Sept. 18, 2010

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins men's soccer team suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday at Homewood Field, falling 2-1 to 13th-ranked Swarthmore in both teams' Centennial Conference opener. The Blue Jays slip to 5-1-1 (0-1-0 CC), while the Garnet remain unbeaten at 6-0-0 (1-0-0 CC).

In a tale of two halves, Swarthmore had the better of play in the first and scored twice to take a 2-0 lead into halftime. Micah Rose put the visitors on top in the 26th minute on a rocket from the top of the box. Morgan Langley played a ball back to Rose from about six yards out and Rose ran on to the ball and blasted a shot into the upper left corner of the goal. The Garnet struck again in the 40th minute when Henry Ainley one-timed a centering pass from Kieran Reichert into the lower left corner.

In the second it was all Hopkins as the Blue Jays brought the pressure in the second stanza. Hopkins was finally rewarded for its attack in the 65th minute when senior Scott Bukoski (Sagamore, MA/Bourne) was brought down inside the Garnet box by a defender. Bukoski took the ensuing penalty kick, blasting it past Swarthmore goalie David D'Annunzio to cut the deficit in half. Less than two minutes later, junior Sean Coleman (Lee, NH/Exeter/UNH) nearly brought the game even at 2-2 when he ripped a hard shot that just skipped outside the left post.

Senior goalie Ravi Gill (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) tied his career-high with eight saves, including an acrobatic effort on a hard shot from Langley in the 87th minute, for the Blue Jays. D'Annunzio finished with four saves for the Garnet to earn the win. Swarthmore finished with the edge in shots (20-17) and corners (7-6) in its first win in Baltimore since 1990.

Hopkins returns to action on Tuesday, September 21 with a non-conference matchup at Neumann. Game time in Aston, PA is slated for 7:00 pm.