March 24, 2009

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins used a patient offense and solid defense to defeat visiting UMBC, 8-6, on Tuesday afternoon. The Blue Jays win their second straight and improve to 4-4 on the season while the Retrievers slip to 5-5 overall. The six goals by the Retrievers are the fewest allowed by the Blue Jays since March 27, 2008.

The Blue Jays got things going early, as sophomore Brooke Foussadier (Turnersville, NJ/Washington Township) scored back-to-back goals in the opening five minutes to put Hopkins up 2-0. UMBC responded with a two-goal run as Amanda Gable and Amanda Pappas each found the cage to knot the game at 2-2 with 14:19 to play in the first.

Senior Gina Maranto (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) then pushed the Blue Jays' lead back to one when junior Paige Ibello (Cockeysville, MD/Maryvale Prep) found her cutting across the top of the arc for her first goal of the season. Abbey Swift got that one back for UMBC with 6:55 remaining after cutting through the center of the arc and firing a hard shot past sophomore Julianne Wisner (Parkton, MD/Notre Dame Prep).

Junior Sam Schrum (Pasadena, MD/St. Mary's), goal line extended, then connected with junior Brett Bathras (Severna Park, MD/Severn School) in the middle of the arc to put Hopkins back on top, 4-3, with 4:14 remaining in the half. That ignited a 5-1 Blue Jay run that would stretch for over 31 minutes. Less than a minute later, Bathras fed freshman Candace Rossi (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale), on the same exact play, for her team-best 19th goal of the season.

Coming out of the half, sophomore Brianna Cronin (Arlington, MA/Arlington) scored on a free position shot to push Hopkins lead to 6-3 just 4:11 into the second. Ashley Stodter cut the deficit back to two with an unassisted tally just over five minutes later. Hopkins then slowed the pace of the game, holding the ball for long periods of time on offense. Senior Jenny Higgins (Reisterstown, MD/Franklin) finally got Hopkins back on the board with 6:54 to play with her career-best fifth of the season, making it a 7-4 game. Cronin then scored on a low shot off the dodge for her 14th of the season, pushing the Blue Jays' lead to four.

Pappas responded with her second goal of the game, scoring unassisted, with 4:16 to play to make it an 8-5 game. UMBC then won the ensuing draw and Kara Dorr, the Retrievers leading scorer, found the cage with 3:27 remaining to cut the deficit to two. Hopkins won the draw and was able to run out the clock.

Cronin and Foussadier paced the Blue Jays with two goals apiece while Schrum also dished out two assists. Pappas (2g) and Swift (1g, 1a) were the only Retrievers with multi-point games. Wisner, making her first start since March 22, 2008 made eight saves to earn her second straight win. Kate Quick finished with five saves in the cage for UMBC.

Hopkins returns to action, closing its three-game homestand, on Friday, March 27 against 14th-ranked Stanford. It is the first meeting between the Blue Jays and the Cardinal since 2000. Game time is slated for 4:00 pm at Homewood Field.