Nov. 7, 2007

Box Score

HUNTINGDON, PA - A late goal by #13 Juniata ended #11 Johns Hopkins season on Wednesday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Jays close the season at 14-6, while the Eagles improve to 20-2 as they advance to face Ursinus on Saturday.

Hopkins struck first, taking a 1-0 lead just 7:02 into the game. Freshman Ariana Branchini (Old Lyme, CT/Choate Rosemary Hall) took a penalty corner for the Blue Jays, sending the ball out to graduate student Leah Dudley (Westborough, MA/Westborough). Dudley lifted the ball over the defense and the Eagles goalie for her third of the season. Juniata drew even at 1-1 at 19:30 in the first half. Kim Wagner passed the ball to Leslie Stern in the middle of the circle, who then shot it past Hopkins goalie Sophia Tieu (Cupertino, CA/Cupertino) to knot the score.

Play went back and forth for the remainder of the first and into the second. Sophomore Chantal Serle (Columbus, OH/The Columbus Academy) cleared a shot of the goal line with a little over six minutes to go to keep the score tied. However, Juniata took the lead for good with just 4:12 to play on a goal by Wagner. Wagner took a penalty corner for the Eagles, passing the ball into Heather Hassinger. She then took a shot on the Hopkins cage that was tipped in by Wagner.

Hopkins had a few chances at the end, but could not find the equalizer. Tieu finished with a season-high 10 saves in the loss for the Blue Jays. Abby Funk finished with six saves in the cage for Juniata. The loss ends the career of Dudley, along with seniors Sarah Bender (Mattapoisett, MA/Tabor Academy), Lucy Webster (Greenwich, CT/Deerfield Academy), Megan Maguire (Laurel, MD/Hammond), Lori Vislocky (Toms River, NJ/Toms River) and Kristin Strief (Cary, NC/Garden City).