Feb. 27, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Kristin Morrison scored her fourth goal of the day with 2:26 to play in the first overtime to lift visiting ninth-ranked Princeton to a 10-9 win over Johns Hopkins on Saturday afternoon at Homewood Field. The loss drops the Blue Jays to 1-2 on the season, while the Tigers open their season with a win.

Lizzy Drumm scored her second of the day with 6:34 to play to pull the Tigers even at 8-8. Hopkins quickly answered as senior Erin Russell (Annapolis, MD/Severn) controlled the draw for the Blue Jays. Just 21 seconds after Drumm's goal knotted the score, freshman Monica Fischer (Baldwin, MD/Fallston) found sophomore Rachel Ballatori (Rochester, NY/Brighton) all alone on the crease. Ballatori faked a shot high and then went low on Erin Tochihara for her second of the day and giving Hopkins a one-goal lead. Barb Previ won the draw for Princeton and freshman Cosette Larash (Crownsville, MD/Archbishop Spalding) came up with a stop on Morrison, but the Blue Jays failed to clear the ball. Larash came up with a second save on Morrison, but again Hopkins couldn't clear and this time Drumm made the Blue Jays pay, scoring her third of the day with 3:15 remaining to tie the game at 9-9.

Princeton won the ensuing draw but just 61 seconds later, threw the ball away out of bounds behind the Hopkins cage. The Blue Jays couldn't clear and Drumm came up with the ground ball. With just 18 seconds remaining, Drumm was awarded a free position shot. Larash came up with a huge save and Fischer came up with the ball but with just five seconds remaining, the Blue Jays were unable to get any offense going and the teams were headed to overtime. Hopkins won the opening draw of overtime, but Tochihara came up with a save on senior Angela Hughes' (Manchester, MD/North Carroll) shot and the Tigers were able to clear. Princeton wore down the clock in the first half of the period and finally got a shot off with just one second on the clock, but Previ's attempt was wide.

The teams switched ends and Princeton won the draw and Morrison scored on a low bounce shot to put the Tigers on top. Hopkins then won the draw and Fischer got the ball to Ballatori, who was all alone in the Princeton zone. She took it to the cage and fired a shot, but it missed wide and the Tigers were there to back it up. Princeton was able to run out all but the final eight seconds, before Hopkins forced a turnover in its end, but did not have enough time to get a shot off.

Princeton jumped out to a 2-0 goal lead on back-to-back goals from Morrison, including a highlight-reel behind-the-back shot, just seven minutes in. Junior Brooke Foussadier (Turnersville, NJ/Washington Township) and Ballatori then sandwiched goals around a strike from Dumm and the Tigers led 3-2. Charlotte Davis answered with a man-up goal for the Tigers, pushing the lead to two. Sophomore Cami Kramer (Vero Beach, FL/Vero Beach) cut the deficit back to one with a free position goal with 3:23 to play in the half. That goal ignited a 5-0 Blue Jay run that bridged halftime. Sophomore Candace Rossi (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) tied the game on a right alley dodge for her first of the three on the day with just 1:20 on the clock. Morrison had one last shot before halftime, but Larash came up with the save and the teams went into the lockerroom the same way they came out, even.

Coming out of the half, Hopkins picked up where it left off, potting three goals in a span of just 68 seconds to take a 7-4 lead. Senior Paige Ibello (Cockeysville, MD/Maryvale Prep) got things going with a free position goal just 4:37 in. Sophomore Colleen McCaffrey (Mt. Sinai, NY/Mt. Sinai) made it a two-goal game as she dodged right then left to avoid her defender and buried a low shot. Just 21 seconds later, Fischer connected with Rossi, who fired a hard shot across her body to make it a 7-4 game.

Princeton answered with a pair of goals in just 30 seconds from Jaci Gassaway and Cassie Pyle to cut the deficit back to one with 17:18 to play in regulation. Rossi pushed it back to two after rolling inside her defender on the crease and slipping a shot inside the near post to complete her hat trick. Princeton once again responded with a pair, this time from Morrison and Drumm, to tie the game at 8-8.

Rossi's hat trick led the Blue Jays and was the fifth of her young career, while Ballatori tied her career-high with her two goals. Larash finished with a career-high 11 saves, while also grabbing a team-high three ground balls. Morrison led the Tigers with her four goals, while Drumm added a hat trick. Tochihara finished with 12 saves in the cage for Princeton.

Hopkins returns to aciton on Wednesday, March 3 against visiting Stony Brook. It will be the first ever meeting between the two programs. Opening draw is slated for 1:00 pm at Homewood Field.