Oct. 21, 2012

JHU-PSU Behrend Box

JHU-Conn College Box

JHU-MIT Box

CAMBRIDGE, MA - The Johns Hopkins water polo team outscored its opponents a combined 60-22 in three matches en route to its 14th Division III Eastern Championship this weekend at MIT. The top-seeded Blue Jays beat Penn State Behrend (24-3), Connecticut College (21-6) and MIT (15-13) at the tournament. Hopkins' record 14th title came in its 21st championship game appearance.

Senior Kielan Crow led the way for Hopkins in its opening game versus Penn State Behrend, scoring a career-high-tying five goals on the day. Freshman Blake Range was also impressive with four goals and two helpers. Senior Alex Whittam and freshman Kevin Yee finished with three goals and two assists apiece for an offense that topped 20 goals for the sixth time this season. Defensively, sophomore Danny Ovlear made five saves and allowed just two goals in two quarters of action. Freshman Erik Henrikson played the third quarter and made one stop with one steal, while sophomore Scott Weigel closed out the match with two saves, three steals and two assists in the fourth quarter.

Hopkins continued the offensive assault in the nightcap Saturday, as senior Ross Schofield scored six goals and Crow added five in the 15-goal win. Schofield also drew four ejections and grabbed three steals. Whittam had a team-high four assists, while Yee added three to go along with two goals. Ovelar and Henrikson shared time in goal, making three and six saves respectively.

The title game saw a match-up of the top two seeds and was the 13th time the Blue Jays and the Engineers had squared off with the championship on the line. MIT jumped on top early, leading 6-3 after the first quarter and 8-6 at the half. But it was Hopkins that had the say in the second half, outscoring MIT 9-5 in the final 16 minutes to come from behind for the win. Schofield led the way with five goals, while Crow scored four with two assists. Junior Stephen Kingery tied his career-high with four assists while also adding a goal. Henrikson made five saves in three quarters of action to help the Jays to the win.

Schofield, who now has a career-high 91 goals on the season, was named tournament MVP with 13 goals, five assists, six steals, seven ejections drawn and two blocks. Head coach Ted Bresnahan was named the Coach of the Year in leading the Blue Jays to the title. Earning first team all-tournament honors were Crow and Ovelar, while Whittam and sophomore Wes Hopkins were selected to the second team.

Hopkins wraps up the regular season on Saturday, October 27 as the Blue Jays travel to Annapolis, MD to take on Navy at 3:00 pm.