Oct. 26, 2010
JHU-MIT Box Score in PDF Format 
NEW LONDON, CT - MIT used a five-goal spurt midway through the Division III Eastern Championship match to turn a tie game into a four-goal advantage and held on for a 9-7 win over Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays slip to 12-11 on the year and finish as the runners-up at the championship for the first time since 2003. The Engineers (10-7) win their sixth title and first since 2007.
MIT got on the board first with a goal from tournament MVP John Preis. The Blue Jays answered with three straight to take a 3-1 lead less than a minute into the second quarter. Sophomore Alex Whittam (Hillsborough, CA/Sacred Heart Prep) tied the match at 1-1 with his 11th goal of the tournament, just after the expiration of a Hopkins' man-up situation. Sophomore Ross Schofield (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) then gave the Blue Jays a 2-1 lead with a man-up goal at 2:27. He scored another man-up goal to start the second to stake Hopkins to a 3-1 lead. The Engineers answered with back-to-back goals from Scott Stephens and Alex Mattfolk to tie the match at 3-3 with 4:50 left in the first half. Whittam put Hopkins back on top at 4-3 just 56 seconds later. But a pair of Engineer goals in the final 45 seconds of the half gave MIT a 5-4 lead at the break.
The Engineers picked up where they left off at the half, scoring the first three goals of the third quarter to push out to an 8-4 lead. Hopkins answered with goals from sophomore Kielan Crow (Portola Valley, CA/Lick-Wilmerding) and junior Mark Strickland (Houston, TX/Strake Jesuit) to cut the deficit in half. Brian Gardiner pushed the lead back to three with his only goal of the match with 1:04 left in the quarter. But a goal from Schofield with just six ticks on the clock made it a 9-7 game heading into the final quarter. That would be all the scoring in game as neither goalie allowed a goal in the final eight minutes. In the final quarter, senior Jeremy Selbst (Old Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) made several saves, including one on a five-meter shot.
Schofield led the Blue Jays with three goals and three assists, while Whittam had two goals and two assists. Selbst finished with nine saves and four steals. Schofield and Whittam earned First Team All-Tournament Team honors, while Crow and senior John Barrett (Clarendon Hills, IL/Fenwick) were named to the second team. Preis had three goals for the Engineers and was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday at George Washington in CWPA Southern Division action. The match is slated for a 7:00 pm start.
