Nov. 21, 2009

Box Score

GRANTHAM, PA - The Johns Hopkins men's soccer team jumped out to a 2-0 lead over top-ranked and defending national champion Messiah on Saturday night in the NCAA Sweet 16, but after scoring two second half goals to tie the match at 2-2, the Falcons scored in the 106th minute to win 3-2 in thrilling fashion. The Blue Jays see their season end at 16-4-3 while the Falcons improve to 21-1-0 and advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Hopkins got on the board in the 16th minute off senior Max Venker's (Oldsmar, FL/Palm Harbor University) fifth goal of the season. Junior Scott Bukoski (Sagamore, MA/Bourne) fired a shot on the Falcon goal that Jared Clugston got a piece of, but Venker was there for the put back to give the Blue Jays the early 1-0 lead. The assist was the 100th career point for Bukoski, making him just the fifth player in program history to reach the 100 career point mark.

The Blue Jays then took a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute courtesy of an own goal by a Messiah defender. It is the fifth time this season that a JHU opponent scored an own goal in a game. As it turned out, it would not be the only own goal scored in the game.

Trailing 2-0 at the half, Messiah quickly got on the board as Joshua Wood scored in the 47th minute to cut the deficit to one. Geoff Pezon played a corner kick into the Hopkins' box and Wood headed it inside the far post to make it a 2-1 match. Messiah evened the match in the 77th minute on an own goal. A ball was played into the Blue Jay box and into the goal when senior goalie Ravi Gill (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) was unable to handle the ball after being bumped by a Falcon player.

Neither team could find the go-ahead goal over the next 13 minutes, forcing overtime. Hopkins nearly got the golden goal in the 94th minute off a shot by junior Evan Kleinberg (South Orange, NJ/Columbia), who had Clugston beat. But the ball was cleared off the line by a sliding Falcon defender to keep the match even at 2-2. In the second overtime, Hopkins got a pair of saves from defenders to keep Messiah off the board. But the Falcons got another chance in the 106th minute when a Hopkins' foul set up a Messiah free kick 25 yards from goal. Brett Faro touched the ball out to Nick Thompson, who ripped a shot around the Blue Jay wall to give Messiah the come-from-behind win.

Gill finished with six saves, while Clugston had three for the Falcons. Wood's goal in the 47th minute was the first goal surrendered by Hopkins in an NCAA Tournament game since November 11, 2007 - snapping a scoreless streak of 591:34 minutes. Tonight's game was also the sixth time in the last eight NCAA Tournament games for Hopkins that was decided in overtime or by shootout.

Venker finishes his career among the all-time leaders in Hopkins history. He scored 23 goals, including 10 game-winners, and tallied 14 assists for 60 points in his career. Venker is now tied for 16th in career points, tied for 22nd in goals, seventh in game-winners and tied for 13th in assists. He also played in 85 games in his four seasons, the second most in program history.

HopkinsSports.com Men's Soccer

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