SALEM, WV –
Max Blecher,
Alec Baker and
Jasper Hirt tallied four points each to lead Johns Hopkins to a 17-9 win over Fresno Pacific in a game that was twice delayed by lightning. The Blue Jays are now 5-2 on the season while the Sunbirds fall to 1-7.
Baker and
Owen Bartlett scored twice in the opening 87 seconds to give JHU an early 2-0 lead. Jordan Lambert got FPU on the board at 5:35, but Hopkins answered with three straight to push the lead to 5-1 late in the first. Tristin Fox had the final say of the quarter, scoring an extra-man goal with 32 ticks on the clock to make it a 5-2 game.
Fox then sandwiched a pair of scores around a strike from Hirt and just like that it was a 6-4 game at the 2:37-mark. Coming out of a delay, the Blue Jays got goal from Hirt and Blecher to take an 8-4 lead into the half. Fox opened the third quarter scoring at 3:19, but a Hirt score just 25 seconds later sparked a methodical 9-4 run that saw Hopkins go up 14-7 with 5:50 to play in the fourth. Seven Blue Jays scored during the run that spanned just over 13 minutes.
Fox and Chris Sandino scored back-to-back goals midway through the fourth to cut the deficit to five. But Hopkins got three goals from
Ben Lucas and Blecher in the final four minutes to secure the win.
Blecher (3g, 1a), Hirt (2g, 2a) and Baker (1g, 3a) led the Blue Jays with four points each. Baker's goal was the 100
th of his career.
Ethan Babel picked up the 100
th assist of his career, just the 11
th player in program history to reach the mark. Giauque added a hat trick and four drawn exclusions while Lucas notched three points (1g, 2a), four steals and a block.
Chris Poisler finished with eight saves and a pair of steals.
Hopkins returns to action on Sunday, September 13 against George Washington and Gannon at the Salem Open.
