The Johns Hopkins Men's Soccer team retained its undefeated record and claimed the JHU Alumni Invitational championship with a 2-0 shutout of the Savannah College of Art and Design Sunday afternoon on Homewood Field. The Blue Jays improved their impeccable record to 4-0, thanks to a strong defensive effort and goals by senior forward Chad Tarabolous and sophomore forward Adam Simon.
The Jays won both their games in the two-day invitational and finished first overall.Savannah earned a second place finish and Bridgewater wound up in third place due to scoring differentials.
The Blue Jays scored 12.5 minutes into the game, as Simon found the net, giving Hopkins a 1-0 advantage. Tarabolous was credited with an assist on the play.Then, at the end of the first half, Tarabolous added a goal of his own to extend the lead to 2-0, which turned to be the final score.
Not only were the Blue Jays able to prevent the Bees from scoring throughout this match, but their suffocating defense also permitted just two shots on goal by Savannah.Over the course of the game, the Blue Jays out shot the Bees 23-2. The Jays stayed on the offensive for the majority of the game, and their front-line defense was virtually impenetrable.
"Our whole team has been defending well," said Simon.
Hopkins' stellar defense made it easy for junior goalkeeper Gary Kane, Jr., who needed just two saves to preserve the shutout for the Jays.
"Our greatest strength has been our pressure defense," said freshman midfielder Ben McAbee. "We don't give the other team time to do anything."
On the other end, Sam Wolfgram made nine saves for the Bees, but the two goals he let up were all the Blue Jays needed to secure victory. With his 13 combined saves in the invitational, Wolfgram was honored as the tournament's Defensive MVP and was named to the all-tournament team.
Hopkins had three of its team members selected to the all-tournament team: Simon, senior defender and co-captain Rob Morrison, and sophomore midfielder Manbaj Gill.In addition, Tarabolous earned Offensive MVP honors.Overall, he scored three goals and had two assists in the tournament.
Simon and Tarabolous were also key offensive weapons in the first day of the invitational, scoring two goals apiece as the Jays bested Bridgewater by a score of 4-1.Simon added two assists on the day; Tarabolous and freshman midfielder Ben McAbee each recorded one.Though Hopkins won by three goals, the match was closely contested for the first period and most of the second.
The Blue Jays held a tenuous 1-0 lead heading into halftime.They scored again at 10:47 in the second period, but Matt Brock, last year's offensive MVP in the invitational, pulled Bridgewater to within one with a score of his own.The Blue Jays answered back with an insurance goal less than four minutes later, and they would never look back.
Once again, Hopkins flexed its defensive muscle, out shooting Bridgewater 18-9. Kane recorded four saves and sophomore defender Jeff Grosser contributed a back save to prevent the Eagles from tying the game in the first half.
The Blue Jays opened the season with an 8-0 victory over SUNY Farmingdale and proceeded to defeat Villa Julie 7-0 to clinch the Dr. Al Tucci Kickoff Classic.
"Our coach gave us these two tournaments to get us off to a good start and to prepare us for the tough games coming up," said McAbee.Hopkins toughest upcoming foe should be No. 3 Drew College, the only team in the Mid-Atlantic Region ranked higher than the Blue Jays. Hopkins currently stands at No. 9 in the NSCAA/Adidas Men's Soccer Poll.The Jays will take on Drew Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. on Homewood Field.
"We will not get as many shots off Drew, so we need to finish more of our chances," noted Simon, "but this team has a lot of potential and this next game should give us an idea of how well we can do this year."
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