Sept. 19, 2009

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - In a battle of two top-15 teams in the Centennial Conference, a strokeoff would be needed to decide the winner between eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins and 13th-ranked Gettysburg. The Blue Jays prevailed in the penalty stroke shootout, 4-2, over the visiting Bullets to earn a 2-1 win. Hopkins (5-1, 1-0 CC) improves to 6-1 all-time in strokeoffs. The loss was the first this season for Gettysburg as the Bullets fall to 5-1 overall and 1-0 in the Centennial.

With the game still tied at 1-1 after two 15-minute sudden-victory overtime periods, the two teams headed to a strokeoff. It was the first for the Blue Jays since Oct. 15, 2003 vs. Dickinson. Hopkins went first and sophomore Carly Bianco (Montclair, NJ/Montclair) hit her shot high to left to put JHU up 1-0. Alyssa Heimbach answered for Gettysburg, hitting her shot to the same spot. Junior Ariana Branchini (Old Lyme, CT/Choate) then stepped up and hit her shot high to the right, putting Hopkins back on top, 2-1. On the ensuing stroke, Gettysburg's Vanessa Pabon went to the left, but senior goalie Sophia Tieu (Cupertino, CA/Cupertino) got her stick on it. The ball then hit off the left post and rolled across the mouth of the cage and out. Junior Lindsay McKenna (St. James, NY/Smithtown East) was up next and she hit her shot inside the left post to push JHU to a 3-1 lead. The Bullets' Lexie Hearn hit her shot just inside the right post and it was 3-2 Hopkins. Sophomore Ali Bahneman (Flanders, NJ/Mendham) was the fourth shooter for the Blue Jays and nailed her shot to the left, giving Hopkins a two-goal cushion. Megan Bernstein stepped to the line, needing to hit her shot to extend the strokeoff. But Tieu was able to kick away her shot to the right post to give Hopkins the win.

Hopkins struck first in regulation after a scoreless first half. The Blue Jays finally capitalized on a penalty corner to take a 1-0 lead at 37:28. Senior Gabi Henn (Lambertville, NJ/South Hunterdon) fired a hard shot that Christina Anderson kicked out to the left. The ball went right to senior Andrea Vandersall (Hampton, NH/Winnacunnet), who fired it inside the far post for her second of the season. The Bullets answered just over five minutes later as Martha Tahsler banged home a shot inside the left post to knot the game at 1-1. That would be all the scoring as both teams' defenses and goalies stood strong through out regulation and overtime.

Tieu finished with a season-high 12 saves for the Blue Jays, while making two saves in the strokeoff. Senior Chantal Serle (Columbus, OH/Columbus Academy) and sophomore Amy Wharton (Swarthmore, PA/Strath Haven) each had a defensive save for Hopkins. Anderson finished with 11 saves for the Bullets.

Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, September 26 at Swarthmore. Game time for the Centennial Conference tilt is slated for 1:00 pm.