No. 4/9 Garnet Open Conference Play With 1-0 Win Over No. 25 Johns Hopkins
SWARTHMORE, Pa. - Before a loud and boisterous crowd of over 600 at Clothier Field Stadium, the No. 4/9 Swarthmore men's soccer team (6-0, 1-0) used an early goal in the 6th minute by junior Morgan Langley and a lockdown defensive performance to defeat No. 25 Johns Hopkins 1-0 on Saturday evening.
Sophomore goalkeeper David D’Annunzio was outstanding in net for the Garnet, making six saves - including two from point-blank range in the final 10 minutes - to preserve the victory for the Garnet. The rest of the defense was also up to the task, shutting out statistically the Centennial Conference’s top offense and two of the Conference’s top three goal scorers in Scott Bukoski and Evan Kleinberg.
D'Annunzio made six saves to preserve the victory.
Diving right into Centennial Conference play with a rematch of last year's championship game, the Garnet wasted no time lighting up the scoreboard. In just the 6th minute, Morgan Langley took a long pass from the midfield by sophomore Fabian Castro, juked past his defender and beat Hopkins' goalkeeper Ravi Gill in a one-on-one situation to score his team-leading fifth goal of the season, giving the Garnet a 1-0 lead.
Thanks to D'Annunzio - who has yet to allow a goal in three starts this season - and the rest of the Swarthmore backline, the game would remain 1-0 heading into the halftime break. But it was in the second half that the Swarthmore defense would really show its value.
Facing constant pressure from the Blue Jay attack - including 19 total shots - the Swat defense would not bend nor break to hang on for the win.
In the final 15 minutes of play, D'Annunzio made two saves that may have just won the game for the Garnet. In the 78th minute off a corner kick, he saved a header from Hopkins' Ryan Aronberg from directly in front of the net. Then with the pressure mounting in the 82nd minute, he made a diving save on an open shot from Hopkins' Max Venker that sealed the win.
Dating back to last season's Centennial Conference championship game, the Garnet have now won back-to-back games against Johns Hopkins for the first time since 1990-91. The victory also marks Swarthmore's first regular season victory over Hopkins since 2003.
Swarthmore is 5-0 on the season at the friendly confines of Clothier Field Stadium.
The Blue Jays finished with a 19-12 advantage in shots and 5-1 edge in corner kicks.
The Garnet return to action on Wednesday with a trip to Immaculata. Play is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m.