Box Score

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Johns Hopkins outscored Gettysburg 4-1 in the first half, then held off a second-half Bullet rally, making a save with no time left as the 17th-ranked and third-seeded Blue Jays defeated the 14th-ranked and second-seeded Bullets 4-3 in the Centennial Conference field hockey semifinals Saturday afternoon at tournament host Ursinus College.

With the loss, Gettysburg drops to 14-5 and will hope for a possible at-large bid in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Johns Hopkins (13-5) moves on to the conference championship game for the second year in a row to face third-ranked and top-seeded Ursinus, a 10-2 winner over fourth-seeded Haverford College in the other semifinal.

Trailing by one goal, the Bullets received back-to-back corners with zeros on the scoreboard. But Hopkins goalie Kim Stein made a save on a shot by freshman Katie Savage (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) on the first corner to preserve the win.

Senior Nina Emala (Baltimore, Md./Bryn Mawr) closed her career on a high note for the Bullets, tying her career-high with two goals while classmate Vanessa Pabon (New Oxford, Pa./New Oxford) added a career-high two assists.

The Blue Jays broke out to an early 2-0 lead, scoring twice over the opening 7:13. Amy Wharton scored on a tip-in two-and-a-half minutes into the game before Ariana Branchini converted just under five minutes later.

Emala cut the deficit in half with 15:16 left in the opening period, taking a feed from Pabon and punching in her sixth goal of the year from the left side.

Hopkins responded by scoring twice over a 5:37 span late in the half to build a three-goal lead at the break. Lindsay McKenna and Carly Bianco scored back-to-back tallies to make it a 4-1 game with 3:42 remaining in the half.

Gettysburg caught fire 11 and a half minutes into the second stanza, scoring twice in 50 seconds. Savage got things started when she tipped in a pass from junior Alyssa Heimbach (Palm, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) from the right side before Emala scored off another assist from Pabon, striking home a hit-in from the center to make it 4-3 with 22:43 to go.

The Blue Jays tightened their defense down the stretch, however, holding the Bullets to two shots the rest of the way. Gettysburg keeper Christina Anderson (Dunkirk, Md./Calverton School) kept her team in it by making a save with under nine minutes left.

Johns Hopkins held slight advantages in shots (10-9) and corners (11-9). Stein finished with four saves while Anderson made one stop.