ASHLAND, VA – The eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins women's soccer team took control of Wednesday's non-conference game at Randolph-Macon with two goals in the first six minutes and the Blue Jays never looked back in what became a 5-2 road victory.  The Blue Jays extend their winning streak to four, their unbeaten streak to six (5-0-1) and improve to 7-1-1 on the year with the victory.  The Yellow Jackets slip to 4-4-1 with the loss.
 
Hopkins struck twice in a span of just 39 seconds early in the game with both goals coming off the right foot of junior Juliana Taxter.  She opened the scoring at the 4:48 mark when she collected a short corner at the top of the box from Maria Romo-Nichols and blew one inside the far post to make it 1-0.  Before the crowd could settle from that one, Taxter doubled the lead as she worked the middle of the field and fired a 22-yarder just inside the post and past the outstretched arms of Yellow Jacket goalie Abby Cook.
 
The Yellow Jackets sliced the deficit to 2-1 just over 12 minutes later when Olivia Owens got inside a defender and collected a loose ball off an original shot from Riley Russ that was blocked and scored from 10 yards out.
 
The 2-1 lead held until late in the half when the Blue Jays scored twice in the final seven minutes to grab a 4-1 halftime lead.  Freshman Ava Venuti scored the second goal of her career as her shot from the wing ricocheted in front and snuck in past Cook, while sophomore Natalie Smith close the first-half scoring with a 30-yard rip into the top corner off a feed from Lilah Isenberg just 37 seconds before halftime.
 
The teams traded goals in a four-minute span early in the second half as Sophia Stone headed home a corner from Katie Sullivan in the 60^th minute to push the lead to 5-1 before the 'Jackets closed the scoring with a Sammie Hoefs penalty kick in the 64^th minute to account for the 5-2 final score.
 
The Blue Jays dominated the stat sheet as they held a 33-4 advantage in shots and took seven of the game's nine corner kicks.
 
The five goals are a season-high for Johns Hopkins and the most the Blue Jays have scored since topping Lesley, 6-0, in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.  The four first-half goals are the most for Johns Hopkins before intermission since the Jays scored five first-half goals in a 6-3 win over Franklin & Marshall on October 29, 2022.
 
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, September 30 when the Blue Jays welcome Bryn Mawr to Homewood Field (12 pm).  The Blue Jays will honor their seniors prior to the game on Saturday.