Release courtesy of Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications
BALTIMORE, MD – The second-ranked Johns Hopkins women's soccer team got a goal and two assists from tournament MVP Kendall Dandridge and outscored visiting Dickinson 3-0 in the second half as the Blue Jays cruised to the 13th Centennial Conference Tournament title and 15th overall title in program history with a 4-0 victory at Homewood Field Sunday afternoon.
The Blue Jays improve to 17-0-2 and earn the Centennial's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The Red Devils slip to 10-7-2 and will learn if they earn an at-large bid to the tournament on Monday afternoon when the bracket is announced.
After controlling play for a majority of the first half, the Blue Jays broke through in the 40th minute when Dandridge fired one from distance that deflected off a Dickinson defender and inside the far post past the outstretched hands of Red Devil goalie Sophia Kavulich. The Blue Jays carried the one-goal lead into the half.
That lead held until the middle of the second half, when the Blue Jays struck for two goals in a span of just over two minutes to put the game away. Dandridge found Rebecca Rosen all alone in the middle of the box in the 64th minute and Rosen settled the ball and fired one high to the far side to make it 2-0. Two minutes later, sophomore Katie Sullivan controlled a feed from Megha Salvi and got her right foot free from 25 yards and floated one high into the goal to push the lead to 3-0.
Rosen closed the scoring in the 78th minute when she headed home a corner kick from Dandridge and the Blue Jay defense did the rest of the work in preserving the shutout and securing the first title for the Blue Jays under third-year coach Dan Weiler.
The Blue Jays held a 30-2 advantage in shots and took 10 of the 11 corners in the game. Huntzinger was not forced to make a save in the victory, wile Kavulich made six for the Red Devils.
Notes: Johns Hopkins will be making its 17th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and 20th overall appearance. The Blue Jays have now scored 79 goals on the year, that ranks as the third-highest single-season total in school history. Today's title give JHU 15 overall Centennial Conference titles – 13 in the tournament and two before the league went to a tournament format to determine its champion in 2001.