Sept. 11, 2001

The Team: Johns Hopkins is a perfect 3-0 this season. JHU opened the season on September 1 by hosting the Blue Jay Kickoff Classic, and won the tournament with a 6-0 win over Buffalo State and a 3-1 victory over Virginia Wesleyan. Hopkins defeated King's College, 5-0, this Saturday to remain undefeated. This week the Blue Jays will host Arcadia on Wednesday at 7 p.m., before opening Centennial Conference play on Saturday at Swarthmore at 2 p.m.

The Coach: Matt Smith (Towson, '88) is in his ninth year as head coach of the Blue Jays. He is the program's all-time winningest coach, sporting a 123-27-9 record entering Wednesday's match with Arcadia.. Smith has led Hopkins to the NCAA Tournament in five of the last seven years. He has guided the Blue Jays to postseason play for seven straight seasons.

The Results: JHU opened the season with a 6-0 win over Buffalo State. Midfielder Ryan Kitzen (Massapequa Park, NY/Massapequa) scored two goals, and forward Matthew Doran (Stormville, NY/John Jay) added a goal and two assists in the victory. The following day, Aerik Williams (Columbus, OH/Columbus Academy), Chad Tarabolous (Tulsa, OK/Cascia Hall), and Doran each scored as Hopkins defeated Virginia Wesleyan, 3-1. Doran scored two more goals and added an assist against King's in a 5-0 win. Freshmen Doug Pollack (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) and Chris Elser (Camden, SC/St. Stephens), along with junior Matt Weill (Merrick, NY/Kellenberg Memorial), also scored for the Blue Jays, who out-shot the Monarchs, 39-3.

On the Offensive: Johns Hopkins has outscored its three opponents this season 14-1. The Blue Jays have amassed 34 points, while holding their foes to three, and have a 78-9 advantage in shots on goal. Goalkeepers Gary Kane, Jr. (Lansdale, PA/Lansdale College) and Nicholas Challen (Soughborough, MA/Algonquin Regional) have combined for two shutouts and have needed to make just four saves between them this season.

Doran Named Conference Player of the Week: Matthew Doran was named the Centennial Conference Men's Soccer Player of the Week, the conference announced on Monday. Doran leads both the team and the conference with 11 points in three matches, and had two goals and an assist in Saturday's win over King's.

Doran Heading West: Matthew Doran is closing in on the Johns Hopkins and Centennial Conference career records for goals and points. All four records are held by Eric West, who played at Hopkins in 1994-97. Doran is second on both JHU lists, he needs 17 goals and 43 points to overtake West on both lists.

Centennial Conference Career Goal Leaders Name, School Years No. Eric West, Johns Hopkins 1994-97 72 Rich Billings, Haverford 1996-99 61 Matthew Doran, Johns Hopkins 1998- 56 Brad Getz, Ursinus 1993-95 55 Frank Adamson, Haverford 1994-97 51

Centennial Conference Career Point Leaders Name, School Years No. Eric West, Johns Hopkins 1994-97 172 Rich Billings, Haverford 1996-99 147 Frank Adamson, Haverford 1994-97 131 Matthew Doran, Johns Hopkins 1998- 130 Justin Daniel, Washington 1997-00 123

A Helping Foot: Aerik Williams has just 27 career assists, and needs just one more to tie Eric West for the most assists in a career. Williams is just five assists shy of equaling the conference career record of 33, held by Gregory Stevcic of Gettysburg (1995-97) and Frank Adamson of Haverford (1994-97). Williams needs two assists to join the duo as the only players in conference history to hand out 30 or more assists in a career.

Blue Jays Among Conference Leaders: Matthew Doran leads the conference in goals per game (1.33), assists per game (1.00), and points per game (3.67). Goalkeeper Gary Kane, Jr. leads the league in goals against average (0.39) and is tied for the lead with two shutouts. As a team, Hopkins leads the Centennial in scoring offense (4.76 goals per game) and in scoring defense (0.33 goals per game).

JHU Stellar in September: Hopkins has a recent trend of starting fast out of the gate. The Blue Jays boasted respective September records of 5-1-1, 6-1, 7-0, 8-0, and 7-0-1 from 1996 to 2000. Including its 3-0 start this season, Hopkins sports a 33-2-2 (.919) record in September since '96.

Feeling At Home At Homewood: The Blue Jays have given new meaning to the term "home field advantage," delivering a 58-4-3 (.911) record at Homewood Field since 1994. Included in that stretch is a 25-game home winning streak from 1996-98.

NSCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region Rankings for Sept. 11, 2001

Rk School (Nat'l Rank) Record 1. Messiah (1) 3-0-0 2. Johns Hopkins (9) 3-0-0 3. Drew (17) 2-0-0 4. Gettysburg (RV) 4-0-0 5. Muhlenberg 2-1-0 6. Western Maryland 4-0-0 7. Haverford 2-1-0 8. Franklin & Marshall 3-1-0 9. DeSales 3-1-0 T10. Elizabethtown 1-3-0 T10. Lebanon Valley 4-1-0

© 2009 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | About Us | Advertise | Feedback | XML RSS Feeds