Swarthmore, Johns Hopkins Advance to CC Championship
SWARTHMORE, Pa. -- Two polar opposites in the Centennial Conference men's soccer hierarchy will square off for the 2008 title after a pair of overtime semifinal matches at Clothier Field Saturday afternoon.
Two-time defending champion Johns Hopkins will face-off with first-time participant Swarthmore in the Conference championship on Sunday, November 9 at 1:00 p.m.
In the first semifinal, JHU senior midfielder Matty Carlson (Bristol, Conn. / Loomis Chaffee) scored the golden goal in the 98th minute, giving the No. 3 seed Blue Jays (12-4-3) a 2-1 overtime victory over Gettysburg (9-5-4). Johns Hopkins will make its sixth appearance in the Centennial championship, seeking their fifth title in the eight seasons the team tournament format has existed.
In the second semifinal, host Swarthmore (14-2-2) and Dickinson (12-4-3) battled through 110 minutes of regulation to a 1-1 draw. Swarthmore advanced to its first Centennial championship final in program history with a 4-2 decision in a penalty kick shoot-out.
Blue Jay senior midfielder Nick Guana (Evanston, Ill. / Evanston) put Johns Hopkins in front early on in the first match, skipping a left-footed shot from the edge of the Bullets’ penalty box into the left corner at 9:07. It was Guana’s third goal of the season.
The Bullets evened the affair in the 22nd minute. Senior Ian Forster (Doylestown, Pa. / Central Bucks West) forced a turnover in the Hopkins midfield, carried the ball for two strides and bent a 30-yard blast into the upper left corner for his fourth goal of the season.
Bullets freshman goalkeeper Adam Finkle (Potomac, Md. / Winston Churchill) preserved the tie by making an acrobatic save on a point-blank header by Hopkins with just over eight minutes left.
Carlson, recently named the 2008 Centennial Conference Player of the Year, trailed a run by classmate Akash Naik (Simpsonville, S.C. / Hillcrest) and accepted a back pass. Carlson took two steps and sent a left-footed drive into the left side of the net for the game-winner at 97:41.
Johns Hopkins owned a 21-6 shot advantage and attempted seven corners to six for the Bullets. Finkel made three saves in goal for Gettysburg while Johns Hopkins netminder Matt Mierley (Weston, Fla. / St. Thomas Aquinas) posted two stops.
The offensive fireworks were out early in the second semifinal. The hometown Garnet got on the board in the third minute when senior Evan Nesterak (Parker, Colo. / Ponderosa) one-timed a cross from junior midfielder Dylan Langley (Honolulu, Hawaii / Iolani School).
The scored evened up when the Red Devils slyly executed a free kick. Dickinson organized for the set piece from about 25 yards out, seemingly looking for a long serve. The Red Devils changed pace and quickly dropped a short pass out to the right side where junior midfielder Dale Rodman (Cabin John, Md. / Walt Whitman) had time to send a long cross to the far post. The shifting Garnet backline got caught out of position and Dickinson freshman midfielder Ben Gemberling-Johnson (Wyndmoor, Pa. / Germantown Friends) was alone with the ball. He sent a low pass back across the mouth of the Garnet goal and Swarthmore’s attempt to clear the ball hit the left post and ended up in the net at 7:14.
The game remained scoreless for the next 92 minutes, thanks in part to a trio of sparkling saves by Dickinson goalkeeper Rodrigo Barboza (Caracas, Venezuela / Kent School [CT]). He would finish the day with four stops.
Swarthmore dominated the penalty kick shootout, converting all four attempts against Red Devil backup netminder Mike Repshas (Reston, Va. / Bishop O’Connell). Garnet freshman goalkeeper David D’Annunzio (Piedmont, Calif. / Piedmont) stopped two of the Red Devil attempts to send Swarthmore into Sunday’s final.
Swarthmore held a 16-11 edge in the shot category with the Red Devils attempting five corners to three for the Garnet.
Fans can watch the Centennial Conference Championship final live; click here for more information.