JHU-Brown Box
JHU-UCLA Box
JHU-Harvard Box
JHU-MIT Box
PRINCETON, NJ - The Johns Hopkins water polo team earned wins over Harvard and 18th-ranked Brown but fell to second-ranked UCLA and MIT at the Princeton Invitational this past weekend. The Blue Jays improve their overall record to 6-2 on the season. Senior co-captain Ross Schofield paced the Hopkins' offense with eight goals and three assists in the four matches.
Hopkins opened the weekend with a tight 9-8 win over Brown on Saturday morning. With the match tied at two after the first quarter, Hopkins put up a 3-1 outing in the second to take a 5-3 lead at the break. The Bears answered back in the third quarter, making it a one-goal game entering the final quarter. Sophomore Johnny Beal sealed the win with a pair of goals in the fourth quarter, for his first hat trick of the season. Senior co-captain Kielan Crow was the only other Blue Jay with a multi-goal outing, as he and Beal each tallied assists. Sophomore Danny Ovelar played all four quarters in the net and made 13 saves with three steals.
The Blue Jays then faced a tough task in the nightcap Saturday, taking on the second-ranked Bruins. UCLA jumped on Hopkins quickly and led 10-1 after the first quarter and 14-1 at the half. Hopkins outscored UCLA, 3-2, in the third but the Bruins answered with a 6-0 final quarter. Crow, Schofield and freshmen Kevin Yee and Blake Range each scored for the Blue Jays in the loss. Freshman Erik Henrikson made four saves with three steals in two quarters of action, while sophomore Scott Weigel made a pair of saves and sophomore Jacob Dorn made one save.
Hopkins rebounded with an 8-5 win Sunday morning over Harvard, getting goals from six different players. Hopkins led 2-1 after the first, and then jumped out to a four-goal lead before the Crimson got a goal with just 38 seconds left in the half to send JHU into the break with a 6-2 lead. Harvard followed that with a 2-0 showing in the third to make it a 6-4 game heading into the final stanza. Back-to-back goals from Schofield and Beal to open the fourth sealed the win. Crow and junior Stephen Kingery each scored a pair of goals, while senior co-captain Alex Whittam had two assists and four steals. Ovelar played all four quarters and finished with 12 saves against just the five goals.
MIT jumped out to a 5-2 lead after the first quarter and held on to beat Hopkins by two goals. The Blue Jays bounced back with a 3-1 second quarter to trim the deficit to just one at the half. Kingery then tied the match to open the third with his goal just 54 seconds in. The Engineers responded with four straight goals to push out to a 10-6 lead. Hopkins then went on a 5-2 run to make it a one-goal match with 3:38 to play. But MIT had the final say, scoring an insurance goal with 1:27 to play and the Engineers held on for the win. Schofield poured in five goals and dished out an assist to lead the way for the Blue Jays. Ovelar played three quarters and made five saves, while Henrikson played one and also made five stops.
Hopkins returns to action at the Navy Invitational this weekend, September 15-16. Hopkins will face Washington & Jefferson and Northern Virginia at Scott Natatorium in Annapolis, before returning home to face Notre Dame (OH) in a single game at the Newton White Athletic Center on Saturday. JHU will return to Annapolis on Sunday to face Fordham and Connecticut College.
