March 15, 2009

Box Score

EUGENE, OR - The Oregon Ducks used a 7-1 run late in the second half to defeat visiting Johns Hopkins on Sunday afternoon at Autzen Stadium. The Blue Jays drop their second straight and slip to 2-4 on the season while the Ducks win their fourth straight to improve to 5-2. Senior Jenny Higgins (Reisterstown, MD/Franklin) notched a career-high three points to lead Hopkins.

Due to the driving rain prior to the game, the conditions at Papé Field were so poor the Ducks were forced to move the match to the Autzen turf, Oregon's football stadium. The game's start time was also pushed back from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.

Trailing 5-4 to start the second half, Hopkins needed just 41 seconds to knot the score as freshman Candace Rossi (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) took a pass from junior Brett Bathras (Severna Park, MD/Severn) and scored her team leading 15th goal of the season. That ignited a 5-0 Blue Jay run as Hopkins turned a one-goal deficit into a four-goal lead with 17:43 to play. Junior Sam Schrum (Pasadena, MD/St. Mary's) scored off an assist from Higgins just 31 seconds later to give Hopkins the lead. Freshman Colleen McCaffrey (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai) then sandwiched a pair of goals around a Higgins strike and the Blue Jays led 9-5.

Ilsa van den Berg rallied the Ducks over the next 10 minutes as she had a hand in five of Oregon's next six goals. She assisted on Jana Drummond's goal with 16:27 to kick start the run, before scoring three straight, including the game-tying goal with 9:01 remaining in the game. Jana Drummond then connected with her sister Jess Drummond just 16 seconds later to give the Ducks their first lead since the start of the second half. Van den Berg then pushed Oregon's lead to two with a free position shot. Bathras halted the run with her second of the day with 6:23 remaining, cutting the deficit to two. But that would be as close as the Blue Jays would get. Alex Breiner scored a free position goal for the Ducks to close out the scoring with 4:32 left.

Catherine Davidson put Oregon on top to open the game, scoring just 3:01 into the game. Hopkins answered with back-to-back goals from sophomore Brianna Cronin (Arlington, MA/Arlington) and Higgins. The Ducks answered with a pair of goals of their own from Jess Drummon and Alicia Burkhart and Oregon led 3-2 with 17:14 remaining in the first. Rossi then scored an unassisted goal to knot the game at 3-3, followed by a Bathras goal to push Hopkins on top 4-3. Oregon closed out the scoring for the half with goals from van den Berg and Davidson to take the 5-4 lead into the lockerroom.

Higgins, McCaffrey, Rossi and Bathras led the Blue Jays with a pair of goals each. Higgins and Bathras each tallied an assist as well. The Ducks were led by van den Berg with five goals and an assist, while Davidson and Jess Drummond each scored a pair. Junior Lizzie O'Ferrall (Baltimore, MD/Mount De Sales) played the first half in the goal for Hopkins and notched three saves. Sophomore Julianne Wisner (Parkton, MD/Notre Dame Prep) came on in relief to star the second and finished with nine saves, just one shy of her career high. Anna Poponyak finished with nine saves to earn the win for Oregon.

Hopkins returns home and kicks off a three-game home stand on Thursday, March 19 with George Washington. Game time from Homewood Field is slated for 4:00 pm.