Johns Hopkins University Athletics

BALTIMORE, MD – The ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins field hockey team honored its seniors and knocked off visiting Haverford, 3-1, at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon.  In the process, the Blue Jays bumped their record to 12-4 overall and 7-1 in the Centennial Conference, ran their winning streak to five games and locked up an all-important bye into the semifinals of the upcoming Centennial Tournament.
 
It didn't take long – 82 seconds to be exact – for the Blue Jays to grab a lead they would never relinquish as senior Eliza Vander, one of the five seniors honored prior to the game – was on the back end of a nifty touch-pass from sophomore Ava Zimmerman and she poked one inside the near post to stake Hopkins to the early lead.  Zimmerman was positioned right in the middle of the circle and tipped a pass from Caeli Robinson to an open Vander on the post and Vander wasted no time putting it home.
 
The Blue Jays had the better of the play through the first quarter, but only solved Haverford's Steph Ionescu the one time; the Fords then flipped the field in the second quarter, ripping five shots and collecting five corners, only to come up empty. After the Blue Jay defense held, Hopkins doubled its lead with just over four minutes remaining in the half.
 
Working off a corner, Robinson side-stepped a defender at the top of the circle after taking the insert, but she was tripped to draw a penalty stroke.  Enter another sophomore – Sarah Chilton – who specializes in converting from the dot.  Chilton made it 10-for-11 on strokes this season as she rifled home her 10^th goal of the year – all of which have come on strokes – to make it 2-0.
 
The two-goal lead held through the break and into the back half of the third quarter.  Chilton had a golden chance to make it a three-goal game, but her offering off a corner found the post flush to the left of Ionescu with 6:54 on the clock.  Just 54 ticks later, it was Erica Pardon stealing the ball from a Blue Jay defender at midfield and going in on Hopkins goalie Aubrey Kilgore.  Parson worked slightly to her left at the top of the circle, then flipped a shot back inside the far post to cut the deficit in half.

The Fords fought off a pair of yellow cards late in the third quarter and early in the fourth – the second of which was issued when the first player left the box early – only to have Hopkins strike in transition to put the game away.  Senior Sophia Albano drove the right side of the circle under pressure before circling back and firing a cross to the middle that junior Kaitlin Coward tipped home to give the Blue Jays some breathing room.
 
Johns Hopkins held an 18-7 advantage in shots and had an 11-5 cushion in corners,  Ionescu made eight saves for the Fords, while Kilgore, despite the second-quarter pressure, wasn't forced to make a save in the victory.
 
With today's win, the Blue Jays are guaranteed a top-two seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament.  Johns Hopkins can claim the top seed in the tournament with two wins and one Swarthmore loss.
 
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Wednesday, October 28 when the Blue Jays welcome Gettysburg to Homewood Field for a Centennial Conference game (5 pm).
  Read Full Article