Johns Hopkins University Athletics

BALTIMORE, MD – The 16^th-ranked Johns Hopkins women's soccer team entered Saturday's regular-season finale against Ursinus with a simple path to the top seed in the upcoming Centennial Conference Tournament.
 
A win against the Bears would lock up the top seed and the road to the championship would go through Baltimore.
 
If that was in the minds of the Blue Jays when the game began, it didn't take long – 67 seconds to be exact – for the reality of the alternative to become real.

The Bears needed just those 67 seconds, and the only shot they would register in the first half, to grab a 1-0 lead as Sam Wechsler floated a shot from one side of the box to the opposite corner of the goal to give Ursinus the one-goal lead. Prior to Wechsler's strike, last time the Blue Jays had surrendered a goal in the first half was nearly two months ago against Shenandoah.
 
After Wechsler's goal, the game would see 31 more shots, 27 by the Blue Jays, just four by the Bears and Hopkins would use a late three-goal spurt to erase the memory of the first deficit they've faced since September.
 
The Blue Jays would fire 14 first-half shots at Ursinus goalie Lexie Albaeck, who turned away five of them, but couldn't stop Gwen Rauvola in the 25^th minute after a Natalie Kokenda cross was headed perfectly by Addi Dauler to the foot of Rauvola and she slipped home her sixth goal of the year.
 
While the Blue Jays would dominate the stat sheet to the tune of the 14 first-half shots and the first five of the second half, it was Ursinus that had the best chance to grab a 2-1 lead as Fiona Sanders ticketed a five-yarder for the corner that Hopkins goalie Ella Kruntchev saved with her foot; Wechsler's shot off the rebound just seconds later went right to Kruntchev to keep the game deadlocked.
 
The Blue Jays (13-1-2, 9-1 CC) would break through in the 71^st minute when senior Caroline Marcus pressured down the wing and got to the endline, where she slipped a feed to the middle that junior Carolyn Johnson poked home for her sixth of the year.

2H | 71:06 JHU-2, Ursinus-1 Johnson with the finish from Marcus to give the Jays a one-goal lead. #GoHop https://t.co/Rvp7CXnNqy

— Johns Hopkins Women's Soccer (@HopkinsWSoccer) October 31, 2026

 
Just under six minutes later, it was freshman Katie Derby staking the Blue Jays to a two-goal lead as she picked the near corner off a cross-crease pass from Johnson, who had taken a long feed from Marcus to set Derby up for her team-leading seventh goal of the year.
 
The 3-1 lead held until the 87^th minute, when Lauren Fang went top shelf off a quick feed to the middle from Keira Petrucelli to close out the scoring.
 
Johns Hopkins held a 27-5 advantage in shots, took the only two corner kicks in the game and got the two saves from Kruntchev to help lock down the top seed in the Centennial Tournament for the 12^th time since the tournament's inception in 2001.

FINAL JHU-4, Ursinus-1 Fang from Petrucelli to cap it for the Jays. JHU earns top seed in the @CentennialConf Tournament. #GoHop https://t.co/0cVRyJNTwv

— Johns Hopkins Women's Soccer (@HopkinsWSoccer) October 31, 2026

 
Ursinus (8-6-2, 4-4-1) got six saves from Albaeck and will earn a spot in the Centennial Tournament for the ninth time if Washington College earns a win or tie against Gettysburg later tonight.
 
Johns Hopkins will host a semifinal game in the Centennial Tournament on Friday, November 6.  The time of that game will be announced on Monday (November 2) with the opponent to be determined after first-round games are played on Tuesday.
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