Ten-goal first half seals win for No. 1 Blue Jays

The defending national champions defeated Princeton (1-1 overall) 14-9 in the second annual Konica Minolta Face Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, Md. Though a five-goal loss to the top-ranked team in Division I may seem indicative of a solid performance, the Tigers’ first half suggested otherwise.

Johns Hopkins (2-0) showed why its first midfield line has been dubbed the most dangerous trio in the country. Michael Kimmel found the back of the net 10 seconds after the first whistle to give the Blue Jays a lead they would never relinquish. By the middle of the first quarter, Stephen Peyser and Paul Rabil, senior co-captains who flank Kimmel, had converted for the Blue Jays as well, giving Hopkins a 3-0 advantage. Rabil, who scored the game-winning goal against Princeton last year in double overtime, would finish with three goals and four assists.

Kevin Huntley rounded out the first quarter, scoring two goals for the Blue Jays, and proceeded to complete a hat trick at 12:51 of the second quarter as the Blue Jays went up 6-0. Huntley, who scored four goals in Hopkins’ season-opener, finished the game with five goals and an assist.

Maybe Belichick was whispering run-up-the-score comments in his friend’s ear after all, as Hopkins continued to pour in goals while Princeton’s mistakes worsened. Turnovers plagued the Tigers the entire game — they had nine in the first half alone — and most shots were wasted opportunities that sailed well wide of the net. Then, for the Orange and Black faithful, relief came in the form of senior midfield Bob Schneider.

During Princeton’s first man-up opportunity of the afternoon, Schneider netted the Tigers’ first goal on a pass from junior midfield Mark Kovler to make the score 8-1 with 6:56 remaining in the half. While the Tigers had this man advantage, they showed the hunger and emotion that were absent most of the first half.

The Blue Jays waited no time to respond, however, and Huntley snuck a goal past Hewit to make it 9-1. Hopkins ended its first-half highlight reel with 24 ticks left when Andrew Miller scored his second goal of the day on a fast break, and the Tigers entered the locker room with a nine-goal deficit.

Yet Princeton refused to concede and showed resiliency in the second half, due in large part to senior goalie Alex Hewit.

“What we said [at halftime] was look — we can start all over. Let’s win this quarter, play with some emotion, play like men and see what happens. And to their credit they did that. It’s a long year — you can’t give up at the half and they didn’t. Alex started making some saves and we started scoring,” head coach Bill Tierney said.

Despite letting in an uncharacteristic 14 goals on 26 shots, Hewit made some excellent saves against a relentless Blue Jay attack, especially on close shots around the crease. The defense took inspiration from its goalie and tightened up with quicker slides and faster transitions out of the back.

After Princeton struggled to penetrate the Blue Jay interior in the first half, the Tigers picked apart the Hopkins defense multiple times in the third and fourth quarters. Two minutes after Rabil opened the second half with a goal for the Blue Jays, junior midfield Brendan Reilly dodged right then rolled back to pull the trigger, slipping a low stick-side shot past Hopkins’ Michael Gvozden.

With just under three minutes to go in the third frame, senior midfield Pete Striebel found junior attack Tommy Davis on the move in front of the net. Davis snuck a shot over Gvozden’s shoulder to make the score 12-3. Two minutes later, Kovler slung a pass leftward to a waiting Schneider, who capitalized in front of the goal for his second score of the game.

Kovler then got a goal of his own after embarrassing Hopkins defender George Castle on the crease.

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Late goals by Davis, junior midfield Greg Seaman and freshman attack Jack McBride, who has two goals in as many games, were not enough to save the Tigers from defeat.