After its second consecutive trip to the NCAA final four, the Johns Hopkins field hockey team was left with the familiar feeling of falling just short of its ultimate goal.
Franklin & Marshall, JHU's Centennial Conference rival and a team the Blue Jays defeated twice earlier in the season, scored three third-quarter goals and hung on for a 3-1 victory in an NCAA Division III semifinal matchup against Johns Hopkins on Saturday. The game was played at Spooky Nook Sports Complex in Manheim, Pennsylvania, just eight miles from the Diplomats campus in Lancaster.
It was an identical result to the one that ended JHU's 2018 season, when the Blue Jays advanced to the national semifinals for the first time in school history but were ousted by Tufts, 3-1.
After a scoreless first half, F&M (20-3) struck twice in quick succession early in the third quarter with goals by Abby Straub and Lily Mynott. Hopkins (19-3) cut the deficit in half midway through the quarter on a penalty corner when Abby Birk fed Katie McErlean, who faked a pass before firing a shot into the cage. The goal was McErlean's team-best 15th of the season. But Mynott scored again on a breakaway five minutes later, and the Diplomats held on for the win.
On Sunday, Franklin & Marshall fell 1-0 against Middlebury, which won its third consecutive national championship.
Posted in Athletics
Tagged field hockey
