CLAREMONT/LA VERNE, Calif. – Division III No. 9-ranked Johns Hopkins University dropped a pair of games to Top-10 teams on day one of the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament. Hopkins opened with an 18-10 loss at Division III No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and then fell at Division III No. 9 the University of La Verne, 14-9.
Pomona-Pitzer grabbed an early 2-0 lead, but Alec Baker answered with a pair of goals to tie the game at the 2:54-mark. Chase Barman put the Sagehens back on top with a six-on-five goal to spark a four-goal run to end the quarter. Ian Raley and Andrew Lee scored back-to-back goals midway through the second quarter to pull the Blue Jays within two.
Andrew Plaschke scored at the 3:08-mark to kick-start an 8-3 spurt that saw Pomona take a 14-7 lead with 1:01 to play in the third quarter. Raley scored in the final 12 seconds of the quarter to make it a 14-8 game. The Sagehens scored twice in a 45-second span to open the fourth and push their lead to eight. Quint Steffey and Chris Lo sandwiched goals around scores from Connor Sullivan and Micah Webber to account for the 18-10 final.
Lo, Baker, Raley and Lee scored two goals each for the Blue Jays, while Ethan Babel handed out four assists. Chris Poisler finished with six saves and four steals in the cage.
Hopkins then made the short trip to La Verne to take on the Leopards. Lee opened the scoring just 17 seconds in, but a Jordan Baker score tied the game just 52 seconds later. Raley put the Blue Jays back on top with a five-meter goal, but the Leopards answered with three straight to push out to a 4-2 lead with 3:44 to go in the first quarter.
Steffey and Lee answered with a pair of scores to tie the game early in the second quarter. Sawyer Nering answered for La Verne, sparking a five-goal run and the home team led 9-4 early in the third quarter. The teams then traded goals over the final 14 minutes and the Leopards took the 14-9 win.
Lee scored a team-high four goals while Raley also had a four-point outing (three goals, one assist) to go with two steals. Kyle Pearson tallied nine saves and one steal in the cage for the Blue Jays.
Release courtesy Johns Hopkins University Athletics Communications
