIMORE, MD - The #9 Johns Hopkins men's soccer team defeated Washington & Lee 4-1 in the Citrano Medical Labs Kickoff Classic Saturday night. The win was number 226 for Hopkins head coach Matt Smith, making him the winningest coach in Centennial Conference history. The Blue Jays remain undefeated at 4-0-0 while the Generals fall to 1-1-0 on the season.
Hopkins jumped on the board in the 13th minute off a strike from sophomore Chand Balfour (Montclair, NJ/Montclair). Senior All-American Ben McAbee (Hagerstown, MD/North Hagerstown) fed a long ball to senior Mo Hamzeh (Clarksville, MD/River Hill) down the left touchline. Hamzeh crossed the ball to Balfour who headed it home for his third of the season.
Washington & Lee answered back in the 33rd minute. Jack Palmer crossed the ball from the right side and Whitt Larkin one touched it just inside the near post to make it a 1-1 game. The Blue Jays responded just over two minutes later. McAbee sent a crisp pass up the middle to sophomore Evan Giles (Ponte Verde Beach, FL/Episcopal). Giles one-touched the ball to his left to junior Akash Naik (Simpsonville, SC/Hillcrest). Naik dribbled to his left and ripped a hard shot from about 20 yards out for his first of the season.
Hopkins took a 3-1 lead less than two minutes later in the 37th minute when junior Nick Gauna (Evanston, IL/Evanston) converted a penalty kick. Freshman Scott Bukoski (Sagamore, MA/Bourne) closed out the scoring with his team best fourth of the season in the 42nd minute. Naik crossed the ball from the center of the field to a streaking Bukoski, who ripped a shot into the upper left corner.
That would be all the scoring for the game as neither team was able to find the back of the net in the second half. Sophomore Matt Mierley (Weston, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) finished with four saves to move to 3-0-0 on the season. Ted Sheedy made seven saves in the loss for the Generals.
Hopkins returns to action on Sunday, September 9 against the DeSales Bulldogs. Game time is set for 4:00 pm. In the earlier game of the Citrano Medical Labs Kickoff Classic Saturday, Buffalo State defeated DeSales 2-1. Buffalo State will face Washington & Lee in the early game at 2:00 pm on Sunday.
