Hopkins Ends Garnet ECAC Run
BALTIMORE, MD -(courtesy of Johns Hopkins SID Office) Johns Hopkins senior Adam Simon recorded a hat trick to lead second-seeded Johns Hopkins past third-seeded Swarthmore 4-1 in an ECAC South semifinal game at Homewood Field. The Blue Jays meet fourth-seeded Grove City, which advanced past top-seeded McDaniel on penalty kicks earlier today, in the championship game tomorrow at 1 pm.
Johns Hopkins, which tied Swarthmore 0-0 in the regular-season matchup, took an early lead on its Centennial Conference rival when Simon scored unassisted on a breakaway up the left side of the field. As Swarthmore senior Reuben Heyman-Kantor came out of goal to play the ball, Simon got past him and scored for a 1-0 Hopkins' lead at 10:11.
The Blue Jays doubled their lead before the break, as freshman Nicholas Gauna set up senior Traver Davis for a goal at 23:39. Hopkins entered the break with the 2-0 lead, as well as a 7-4 edge on shots and a 4-1 advantage on corner kicks.
Simon scored twice more in the second half to put the game out of reach for the Garnet before the 60th minute. Gauna recorded his second assist of the day on Simon's second goal at 52:07, and five-and-a-half minutes later Simon rebounded Gauna's shot and fired it past Heyman-Kantor for the 4-0 Blue Jay lead.
Swarthmore finally got on the scoreboard at 73:35 when freshman Connor Darby scored off a setup by junior Matt Schiller and freshman Alex Avellan. It was the first collegiate goal for Darby and the first career point for Avellan.
The Blue Jays finished with a 22-7 lead on shots after dominating 15-3 in the second half, and they ended ahead 10-3 on corner kicks.
Heyman-Kantor recorded four saves in 72:33 before sophomore Ryan Sutcliffe substituted in for the final 17:27 and picked up three saves. Coble and junior Ryan Bradley each made one save in goal for Hopkins.
The Garnet conclude the 2005 season with an overall record of 12-6-2 and a Centennial record of 6-2-1, the best conference showing in school history.