#17 Tartans Topped by #2 Johns Hopkins on the Road

(BALTIMORE, Md.) - The #17 Carnegie Mellon University women's soccer team traveled to Baltimore, Maryland, for a afternoon contest against #2 Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday, September 29. The game was tightly contested between the two ranked teams with the Blue Jays able to defend their home field with a 2-1 victory behind all goals scored in the second half.

The Tartans got off four shots in the first 27 minutes of the game but their first shot on frame didn't come until the 30th minute when sophomore Cecelia Dietrich (South Paris, Maine / Oxford) put a header on goal following a corner kick by senior Maddy Lui (Basking Ridge, N.J. / Ridge) but Caitlin Hendricks was able to snag it to prevent the score.

Sophomore Sarah Scoles (Naperville, Ill. / Naperville Central) put a shot on frame from distance in the 35th minute but Hendricks once again was able to make an easy grab in open space.

Dietrich let a left-footed shot fly in the 36th minute that missed the post by a few inches while the Tartans defense of Lui, junior Rachel Legg (Kansas City, Mo. / Pembroke Hill), junior Nikki Hasson (Torrance, Calif. / California Academy of Mathematics and Science) and Scoles along with a handful of midfielders kept the Blue Jays from getting off any shot attempts in the first half.

A free kick opportunity for the Tartans from 30 yards out in the 50th minute ended with a simple save for Hendricks off a low shot straight at the keeper by sophomore Breana Valentovish (Cranberry Township, Pa. / Seneca Valley).

A minute later, Johns Hopkins moved up the field with a long pass from the right side of their defensive zone to the left of their offensive zone. Katie Sullivan was able to get around Lui on the left side a put a pass low at an angle across the box that passed by two defenders before Rachel Jackson met it for a simple tap in by graduate student Carolyn Botz (St. Louis, Mo. / MICDS).

The Tartans answered less than two minutes later when Legg was able to finish a corner kick by Scoles that was served to the top of the 18-yard box. Legg beat a Blue Jay to it and skipped it to the right post where it was deflected in by a defender.

In the 66th minute, John Hopkins was awarded a free kick just outside the box to the left of the field. Riley O'Toole took the free kick and fired a shot to the just under the cross bar at the near post for the 2-1 lead.

Freshman Emma Shirzad (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. / The Benjamin School) put a shot on frame in the 72nd minute but it was turned away by Hendricks.

The Tartans pressed to equalize with a chance in the 84th minute when junior Alex Adams (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Allegheny) played a ball into space for junior Helena Spencer (Warrenton, Va. / Patriot) but Hendricks swiftly came off her line and slid to stop the attempt by Spencer.

Carnegie Mellon will return to Pittsburgh for their first University Athletic Association (UAA) contest and host #22 Brandeis University on Saturday, October 2 at 11:00 a.m.