ELIZABETHTOWN COLLEGE WOMEN'S SOCCER
Wednesday, November 4, 1998

ETOWN STOPS JOHNS HOPKINS, 3-1, IN FIRST ROUND OF NCAA TOURNAMENT; JAYS WILL FACE COLLEGE OF NEW JERSEY SATURDAY

ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. --- They're at it again.

In a rerun of last year's opening-round NCAA tournament game, Elizabethtown defeated Johns Hopkins, 3-1, in this season's first-round NCAA contest on Wednesday in Elizabethtown.  With the win, the Blue Jays (12-8-1) advance to face the College of New Jersey (15-2-1) in the Mid-Atlantic regional semifinals on Saturday, November 7.  The match will take place at Richard Stockton College in Pomona, N.J.  Game time is 1:30 p.m.

Last season, Etown opened its first-ever NCAA tournament with a dominating 5-0 win over Johns Hopkins before collecting upset victories over the College of New Jersey, Stockton and Amherst en route to the Final Four.  This time around, it was much of the same as the Blue Jays outshot their guests 16-4 while taking all 11 of the game's corner kicks.

Denise Gordon scored a goal and an assist and Kristy Wade tallied her program-record 23rd goal of the season to lead the Etown attack.  Toni Stern also added a goal for the Blue Jays.

Etown entered the tournament with more losses (8) than any other team, but needed only 90 minutes to prove it deserved the program's second consecutive NCAA berth.

"We wanted to prove that we were deserving of the tournament and I think we did that today," said Etown coach Barry Dohner, who guided his team to its second Middle Atlantic Conference championship on Saturday.  "Playing the schedule we've played has given us the upper hand on teams.  Things have come together for us lately and we're playing our best soccer of the season."

With the score tied 1-1 midway through the first half, Becky Nocito fired a cross that glanced off of Jen Helsel and onto the foot of Wade, who blasted a shot past Hopkins goalie Kate Cushman to put Etown ahead to stay.  The goal was Wade's 23rd of the season, one better than the 22 she scored during the 1997 campaign.  It was also her team-best sixth gamewinning goal of the year.

"Kristy was able to have time and space with the ball today and you can't let her have that," said Dohner of Wade.  "Some players play well against certain teams and Johns Hopkins is one of those teams for her."

After having a goal disallowed late in the first half, Stern found the net in the 60th minute to ice the match.  Gordon and Christy Callahan picked up assists on the goal, Stern's third of the season.

Johns Hopkins (12-4-1) took a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute when Shannon Taylor ran onto a perfect cross from Kathleen Hanlon and lofted a shot over winning goalie Lisa Blanker.  The goal was Taylor's second of the season and the first allowed in the postseason by Etown in 515 minutes.

Six minutes later, however, Gordon pulled the Blue Jays even by scoring her sixth goal of the season off a goal mouth scramble.

Wade and Dina Jingoli led Etown with four shots apiece.  Blanker made three saves to record the win while Cushman made eight stops in the net for Johns Hopkins.

Next on the slate for the Blue Jays is their second straight tournament rematch, this time against the College of New Jersey, currently ranked No. 5 in Division III.  In last season's regional semifinals, Etown shocked the top-ranked and undefeated Lions, 2-1, in the rain at Gettysburg College.  This time, Dohner knows that his squad won't sneak up on anyone.

"I'm sure they're not going to take us for granted," said Dohner.  "They know that the road to a national championship goes through Elizabethtown and we know that the road goes through the College of New Jersey."

Scoring:
JH--Shannon Taylor 2 (Kathleen Hanlon), 9:18
EC--Denise Gordon 6 (unassisted), 15:28
EC--Kristy Wade 23 (Jen Helsel, Becky Nocito), 23:31
EC--Toni Stern 3 (Gordon, Christy Callahan), 59:36

Shots: John Hopkins 4 (Taylor 1, Sarah Parola 1, Lindsay Vodoklys 1, Nina Creedman 1), Elizabethtown 16 (Wade 4, Dina Jingoli 4, Gordon 2, Stern 1, Nocito 1, Jen Helsel 1, Tanis Neamand 1, Rachel Luetke 1, Nicole Hundley 1).  Corners: Johns Hopkins 0, Elizabethtown 11.  Fouls: Johns Hopkins 8, Elizabethtown 3.  Goalie Saves: Johns Hopkins 8 (Kate Cushman), Elizabethtown 3 (Lisa Blanker).