BALTIMORE, MD – The third-ranked Messiah women's soccer team got the only goal of the game midway through the first half and the Falcons rode a smothering defensive effort to slip past top-ranked Johns Hopkins, 1-0, at Homewood Field Wednesday evening.  The Falcons improve to 3-0 on the year with the victory, while the Blue Jays had their national-best and program-record 23-game winning streak snapped with the loss.
 
Neither team had a serious scoring chance until the Falcons broke through in the 27^th minute.  After collecting a loose ball at midfield, Hannah Adair played a long ball to a streaking Brittany Laird, who controlled the pass on the run to the right of Blue Jay goalie Eva Breiland and under pressure from the Blue Jay defense.  Just inside the far side of the box, Laird got off a left-footed strike that sailed over Breiland's head into the far corner of the goal for what proved to be the only goal of the game.
 
Johns Hopkins had a golden chance to tie the game four minutes later as junior Katie Sullivan got her left-foot free from 25 yards out that was ticketed for just under the crossbar before Messiah goalie Raegan Salamone got a hand on it and punched it off the bar. On the rebound, Salamone made a diving stop on a header from Charlotte Tapp to keep the Blue Jays off the board.
 
The Blue Jays had a decided possession advantage in the second half as they pressured for the equalizer, but Salamone turned away a pair of offerings from Maria Romo-Nichols and Lilah Isenberg down the stretch and Hopkins' three other shots after the break were off target.
 
Johns Hopkins outshot the Falcons 10-8 and took all three corner kicks in the game, but Salamone's five saves preserved the shutout for the Falcons.
 
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, September 9 when the Blue Jays hit the road for the first time with a trip to Lynchburg to take on the Hornets (2-0).