BALTIMORE, MD – The fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins field hockey team beat 18
th-ranked Swarthmore, 3-0, to win its fifth straight and ninth overall Centennial Conference Championship. The Blue Jays improve to 18-1 overall and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Hopkins opened the scoring midway through the second quarter after forcing a turnover deep in its offensive end. Senior
Gen Mehra intercepted a Garnet pass and slipped the ball to classmate
Siena Urbanski, who went in all alone on the goalie. She took a touch to settle the ball and then slotted a low ball past a charging Cassandra Conklin to put the Blue Jays on top at 21:33.
JHU pushed its lead to 2-0 a little over five minutes later when it cashed in on a penalty corner. Junior
Ava Balacek inserted the corner to senior
Mikayla Schoff at the top of the circle. She then fired a rocket of a shot into the middle of the cage. Just two minutes later, junior
Liz Falterer made a defensive save on a Sophia Hitchingham shot to keep the Garnet off the board.
Hopkins made it a three-goal game late to secure the title. Senior
Emily Knight send a long hit into the circle, where junior
Emily Amsden tipped it. The ball came right to Mehra, who one-timed a shot inside the right post with 3:08 to play.
Senior
Alexis Loder finished with a pair of saves to earn her 37
th win and 16
th career shutout. Conklin made five saves in the loss for the Garnet. Hopkins had a 23-7 advantage in shots and a 17-5 advantage in corners. Urbanski was named the CC Tournament MVP.
Hopkins' win in the title game is the 500
th win in program history. JHU will learn where it's going in the NCAA Tournament when the bracket is announced on Sunday, November 5 at 10:30 pm. Fans can watch the selection show on NCAA.com.
Notes: Johns Hopkins' nine titles are second most in Centennial Conference history • Loder ranks second in program history with her 37 career wins • She is two wins shy of tying Sophia Tieu for the program record • Urbanski now ranks 13
th in JHU history with 68 career points.