March 12, 2008

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Seven different players scored for #15 Johns Hopkins as the Blue Jays defeated previously unbeaten Towson 12-10 on Wednesday night at Homewood Field. For the Blue Jays (2-3) it their eighth straight win over the Tigers (4-1). Senior Kirby Houck (Baltimore, MD/Garrison Forest) led the way with a hat trick and an assist in the win.

Towson jumped out to a 2-0 lead just 4:32 into the game with goals from Meggie McNamara and Hillary Fratzke. The Blue Jays got on the board when sophomore Sam Schrum (Pasadena, MD/St. Mary's) scored a free position goal at 5:45, igniting a 6-0 Hopkins run. Sophomore Paige Ibello (Cockeysville, MD/Maryvale Prep) then tied the game at 2-2 when sophomore Brett Bathras (Severna Park, MD/Severn School) found her wide open in front of the cage. Schrum potted her second goal of the night when she dodged the left side and scored on a low shot to give the Blue Jays their first lead of the game at 11:52.

Houck pushed Hopkins lead to 4-2 off a feed from Bathras before freshman Brianna Cronin (Arlington, MA/Arlington) scored an unassisted goal just 67 seconds later. Senior Kadie Stamper (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) scooped up a loose ball behind the cage and fired a shot past Mandy Corry to make it a 6-2 game with 6:57 left in the half. McNamara ended the Blue Jays run just 17 seconds later as Towson won the ensuing draw. Hopkins would get one more before the half though. With time winding down, sophomore Danielle Ensley (Severna Park, MD/Severna) passed the ball out to junior Gina Maranto (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) in front of the Tigers cage, who fired a shot past Corry to give Hopkins a 7-3 half time lead.

Coming out of the break, Fratzke scored on a dodge to the cage just 1:25 in to cut the lead to 7-4. The goals then came in pairs for the two teams. Hopkins got a pair of goals from Houck and Bathras to push out to a 9-4 advantage. But those were answered with two from Fratzke just 15 seconds apart as the Blue Jays led 9-6 with 22:52 to play.

After a flurry of goals in the half's opening minutes, nearly 12 minutes would elapse before another score. Ibello ended the drought when she broke away from her defender in front of the Tigers cage and she fired home a crisp pass from Stamper. After a failed Towson clear, Hopkins connected on nice tic-tac-toe to take an 11-6 lead. Bathras found Houck to the right of the cage, who found a wide-open Stamper for her seventh of the season.

Jacie Kendall and McNamara tallied back-to-back goals for the Tigers to cut the lead to 11-8 with 7:11 to play in the game. Houck answered with her third of the night to give the Jays back a brief four-goal cushion. Goals from McNamara and Steph Taylor made it a two-goal game at 12-10 with 2:03 to play. Hopkins won the ensuing draw and maintained possession until the final horn.

Houck, Schrum, Stamper and Ibello all had multi-goal games for the Blue Jays, while Bathras dished out a career-high three assists and tied her career-high with four points. McNamara and Fratzke each had four goals on the night for the Tigers. Freshman Julianne Wisner (Parkton, MD/Notre Dame Prep) made eight saves in the cage for the Blue Jays, tying her career-high. Corry finished with eight saves for the Tigers.

Hopkins returns to action on Monday, March 17 when #2 Maryland visits Homewood Field. The game will be televised nationally by ESPNU is slated for a 4:00 pm start.