March 8, 2008

Box Score

HEMPSTEAD, NY - Freshman Jay Card scored his fourth goal of the game off a failed Johns Hopkins clear just over two minutes into overtime to lift Hofstra to an 8-7 win over the top-ranked Blue Jays at rain-soaked Shuart Stadium Saturday afternoon. Card, who had scored his three previous goals in the first half as the Pride built a three-goal lead, entered the game with no goals in his first two career games. The loss snaps a 12-game winning streak for the Blue Jays, who slip to 3-1 with the loss.

Hofstra controlled the faceoff to start overtime, but the Blue Jays came up with a loose ball with just over two minutes remaining in the extra session. Junior Matt Drenan's pass to classmate Andrew Miller at midfield failed to connect and the Pride came up with the loose ball. Junior Anthony Muscarella then found Card behind the defense in transition and Card beat Blue Jay goalie Michael Gvozden from in tight for the game-winner and secured Hofstra's (2-1) first-ever win against a number-one ranked team.

Hopkins erased a three-goal halftime deficit and forced overtime by out-scoring the Pride 4-1 in the second half. An unassisted goal by Stephen Peyser just 35 second into the third quarter started the rally for the Blue Jays, who also got third-quarter goals from junior Austin Walker and senior Michael Doneger in a three-minute span midway through the period to knot the game at 6-6. Walker's goal came off an assist from junior Mark Bryan, while Doneger buried an extra-man goal off a nifty pass from sophomore Michael Kimmel on the doorstep.

Both teams had chances in the fourth quarter, but Gvozden came up with four saves in the period and Hofstra's Danny Orlando had three. Still, the Pride pushed out to a 7-6 lead on an extra-man goal by Dan Stein with 9:02 remaining. The Blue Jays had held Hofstra scoreless for 37:56 before Stein's goal.

Hofstra held the Blue Jays down a goal for nearly eight minutes after Stein's goal before JHU isolated Peyser at the top of the box out of a timeout. Working from the top and slightly to Orlando's left, he split the defense before firing home his second goal of the game with 1:15 remaining. That set the stage for Card's game-winner, which gave the Pride their second straight win over the Blue Jays at home.

The Pride built a 6-3 first quarter lead that held through halftime as they worked for good shots and limited the Blue Jays' possessions. Back-to-back unassisted goals by Muscarella and Card gave Hofstra a 2-0 lead just over six minutes into the game. Muscarella stuck a shot just inside the crossbar on an ally drive and Card scooped up a loose ball on the crease and stuck the ball into an open net account for the Pride's first two goals.

The Blue Jays needed just eight seconds to get on the board after Card's goal as freshman Matt Dolente won the ensuing faceoff and fed senior Kevin Huntley, who beat Orlando for his 10th goal of the season. Huntley helped draw the Blue Jays even 59 seconds later when he threaded a pass from the top of the box to Bryan on the crease and Bryan quickly fired home his first of the year. An unassisted goal by Kimmel 90 seconds later gave the Blue Jays a 3-2 lead and what appeared to be all the momentum, but Hofstra scored four times in the final 5:01 of the quarter to take the 6-3 lead that held until the second half.

Card's second goal of the game also came into an open net as he took a nifty cross-crease pass from freshman Kevin Ford and drew the Pride even at 3-3 with 5:01 remaining in the opening period. Card completed the hat trick 11 seconds later when he scored off the faceoff and Muscarella and Mike Unterstein both scored unassisted goals in the final 4:07 to account for the 6-3 score at the end of one.

Neither team scored in the second quarter, although the Pride had several good scoring chances and held a 7-1 advantage in shots in the period. Gvozden made four saves in the period, including three spectacular stops, to keep the Blue Jays alive.

Peyser (2 goals), Huntley (1g, 1a) and Bryan (1g, 1a) were the only Blue Jays to register more than one point in the game and Gvozden posted 11 saves in the loss.

Card's four goals paced Hofstra, which also got two goals and one assist from Muscarella and 14 saves from Orlando. Joe Montemurro won 10-of-18 faceoffs and Hofstra held advantages in shots (32-21) and ground balls (31-29).