2011-10-07
It has been a rough road for Johns Hopkins lately. Last season did not turn out as hoped with only one point mustered out of a tie against University of Maryland, and this season started slow as they were defeated by Dickinson in the opening game. In fact you have to go all the way back to February of 2010 when Hopkins had their last regular season win. But with some fresh faces and determined play, they were hoping to turn things around.
Wesley traveled to Baltimore for their second away game of the season but coming off a commanding win against Mount St. Mary’s the week before. They hoped to continue that momentum on the road. Playing in the “bubble” at Patterson Park, both teams started off conservatively. It was Wesley that broke through first on a great individual effort from Nick Greco who gave them an early 1-0 lead. This lead would stick through to the second period.
In a game that saw only five penalties, Hopkins found themselves on a rare powerplay minutes in to the second. Alex Horn received a pass from Wyatt Roscoe and buried it to tie the game at one a piece. This goal seemed to open up the flood gates for scoring as Wesley went on a spree scoring three goals in five minutes. Goals came from Gerald Cassidy, Brian Sanca, and Christopher Bahm. But there was still time left in the period and Hopkins’ Anthony Pergola netted a goal with minutes remaining closing the gap to two goals going in to the final frame.
The next goal would be crucial in this game and Hopkins came out determined to make sure it was them. Joe Leanza intercepted a pass and took it in to the Wesley zone netting his first goal of the game and pulling within one goal. With the momentum shifting in Hopkins favor, Albie Feeny capitalized again for Hopkins to tie the game at four. But they were not done there. Just past the midway point of the period Erick Sun broke in and scored on another pass from Roscoe, and Hopkins held their first lead late in the game. Time was now running thin and Wesley’s hopes were fading away. With under a minute remaining Wesley pulled their netminder for the extra attacker in a final effort to tie the game. The seconds were ticking away as Bryan McDonald got the puck from chaos in front of the net and slipped one past the Hopkins goaltender with :08 left on the clock tying the game and sending it to overtime!
Wesley was now riding high and had all of the momentum heading in to the extra time. However, there was still a spark on the Johns Hopkins bench as Anthony Pergola took it down the ice on the four-on-four and put a shot passed the Wesley goaltender, winning Hopkins first game in over a year.
Hopkins hopes to keep their streak going as they play host to newcomer PSU Harrisburg. Despite the heart-breaking loss, Wesley still grabs a point from the matchup and hopes to rebound as they return home to host Dickinson.
