COLLEGEVILLE, PA – The third-ranked Johns Hopkins field hockey team shutout host and 19^th-ranked Ursinus, 3-0, Saturday afternoon in both teams' Centennial Conference opener. The Blue Jays improve to 6-1 overall while the Bears slip to 4-2.
 
After a scoreless first quarter, the Blue Jays needed just over four minutes in the second to get on the board. Sophomore Megan Chang fired a shot in-tight off a pass from junior Liz Falterer, but Bears' goalie Adriana Palladinetti made the save. The ball kicked right back to Chang, who settled the ball and then buried a shot to the left post to put JHU up 1-0.
 
Hopkins doubled its lead with just 50 seconds remaining in the third. After inserting a corner, junior Ava Balacek came into the circle and one-timed a pass from Falterer to the near side for her first goal of the season. Balacek was on the other end of the Blue Jays' third goal midway through the fourth quarter. She dribbled around a couple of Bears' defenders and towards the end line. She centered the ball into the circle and senior Gen Mehra redirected it into the middle of the cage to push Hopkins' lead to 3-0.
 
The Blue Jays outshot the Bears, 22-2, and had a 10-4 advantage in penalty corners. Senior Alexis Loder finished with one save to earn the shutout. Palladinetti made 10 saves and got a pair of defensive saves from Maeve Montgomery.

Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday, September 27 at Gettysburg. The Centennial Conference contest is slated for a 4:30 pm start. 
 
Notes: The victory was head coach Jane Wells' 99^th at Johns Hopkins • The two shots by the Bears are their fewest in a game since September 6, 2017 • JHU has now won six games against ranked opponents, tied for the most in a season in program history • Hopkins improves to 9-22 all-time against Ursinus and has won seven straight against the Bears.