LYNCHBURG, VA – Senior
Ava Angello tied her career-high with eight goals to lead eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins to a 17-7 win at Liberty Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays are now 35-15-1 all-time in season openers.
Hopkins wasted little time getting on the scoreboard when freshman
Sienna Chirieleison blew home an eight-meter just 86 seconds in. Three minutes later, Angello scored the first of her eight goals when she picked up a loose ball and scored in traffic. Nicole Arrioloa answered for Liberty just 20 seconds later and Hopkins' lead was 2-1.
Angello scored back-to-back goals to spark a 7-0 Blue Jay run that spanned 18 minutes.
Lacey Downey drew a slide and then found Angello open on her left for the score at 7:41. Just four minutes later, Angello had a hat trick when she scored on the doorstep.
Laurel Gonzalez got the first of her three with a behind-the-back shot in traffic at 13:47 in the second.
Paige Willard notched her first career goal off a helper from Chirieleison at 11:33. Downey and Angello then scored twice in a 13-second span to put the Blue Jays up 8-1. Gonzalez capped the run with a player-down transition goal with 4:30 to go in the half. Ava Rajala got the Flames back on the board at 3:45 with an unassisted tally. Angello answered just 42 seconds later with another helper from Downey. Sophia Nesci had the final say of the half, scoring with 22 ticks on the clock to make it a 10-3 game at the break.
Katie Colavito made it two in a row for the home team, scoring on a quick stick at 9:33.
Taylor Hoss scored on the doorstep five minutes later to ignite a 7-0 run that saw Hopkins push its lead to 17-4.
Zoey Smith followed with her first career goal, dodging through traffic and picking the left post. Downey, Hoss and Angello combined for three goals in the final 1:42 of the quarter to make it 15-4.
Angello scored back-to-back goals to open the fourth, including a behind-the-back shot for her eighth and final goal. Liberty kept battling, getting the final three goals of the game from Colavito, Kate Troutman and Rajala to account for the 17-7 final.
Eleven players notched at least one point for the Blue Jays, led by Angello's eight goals. Downey matched her career-high wight five points (2g, 3a) to go with seven draws, five caused turnovers and five ground balls. Hoss (2g, 2a), Gonzalez (2g, 1a), Smith (1g, 1a) and Chirieleison (1g, 1a) all had multi-point games. Gonzalez also controlled six draws as the Blue Jays outdrew the Flames, 18-8.
Reagan O'Brien caused three turnovers and picked up six ground balls.
Ashley Langdon, making her first career start in goal, notched five saves in nearly 51 minutes of action.
Heidi Rosely played the final 9:06 in the cage and finished with one save.
Rajala and Nesci led Liberty with three points each, while Rajala and Colavito had a team-best two goals each. Rajala, Kendall Nye and Delaney Donohue had three caused turnovers apiece. Kendall Coss, Madeleine Klunder and Rachel Hines led the team with four ground balls each. Hines played all 60 minutes in goal and finished with seven saves.
Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday, February 11 as the Blue Jays host the 18
th-ranked Loyola Greyhounds. Opening draw for the Blue Jays' home opener is slated for 4:00 pm.
Notes: Angello's eight goals are one shy of the school Division I record and extended her goal-scoring streak to 40 games • Angello moved into fifth place in school Division I history with 219 career points.
