Oct. 25, 2011

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins men's soccer team got a goal in each half and held off a late McDaniel rally to beat the visiting Green Terror, 2-1, in Centennial Conference action Tuesday night. The Blue Jays improve to 9-4-3 overall and 6-1-1 in the conference to clinch a first-round bye in next week's conference tournament. The Green Terror, meanwhile, slip to 4-10-2 overall and 1-7-0 in the Centennial.

Freshman Matt Carey scored what seemed to be an insurance tally in the 86th minute to put Hopkins on top 2-0. Classmate Kotaro Mitsuhashi played the ball to Carey in the middle of the field, he flicked it over a defender and rifled a shot past Zach Nibbelink from about 20 yards out. The tides turned just 52 seconds later however when Edgar Escobar lofted a long pass into the Hopkins box, where Mike McClain headed it home to make it a 2-1 game with 4:01 remaining.

Forty-six seconds later, McDaniel was awarded a penalty kick after a handball was called in the Hopkins box. Max Rutherford took the shot for the Green Terror but freshman Nick Cerrone deflected the ball wide to keep the Blue Jays ahead.

Junior Nick White put the home team ahead in just the 10th minute with his second goal of the season. Senior Corey Adams played a long ball over the McDaniel defense to White. He then chipped the ball over a charging Nibbelink from the top of the box. The Blue Jays nearly got a gift in the 62nd minute when senior Sean Coleman sent a ball into the box that was headed by a McDaniel defender. The ball took an errant angle off the defender's head and at the last second Nibbelink had to punch it up and over the goal.

Cerrone finished with three saves to earn the win, while Nibbelink had four for the Terror. Hopkins outshot McDaniel, 16-9, and had more corners (5-3). The win assures Hopkins of a first-round bye in the Centennial Conference Tournament as the Blue Jays can finish no lower than third.

Hopkins concludes the regular season on Friday, October 28 against Washington College at Homewood Field. The Centennial Conference match-up is slated to begin at 7:00 pm, following a pre-game ceremony honoring the Blue Jays' seniors.