Johns Hopkins Men’s Soccer Suffer Heartbreaking Loss In Conference Semis

BALTIMORE, Md. – In front of one of the biggest crowds this season (paid attendance of 300) at Homewood Field, the #1 seed Johns Hopkins Blue Jays were upset by the #5 seed Dickinson Red Devils, as it all came down to penalty kicks after 110 minutes of game play saw the two teams tied, 2-2.

Dickinson Sophomore GK Frederick Meagher, whom had not played at all during the game, was placed in goal to defend the Blue Jays penalty kicks and defend he did, as he blocked the first two Johns Hopkins shots and Dickinson scored on all four of theirs and they advanced to the 2017 Centennial Conference Men’s Soccer Championship, 4-2 on total penalty kicks.

In a game that went back and forth, the Red Devils jumped on the scoreboard first, in the 11th minute (10:55 mark) when Sophomore M/B Kevin Gilbert’s shot found the bottom left corner of the net and gave Dickinson a 1-0 lead.  It was Gilbert’s 13th goal of the season.

Less than two minutes later, Johns Hopkins struck back.  Off of assists by Blue Jays Freshman M RJ Moore and Senior D Jonah Muniz, Sophomore F/M Liam Moylan hit pay-dirt and tied the score at 1-1.

It would stay that way through the reminder of the first half.  Just two minutes into the second half, a Dickinson touching of the ball with hands inside the box, gave Johns Hopkins a penalty kick and Senior F/M Mike Swiercz converted that penalty kick into a goal (his fifth of the year) and the Blue Jays took a 2-1 advantage.

Almost half-way through the 74th minute (at the 73:27 mark) a throw in by Dickinson Junior F Ward Van de Water, led to a pass by Senior M Matthew Edmonds to Freshman M/B Austen Stockdale and Stockdale would get the ball past Blue Jays Senior GK Bryan See and tie the score at 2-2.  It was Stockdale’s first goal of the season.

Through the rest of the second half and two 10-minute overtime periods saw no goals scored, so it went to the decisive penalty kicks.  Each team goes back and forth for at minimum of three rounds and normally it’s the team with the best record after five rounds (if necessary) that wins the game.

Dickinson gambled by putting Meagher in goal for the penalty kicks.  Having not played at all during the regular game or overtime, Meagher was the preferred choice because of his wing-span with his arms.

First up was Johns Hopkins and Meagher blocked Moore’s shot and for Dickinson Senior F/M Will Bracken shot the ball past See to give Dickinson the 1-0 lead.  Second round and for the Blue Jays taking the penalty kick was Senior D Connor Jacobs and once again Meagher blocked the shot, putting Johns Hopkins in a huge deficit as Dickinson  Senior Austin Thames had little trouble scoring against See and Dickinson was in the driver’s seat, up 2-0 after two rounds.

Johns Hopkins found success in the third round as Junior M Griffin Cyphers finally got a ball past Meagher and into the net, getting the Blue Jays on the board, but Red Devils Senior M Lucas Masiado made it a perfect three for three against See and Dickinson was up 3-1 after the third round.

In the fourth round for the Blue Jays, it was Freshman M Liam Creedon getting the penalty kick into the net.  It was now Dickinson’s turn and Edmonds stepped up to take his shot, which See guessed right and Edmonds shot the ball to the left and into the net to give Dickinson the 4-2 win after the fourth round, making the fifth round irrelevant and the Red Devils pulled off the huge upset.

Dickinson now plays #2 seed Franklin & Marshall Diplomats on Sunday, November 5th at 1:00 pm at Homewood Field for the 2017 Centennial Conference Men’s Soccer Championship and the automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Men’s Soccer Tournament.  Johns Hopkins now must wait and see if they will get an at-large bid into the tournament.

Please follow and like us:

Erick Seltzer

Served in the US Navy as a journalist between 2/25/1991 & 9/15/1993. My duty station was Naval Submarine Base, Bangor in Silverdale, Washington. I was one of the writers for the weekly publication, "Trident Tides." While there, I successfully started the first-ever coverage of sports on and off the base to much positive response. When it comes to sports, I either play it, watch it and/or write about it. I'm always open to suggestions and hope you enjoy what I write about. Please feel free to leave a comment here or to get in contact me with, email me @ frederick.seltzer@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing back from the readers and teams.

You may also like...

Follow by Email