Oct. 25, 2008
BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins men's water polo team went 2-0 in round robin play on Saturday at the 2008 Division III Eastern Championship to advance to the title match for the 17th time. JHU, the #1 seed, defeated Connecticut College (22-8) and Penn State Behrend (20-5) and is now 13-14 on the season. The Blue Jays have won more DIII Eastern titles (10) than any other school since the championship began in 1991.
A five-save performance from sophomore goalie Jeremy Selbst (Old Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) and a three-goal, three-assist effort from senior co-captain Josh Kratz (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) propelled Hopkins to a 9-1first quarter over Connecticut College. The Blue Jays did not look back as they rolled to a 22-8 win, their largest margin of victory since an 18-4 win over Penn State Behrend on Oct. 21, 2006.
Kratz finished the match with five goals and three assists for a season-high eight points. Freshman Mark Strickland (Houston, TX/Strake Jesuit) added a hat trick, while freshman Jeremy Maurer (Philadelphia, PA/William Penn Charter) tallied two assists - the first of his collegiate career. Selbst finished with seven saves in two quarters of work. Senior Chris Hutchens (Granite Bay, CA/Bellarmine Prep) made five saves in the second quarter and sophomore Will Choi (La Jolla, CA/La Jolla) made three in the fourth quarter.
Against Penn State Behrend, Hopkins led 4-2 in the first before a Matthew Pluta goal cut the lead to one with 2:19 to play. The Blue Jays went on a six-goal run, spurred by Kratz and senior co-captain Alex Bond (North Wales, PA/Germantown Academy), that stretched until 3:49 in the second. Nicholas Lowrie scored for the Lions to try and stem the tide at 10-4. But Hopkins responded with another 6-0 run to take a 16-4 lead with just over five minutes to play. After a Jon Bacon goal for the Lions, the Blue Jays closed out the match with four goals in the final two minutes.
Junior Kyle Gertridge (Palo Alto, CA/Gunn) (4g, 1a), Kratz (3g, 1a) and senior Peter Davis (Riverside, CT/Greenwich) (1g, 3a) paced the Blue Jays' offense. In the goal for Hopkins, Hutchens finished with seven saves in two quarters. Selbst had three saves and three steals in the second quarter, while Choi had five saves in the fourth quarter.
The Blue Jays scored 20 or more goals in back-to-back games for the first time since October 23, 2004 - against Penn State Behrend and Connecticut College. The championship match is scheduled for an 11:30 am start on Sunday, Oct. 26. Hopkins will take on the winner of the MIT-Penn State Behrend match.
