Nov. 8, 2008

Box Score

SWARTHMORE, PA - Senior midfielder Matty Carlson (Bristol, CT/Loomis Chaffee), the Centennial Conference Player of the Year, scored in the 98th minute to lift Johns Hopkins to a 2-1 win over Gettysburg in the Centennial Conference Semifinals Saturday. The Blue Jays, seeded third in the tournament, improve to 12-4-3 on the season and will take on the winner of the Swarthmore-Dickinson semifinal on Sunday.

Senior Nick Gauna (Evanston, IL/Evanston) put Hopkins on the board first, scoring in the 10th minute on a blast from the far right side. It was his fourth goal of the season and the 28th of his career. He is now 11th in school history in career goals and seventh with 82 career points. Ian Forster answered for Gettysburg in the 22nd minute, knotting the score at 1-1.

Hopkins outshot Gettysburg 9-2 in the second half, but neither team was able to get the go-ahead goal, setting up Carlson's overtime heroics. Senior Akash Naik (Simpsonville, SC/Hillcrest) played the ball back to Carlson at the top of the box, who hit a low skipper into the left corner of the goal.

Junior Matt Mierley (Weston, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) finished with two saves for the win, while Finkel had three for the Bullets.

This was the fourth straight meeting in the Centennial Conference Tournament between Hopkins and Gettysburg. In the eight-year history of the tournament, the Blue Jays and the Bullets have met five times, with JHU now leading the series 3-2-0.

Hopkins, the two-time defending conference champion, will make its sixth appearance in the championship game on Sunday. The championship game is scheduled to begin at 1:00 pm on Sunday, Nov. 9 at Clothier Field. Live stats will be available via the Swarthmore Athletics website at: http://www.swarthmore.edu/athletics/team_mens_soccer/livestats/xlive.htm. In addition, live video will also be available at: http://blogs.swarthmore.edu/athletics/2008/11/07/garnet-offer-live-video/