Oct. 18, 2008
Box Score
COLLEGEVILLE, PA - Johns Hopkins got a pair of goals from sophomore David Drake (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) as the 17th-ranked Blue Jays beat the Ursinus Bears 3-1 on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Jays improve to 11-2-2 overall and 5-0-1 in the Centennial Conference with the win. The Bears slip to 6-8-0 overall and 2-4-0 in the conference.
It took until the 58th minute for Johns Hopkins to get on the scoreboard, but once the Blue Jays broke through, they got three goals in less than 16 minutes. Junior Max Venker (Oldsmar, FL/Palm Harbor University) put the Blue Jays on the board in the 58th minute when he dribbled through the box and fired a low, hard shot just inside the left post.
Just over four minutes later, Drake the scored the first of his two, as connected with Venker to give Hopkins a 2-0 lead. Venker sent a ball through the Ursinus defense, Drake collected the ball and ripped a shot into the far side of the goal, rippling the side netting. Junior Matt Mierley (Weston, FL/St. Thomas Aquinas) then came up with a huge save for the Blue Jays, deflecting Dustin Young's penalty kick. With the ball loose in the box, David Brienes got a shot off that Mierley got his hands on, deflecting to his right. Jean Carlo Cordova took another shot for the Bears, but seniors Akash Naik (Simpsonville, SC/Hillcrest) and Robbie Carper (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron) slid to the post, cutting off Cordova's angle and blocking his shot out of bounds.
The Blue Jays and Drake cashed in on the momentum just minutes later taking a 3-0 lead. Drake dribbled through several Bear defenders and chipped the ball over Michael Alfieri for his second of the day. John George ended Mierley's bid for a shutout in the 83rd minute, as he one-touched a pass just inside the right post.
Mierley finished with three saves to earn the win, while Alfieri posted four saves in the loss.
Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 25 as Franklin & Marshall visits Homewood Field. The Centennial Conference match-up is scheduled for a 1:00 pm start.
