Dec. 16, 2008

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For the first time since 1993, the Johns Hopkins men's soccer team had a new coach at the helm in Craig Appleby. The two-time defending Centennial Conference Champions had eight starters returning, including 2007 First Team All-American Matty Carlson and four of the top five scorers from last season. What transpired was a rollercoaster ride with highs and lows, but in the end Hopkins accomplished more than most thought as the Blue Jays made their 11th NCAA Tournament appearance and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the seventh time in program history.

The season opened on a down note as Hopkins dropped the opener of the Blue Jay Invitational to Buffalo State. The Bengals got two first half goals en route to a 3-0 win, setting up a consolation game between the Blue Jays and the Lions of Penn State Altoona on Sunday. Hopkins got all the offense it needed in the 23rd minute when freshman Corey Adams and sophomore Evan Kleinberg connected on a hard shot from the top of the box for the game's only goal. The Blue Jay defense would hold the Lions to just three shots as junior Ravi Gill posted his first shutout in a Blue Jay uniform.

Three days later, Hopkins hosted St. Mary's College, a team JHU had not lost to in 19 meetings. The 20th time would be no different as sophomore Scott Bukoski sandwiched a pair of goals around a 70-yard strike by senior co-captain Ethan Mulligan as Hopkins rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to win 3-1. Hopkins followed that with a 4-1 win over Birmingham-Southern behind a two-goal performance from Bukoski. Two days later, the Blue Jays claimed their second straight Kyle Rote, Jr. Invitational title with a 3-0 shutout of the host Tigers of Sewanee. Bukoski had a hand in all three Hopkins' goals in the win, scoring two before assisting on a goal by junior Max Venker, and was later named the Most Valuable Player of the Invitational.

Hopkins then faced a tough test in unbeaten and fourth-ranked York College. The Spartans got on the board in the 44th minute and that would prove to be all the scoring in a back-and-forth battle, a prelude to when the two would meet again in November. The Blue Jays rebounded with a 4-1 win over Bridgewater three days later in their first home game in 10 days. Hopkins got goals from four different scorers while its defense held Bridgewater to just four shots on the day. That win was the first in a 10-game unbeaten streak for the Blue Jays as they rolled to an 11-2-3 record.

Four days later, Hopkins and Cabrini combined to score four goals in a 32-minute span in the second half as the two battled to a 2-2 draw. The Blue Jays controlled much of the play, but a 16-save performance from goalie Bryan Johnson kept the Blue Jays offense at bay. Centennial Conference play opened when unbeaten and 11th-ranked Swarthmore visited Homewood Field. Bukoski put the home team on the board in the eighth minute while freshman Drew Holland scored his first career collegiate goal in the 11th minute as the Blue Jays blanked the Garnet. Hopkins hit the road again for a non-conference match-up with Neumann and got two first half goals from Venker en route to a 4-0 win.

The Blue Jays returned to conference action three days later, traveling to take on the Fords of Haverford. Junior Matt Mierley made five saves in the net and Bukoski and Carlson provided the offense in a 2-0 win. The scoring was balanced yet again as Hopkins renewed its rivalry with McDaniel and opened October with a 4-0 win over its long-time rivals.

Hopkins renewed another rivalry when Muhlenberg visited Baltimore in a battle of two programs that have combined to win 12 of the 15 previous Centennial Conference titles. In a game indicative of the rivalry between the two, 31 fouls were called while six yellow cards were issued, in a scoreless draw. After playing 110 minutes of scoreless soccer in their last game, the Blue Jays saw an offensive explosion in their next. After giving up an early goal to Dickinson, Hopkins scored four goals in a span of just 20:25 in the second half to top Dickinson 4-2 in a crucial conference match-up. Ben Gemberling-Johnson's goal in the 11th minute ended Mierley's shutout streak that had spanned just over 562 consecutive minutes.

One week later, sophomore David Drake scored two goals to pace Hopkins to a 3-1 win at Ursinus. Mierley made three saves in the win, including one on a penalty kick. Hopkins then hosted Franklin & Marshall in a rain-soaked and windy affair at Homewood Field. And for the fourth consecutive meeting, the Blue Jays and the Diplomats battled in overtime. Neither team was able to get one in and the teams settled for a scoreless draw. The Blue Jays picked up a point in the conference standings with the tie and clinched a spot in the conference tournament for the eighth consecutive season.

Hopkins then stumbled into the conference playoffs, falling 3-1 at Gettysburg and 1-0 (overtime) to Washington College in the final week of the season. The Blue Jays loss to the Bullets was the first since Sept. 10 and ended JHU's 10-match unbeaten streak. Hopkins got a measure of revenge as it was matched up with Gettysburg in the Centennial Conference semifinals the following week. Senior Nick Gauna gave the Blue Jays an early lead, scoring in the 10th minute, but it was answered by the Bullets' Ian Forster in the 22nd minute, knotting the game at 1-1. For the fifth time in 2008, the Blue Jays would play into overtime. Carlson, named the 2008 Centennial Conference Player of the Year earlier in the week, put Hopkins into the conference title game with his golden goal in the 98th minute. The next day, it was Swarthmore that exacted some revenge for an earlier loss, as the Garnet won their first ever Centennial Conference title with a 1-0 win over the Blue Jays.

The season did not end for the Blue Jays on Clothier Field as that night they received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. It was their 11th overall appearance and third consecutive. With the bid, Appleby became the first coach in school or Centennial Conference history to guide his team to the NCAA Tournament in his first season. Hopkins would face #23 Ithaca in the first ever meeting between the two programs on the pitch. Despite controlling much of the action in the game, Hopkins could not get one past Bombers' goalie Andy Wilhelm and would need overtime. In fact, the Blue Jays would need just 5:53 of overtime as Gauna redirected a centering pass from sophomore Chris Wilson past Wilhelm to send Hopkins to the second round. Mierley made three saves to finish with his first career shutout in an NCAA Tournament game, his first of three in 2008.

Gauna's golden goal set up a rematch with still unbeaten York College on the Spartans' home field three days later. Thanks to a seven-save performance from Mierley and a solid Blue Jay defense, the team that had averaged 3.11 goals per game could not find the back of the net. The game would be decided in a penalty kick shootout, Hopkins third in an NCAA Tournament game and first since 2004. Tied 3-3 heading into the fifth round, Mierley came up big for the Blue Jays, stopping All-American Chris Ports' shot to the left post. That set up Mulligan, who nailed his shot to the lower left corner, sending his teammates rushing on to the field and into the Sweet 16.

Hopkins would once again hit the road, traveling to Hoboken, NJ to face host Stevens Tech in the sectional semifinals. Another seven-save performance from Mierley and the Blue Jays once again found themselves in a shootout. And once again, Mierley came up big when his team needed him, stoning three straight Stevens Tech shooters to keep his team alive. But it would not be enough as the Ducks advanced to the sectional final with a 2-1 shootout win. Mierley closed out the season without having surrendered a goal in the NCAA Tournament and a 345:02 shutout streak. Hopkins returns eight starters in 2009, including 2008 NSCAA All-Region selections, Bukoski and Adams and the top four goal scorers.

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