BALTIMORE, MD – After withstanding a strong Dickinson push throughout the first half, the Johns Hopkins men's soccer team exploded for three second-half goals to fuel a 3-0 victory over the Red Devils in the Centennial Conference Semifinals at Homewood Field Friday evening.
 
The Blue Jays, who improve to 12-3-3 on the year, will take on Muhlenberg, a 2-1 winner over second-seeded Franklin & Marshall in the other semifinal, in Sunday's Centennial title game.  This will be the third consecutive year that the Blue Jays and Mules have met in the title game; Johns Hopkins won the title last season with a 1-0 win at Muhlenberg, while the Mules took the Blue Jays on penalty kicks at Homewood in 2022.
 
On Friday night, the Red Devils dominated possession and fired 16 first-half shots on the Blue Jays, but Johns Hopkins goalie Simon Turner posted seven of his 10 saves before halftime to keep the game scoreless.
 
It didn't take long after the break – just 3:42 to be exact – for the Blue Jays to grab a one-goal lead as Francis Meyer played a ball long that Jonathan Cui was able to chase down between two defenders and poke past Dickinson goalie Aidan George from 15 yards out to break the scoreless tie.
 
With the field tilting more in the Blue Jays' favor in the second half, Johns Hopkins generated several good scoring chances and it was just over 19 minutes after Cui's goal that the Blue Jays doubled their lead.  Cui was sprung on a run between defenders in the box to the right of George and fired a shot that beat him, but was chested off the line by a Dickinson defender right to freshman Arnav Patel, who poked the rebound into the open net to push the lead to 2-0.
 
After netting his first career goal, Patel would have a hand in the insurance goal in the 88^th minute as well.  After beating a defender along the sideline, Patel worked into the box to George's left.  There, he slipped a pass back to senior Ian Whamond who tucked one just inside the far post to account for the final goal of the game.
 
Turner and the Blue Jay defense withstood the early barrage and locked down Hopkins' eighth shutout of the season.  Turner's 10 saves are a career high and he moved his record to 7-1-1 on the year with tonight's win.
 
In all, Dickinson held a 22-15 advantage in shots and the teams split the six corner kicks evenly.  After Dickinson fired 16 of the game's 19 first-half shots, Johns Hopkins took 12 of the 18 in the final 45 minutes.
 
Sunday's championship game between Johns Hopkins and Muhlenberg will begin at 3 pm and will be the second game of a Centennial soccer title-game doubleheader at Homewood Field.  The Johns Hopkins women will host Franklin & Marshall in the women's title game at 12 pm.