Gophers Edged by No. 5 Blue Jays

TOWSON, Md. - An early second half goal proved to be the difference as fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins University edged Goucher College 1-0 in non-conference men's soccer Wednesday evening at Beldon Field.

• Johns Hopkins (9-0-2) had a shot seven minutes in that was blocked by a Goucher (5-3-3) defender.
• The Blue Jays put their first shot on goal in the 19th minute, but the attempt was saved by Gopher goalie Jeff Castro (Egg Harbor Township, N.J./Egg Harbot Township).
• Castro made a sliding save just past the midway point of the half.
• Bobby Beringer (Okinawa, Japan/Richard Montgomery) lifted a shot high just over a minute later.
• At the 28-minute mark a Hopkins shot was headed for an empty Goucher goal after Castro came out but Ali Kazim Nakhid (Beirut, Lebanon/UMBC) tracked it down and headed it off the crossbar to safety.
• Castro made two saves in the final three minutes of the first half to keep the game scoreless at intermission.

• Johns Hopkins scored just over three minutes into the second half.  A shot from outside the box by Giulian Laudisa was defelcted by Scotty Coleman past Gopher relief keeper Gavin Pennell (Punta Gorda, Fla./Charlotte).
• Pennell made his first save of the game in the 63rd minute.
• Just past the 71-minute mark a bid by Hopkins' Tyler White was stopped by Pennell.
• Jonathan Alvarado (Hyattsville, Md./International HS at Langley Park) had a shot from the top of the box with 10 minutes left that was blocked by a Hopkins defender.
• Pennell made one final stop in the 84th minute.

• The Blue Jays held a 16-2 shot advantage and took both of the game's corner kicks.
• Castro made four saves in the first half before giving way to Pennell, who recorded three stops.
• Johns Hopkins goalie Alex Morgret was not forced to make a save en route to his 10th clean sheet of the season.

MSOC | Ali Kazim Nakhid chases what looked to be a Hopkins goal down and makes the save by heading the ball off the crossbar to keep the game scoreless. @Goucher_MSoccer and the No. 5 Blue Jays tied 0-0 at halftime.#d3soccer #GopherGreatness #GoucherProud pic.twitter.com/WbeLErEJH3

— Goucher Gophers (@GoucherSports) October 5, 2022

• Goucher returns to Landmark Conference action Saturday, hosting Susquehanna at 1 pm at Beldon Field.