LANCASTER, PA - Wallace Eisenhauer (Sr., New Castle, DE/Wilmington Christian) buried a feed from Ryan McGonigle (Fr., Chadds Ford, PA/Unionville) and Alex Sanchez-Sierra (Sr., Tangier, Morocco/American School of Tangier) at 75:12, but #2 nationally ranked Johns Hopkins University used goals in the first and second half to escape Franklin & Marshall College 2-1 in the Centennial Conference regular season finale.
With the loss, combined with a 3-1 win by Swarthmore over Haverford College, F&M clinched the #4 seed in the Centennial Conference playoffs and will host #5 seed Muhlenberg College on November 3 in a first round game at Baker Campus. Game time is tentatively set for 2:30 p.m.
Against the Blue Jays, F&M fell behind 1-0 with 7:48 left in the first half as Adam Simon finished an assist from Aaron Blynn for a 1-0 Hopkins lead at halftime.
The goal snapped a 338:48 shutout streak by the Diplomats as Franklin & Marshall entered the game following blankings of Hood (4-0 W), Washington (1-0 W) and Dickinson (4-0 W) in the team's previous three games.
In the second half, the Diplomats gave the Blue Jays a gift at the 74:10 mark as Franklin & Marshall tallied an own goal that was credited to JHU's Joe Pinero. F&M fired back as Eienhauer beat Blue Jays goalie Gary Kane, Jr. for a score at 75:12, but the JHU defense stiffened to preserve the 2-1 win.
In goal, Ed Stelz (So., Kew Gardens, NY/Loomis Chaffee) recorded two saves on five Hopkins' shots, while Kane stopped three of the Diplomats' five shots on goal.
The game marked the fifth straight meeting between the two teams decided by one goal.
In last season's meeting in Baltimore, JHU escaped 1-0. In the last meeting in Lancaster during the 2003 season, Hopkins edged the Diplomats by a 1-0 score on a penalty kick to earn the hosting rights to the Centennial Conference Championship Tournament. Following a 1-1 (4-3) victory in penalty kicks over Gettysburg, the Diplomats forced the nationally ranked Blue Jays to the limit before falling 1-1 (4-3) in penalty kicks. Historically, the Blue Jays also defeated the Diplomats by a 1-0 final in the 2001 ECAC South Region Championship game.
Franklin & Marshall (10-4-2, 5-3-1) will return to action on November 3 at home versus Muhlenberg in the Centennial Conference playoffs.
#2 Johns Hopkins (16-0, 9-0 CC) 1-1 -- 2
Franklin & Marshall (10-4-2, 5-3-1 CC) 0-1 -- 1
Goals: JHU - Adam Simon (Aaron Blynn) 37:12
JHU - Joe Pinero (unassisted) 74:10
F&M - Wallace Eisenhauer (Ryan McGonigle, Alex Sanchez-Sierra) 75:12
Saves: F&M - Ed Stelz, 2 (90 minutes)
JHU - Gary Kane, 3 (90 minutes)
Shots: F&M 5, JHU 5
Corners: F&M 4, JHU 2
