BALTIMORE, MD – The shots came quickly.  Back-to-back strikes from five yards right on before the game had reached the four-minute mark, and Johns Hopkins freshman goalie Ella Kruntchev turned them both away.  Just over 60 seconds after the second of her two point-blank stops, the 18^th-ranked Blue Jays answered at the other end with the first of two goals in a span of less than three minutes.
 
From facing an almost-certain one-goal deficit to grabbing a one-goal lead and seizing the early momentum.  Sometimes, that's the difference in a high-stakes soccer game and such was the case on Wednesday night at Homewood Field as the Blue Jays topped visiting Dickinson, 2-0, to grab control in the race for the number two seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament.
 
Dickinson had the two golden chances to grab a one-goal lead as the clocked ticked towards the four-minute mark as early pressure led to the back-to-back point-blank Norah Heacock shots from in tight, but Krutchev was perfectly positioned and saved both of them, including the second as she tried to get back to her feet, to keep the game scoreless.
 
Scoreless didn't hold long. 
 
In fact, it took just 62 seconds for the Blue Jays to flip the field and turn what could have been a one-goal deficit into a one-goal advantage.  Senior Maria Romo-Nichols chased down a ball that appeared destined for the endline and forced the Red Devils to try and play it out from the back.  Graduate student Tatam Adamson easily collected the Dickinson clearing attempt along the sideline and sent a ball into the box that bounced once and onto the foot of sophomore Carolyn Johnson, whose six-yard volley was deflected by Dickinson goalie Pico Gray, but found its way into the corner of the goal to break the ice.

1H
JHU-1, Dickinson-0

Johnson punches home the game-opening goal - her 10th of the year - off the cross from Adamson. #GoHop pic.twitter.com/4PB7k8UW5P

— Johns Hopkins Women's Soccer (@HopkinsWSoccer) October 29, 2025

 
No sooner had the excitement of that early goal started to settle when the Blue Jays capitalized on a Red Devil miscue to double their lead.  Senior Megha Salvi played a ball towards the box from midfield for sophomore Irene Sanchez Burgueno, but it was played too long and Gray came out to play it away.  Gray mistimed her swing on her clearing attempt and missed the ball completely, allowing Sanchez Burgueno to collect the loose ball near the top of the box and fire into an empty net to extend the lead.
 
The Blue Jays had several chances to extend their lead, but Gray turned away tough offerings from Johnson in the 26^th minutes, Caroline Marcus in the 55^th and finally another Johnson laser that was ticketed for just under the crossbar before Gray punched it over with 30 minutes to play.
 

1H
JHU-2, Dickinson-0

Sanchez Burgueno doubles the Blue Jay lead in the 8th minute off a DC miscue in the back. #GoHop pic.twitter.com/9MOO2PfDNN

— Johns Hopkins Women's Soccer (@HopkinsWSoccer) October 29, 2025

At the other end, Krutchev's two early saves were two of the three she would make on the night as the Blue Jay defense limited the Red Devils to just four shots on the night, including just two over the final 86 minutes after Heacock's early chances.
 
Johns Hopkins, which held a 14-4 advantage in shots and took three of the five corners in the game, moved ahead of the Red Devils in the Centennial Conference standings with tonight's win and will lock up the number two seed in the Centennial Conference Tournament with a win or tie in its final regular season game at Ursinus on Saturday (5 pm).
 
The top two seeds in the Centennial Tournament earn a bye into the semifinals and will host those games on Friday, November 7. 
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