BALTIMORE, MD – The sixth-ranked Johns Hopkins field hockey team opened Centennial Conference play with a hard-fought 1-0 win over visiting Swarthmore Saturday afternoon.
 
After a scoreless first half, Hopkins finally broke through early in the third quarter on a penalty corner. Senior Siena Urbanski inserted the corner to graduate student Abby Birk at the top of the circle. Birk took one touch and then blasted a shot inside the left post just 2:56 into the quarter. As it turned out, that was the game's only goal.
 
Swarthmore had several chances late to get the equalizer as the Garnet drew four corners in the final 70 seconds. But the Blue Jay defense blocked two shots and Deborah Kim's shot with 27 seconds to go went wide.
 
Hopkins had a 19-12 advantage in shots and a 16-13 edge in penalty corners. Senior Morgan Seward (one save), junior Alexis Loder (one save) and freshman Phoebe Williams (two saves) shared time in the cage and combined for Hopkins' second straight shutout. Cassandra Conklin finished with seven saves in the loss for the Garnet.
 
Notes: Birk moved into a tie for second in program history with 104 career points • She is now 31 points shy of Emily Miller's program record • Hopkins improves to 24-7 all-time against Swarthmore and has won 10 straight in the series • The Blue Jays have now won 21 straight Centennial Conference games.