A trio of local Division III soccer programs will put its season on the line this weekend, as the Villa Julie women and both the men and women?s teams from Johns Hopkins are in action in the NCAA Tournament.
The 12th-ranked Blue Jays men earned a first round bye as the top seed in their bracket, and also earned the right to host a second round game with a 17-1-2 season.
They host Christopher Newport (14-4-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday at Homewood Field. The two programs have met in the past, splitting a four-game series, 2-2. CNU, in the tourney as an at-large bid, advanced to the second round with a 4-0 win over Chestnut Hill.
JHU WOMEN BATTLE SALISBURY: While the Johns Hopkins men play CNU at home, the Blue Jays women will be at Christopher Newport, facing in-state challenger Salisbury.
The Blue Jays make their second NCAA appearance in as many seasons after winning the Centennial Conference title to cap a 17-2 season. They finished the season at No. 8 in the NSCAA/adidas poll ? the highest in program history.
Hopkins is 2-1 in games at neutral locations this year, and will turn to a defense that has allowed an average of just 0.73 goals per game. Meanwhile, the Blue Jayshave also scored an average of 3.07 goals per game, led by Kaitlin Giannetti (11 goals) and Molly Steele (10 goals).
Salisbury finished the season 10-6-1, led by Kate Weaver with 20 goals.
The Blue Jays advanced to the second round for the first time in program history last fall, and will look to go further starting tonight at 5 p.m. in Virginia.
VILLA JULIE WOMEN VISIT TCNJ: Having defeated Baltimore-area rivals College of Notre Dame, 3-1, in first round action Wednesday, the Villa Julie women (15-7) will make the trek north for a second-round clash with fourth-ranked College of New Jersey (15-1-2) at 1 p.m. Sunday.
In the first round, the Mustangs used three second-half goals – courtesy of Jackie Hoffman, Tonia Cristino and Laura Robinson ? to come back and down the Gators (8-8-3).
