LEXINGTON, VA – The 19^th-ranked Johns Hopkins women's soccer team had its season come to an end with a 3-1 loss to second-ranked Emory in the third round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday afternoon.   The Blue Jays, who were making the 14^th trip to the round of 16 in program history, end the season at 17-5-1.
 
In relatively evenly-played game that saw the Blue Jays control a large part of the second half, it was the second-ranked Eagles who struck first in the 11^th minute as they capitalized in tight.  After an Eagle defender played a ball into the box that bounced past a Blue Jay defender, it was a Mikayla Camp who collected the loose ball and fired from close-range, but was denied by Johns Hopkins 'keeper Ella Krutchev. Still, Camp was able to collect the rebound and slot home the game-opening goal at the 10:15 mark.
 
That lead held for less than nine minutes as the Blue Jays turned pressure into an equalizer.  After challenging for possession in the Emory third, the Blue Jays controlled at the foot of senior Maria Romo-Nichols, who found a cutting Carolyn Johnson near the top of the area.  Johnson worked to the middle and fired left-footer just inside the far post and past the outstretched hands of Emory goalie Sophia Garcia.
 
The 1-1 tie would hold into halftime as Kruntchev and Garcia both registered three first-half saves.  The Eagles held a slight 8-7 advantage in shots at the break with the Blue Jays taking three of the four corners in the opening 45 minutes.
 
It took the Eagles nearly the exact same amount of time to score in the second half as they had in the first as they sprung Emory Bozzuti down the wing and she sent a low cross into the box.  Again it was Camp who found the net as she and a Blue Jay defender went to the ground battling for possession, but it was Camp who worked her way back to her feet quickly and slipped a four-yarder past Kruntchev to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead early in the 56^th minute.
 
The Blue Jays would control the next 20 minutes of the game with dangerous opportunities throughout that time, many off set pieces played from the foot of Kei Kitamura.  Ella Macko had a ball poked away at the last minute after a Kitamura offering deep into the box in the 70^th minute and Johnson's shot two minutes later off a nearly identical service was swept off the line by an Eagle defender to help Emory hold the one-goal lead.
 
Two more golden chances – a 15-yard rip from Tatum Adamson that found the crossbar in the 74^th minute and a Caroline Marcus header that drifted just wide three minutes later – slipped past the Blue Jays as the clock ticked towards the 80-minute mark and it was then that the Eagles got the insurance goal they needed.
 
After the Blue Jays appeared to dispossess the Eagles in the middle of the field, it was Emory's Kaitlyn Nimmer pouncing on a moment of indecision in the back from Johns Hopkins and she streaked towards the box and drew Kruntchev off her line.  Nimmer created space near the top of the area and worked to eight yards before firing into an open net to seal the victory.
 
The loss brings to an end the careers of the seniors on the Johns Hopkins team.  During their four years at Homewood, they helped the Blue Jays to a record of 74-11-8 with four Centennial Conference titles, four trips to the NCAA Tournament and the 2022 NCAA Championship.
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