First Round (at Carlisle): #4 Dickinson d. #5 Franklin & Marshall, 2-0
Semifinal (at Allentown): #3 Johns Hopkins d. #2 Swarthmore, 1-0
Semifinal (at Allentown): #4 Dickinson d. #1 Muhlenberg, 1-0
Final (at Allentown): #3 Johns Hopkins d. #4 Dickinson, 2-1
ALLENTOWN, PA - The Johns Hopkins men's soccer team rallied from an early 1-0 deficit to defeat Dickinson, 2-1, and claim its eight Centennial Conference Championship on Saturday night at host Muhlenberg. The Blue Jays win their third straight game and improve to 15-3-2, while the Devils slip to 14-4-2 with the loss. Hopkins was seeded third in the tournament and becomes the first three seed to win the championship since Muhlenberg in 2005.
Dickinson got on the board in the 15th minute with a highlight-reel worthy goal from Mike Montross. The junior dribbled in and ripped a hard shot from about 25 yards out into the top left corner to stake the fourth-seeded Red Devils to the early 1-0 lead. But Hopkins answered in the 22nd minute to knot the score at 1-1. A Dickinson foul set up a Hopkins free kick right around midfield. Sophomore co-captain Corey Adams (Cedar Grove, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) struck the free kick for the Blue Jays, sending the ball into the box. Red Devils' goalie Cody Hickock backpedaled and got a hand on the ball, attempting to tip it over the goal. But it went up in the air and came down to senior John Scheuch (Ridgewood, NJ//Delbarton School), who tapped it in for his second goal of the weekend.
The teams went back-and-forth from there, with both goalies making several good plays to keep the match tied at 1-1. Hopkins got the go-ahead goal in the 58th minute after a Dickinson defender fouled junior Evan Kleinberg (South Orange, NJ/Columbia) inside the Red Devils' box. Senior Max Venker (Oldsmar, FL/Palm Harbor University) stepped to the line and buried the ball inside the left post for his fourth goal of the season. Senior Ravi Gill (Morganville, NJ/Marlboro) came up with a big save in the 84th minute on a Nicolas Tierno shot in tight, to keep the Blue Jays on top.
Gill finished with five saves, including three in the second half, to earn the win. Hickock also had five saves for the Red Devils in the loss.
Venker's goal was his third goal in a Centennial Conference title game in his career. All three goals have been game-winners. He scored the overtime winner against Franklin & Marshall in 2006 and in 2007 he scored on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute against Gettysburg. Scheuch, who had one career goal entering the tournament, scored a goal in each game this weekend.
The Blue Jays allowed just one goal in the tournament en route to the title, the first team to do so since JHU turned the trick in 2004. The title is Hopkins' eighth overall and fifth since the conference tournament began in 2001. The Blue Jays have won more titles than any other school in conference history - Muhlenberg is second with five titles. JHU is now 10-3-3 in Centennial Conference tournament games, including 5-2-0 in the title game. The JHU seniors have now won the Centennial Conference title in three of their four years, becoming just the second class in conference history to do so. Muhlenberg won three titles in four years from 1994-1997.
Hopkins earns the conference's automatic qualifier with the title and will make its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance and fourth consecutive. It is the first time in program history that JHU will make four straight NCAAs.