COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Junior midfielder Joshua Coster connected on a header in the 75^th minute to lead the Ursinus College men's soccer team past Johns Hopkins, 1-0 on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
 

With the victory, the Bears added to their best start in program history improving to a 6-1 overall record and a 1-1 mark in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays fall to 4-2-3 on the season and 0-1-1 in conference play. It is the second consecutive time Ursinus has defeated the Blue Jays at Patterson Field after earning a 1-0 victory back in October of 2021 over then ranked No. 5 Johns Hopkins. Coster's game-winning goal counts as his second of the season after recording the winning score in the Bears 1-0 victory over Rosemont on September 13^th.  The shutout victory marks as the fourth shutout of the season for Ursinus, including their second consecutive 1-0 victory.

 
"Whenever you play against one of the best teams in the nation you have to try and do the little things well," Head Coach Daniel Clitnovici said. "You have to be prepared and the boys were tremendous today. They played true to who we want to be. We had a game plan and we executed it very well. We knew what our focus was and how we were going to try and win the game and we did just that."

 
The Bears earned the first two scoring opportunities of the match through the opening minutes as Coster and first-year Declan Curran each were credited with shots on net, but both opportunities were saved by Hopkins' goalie Drew Valsamedis. The Blue Jays responded with back-to-back shots during the 11^th minute as the first was saved by junior goalkeeper Zach Matik on a diving attempt and the second struck the woodwork to keep the contest scoreless. At the 14:51-mark after a Blue Jays foul, senior Tommy Mollis sent a cross into the box finding the head of junior Luke Luehrs, but his shot just missed wide of the net. The rest of the first half remained a battle of the midfielders as each squad struggled to create scoring chances, with the Blue Jays holding a 7-4 advantage in shots at the halftime break.  

 
The Bears offense created the first scoring opportunity of the second half as a cross into the box deflected off a defender and found sophomore Colin Deal with space in front of the net. Deal's right-footed shot bounced off a defender and into the hands of the Blue Jays netminder. During the 56^th minute, Logan Falzarano fired a shot on goal, but his scoring chance was denied by the Bears defense. After a foul on Hopkins near midfield, senior Nick Balbierer sent a free kick into the box finding the head of Coster whose shot went over the head of the Hopkins goalie and snuck into the net on the far post to give Ursinus a 1-0 lead.

 

Nick Balbierer connects with Joshua Coster to give @UCMensSoccer a 1-0 lead over Johns Hopkins. pic.twitter.com/gqCsr8zfkj

— Ursinus Athletics (@ucathletics) September 23, 2023

The Bears nearly added a second goal at the 77:56-mark when Mollis sent a cross into the box and during a loose ball, first-year Amar Dzombalic's shot almost trickled into the back of the net before being saved by the Blue Jays defense. With under five minutes to play on a free kick in the offensive third, Johns Hopkins sent an arching cross into the box, but it was denied by the Bears defense and Matik to keep the lead at one. Hopkins received two final corner kicks in the remaining moments of the contest, but the Bears stood tall during each opportunity denying both chances and earning the 1-0 shutout victory.

 
Clitnovici added "Testament to Johns Hopkins – they are a great team, well coached, and fun to watch but at the same time we held our own and caused them some issues today. Our boys were fantastic today and they deserved the win. Our staff is proud of them, every single one of them."

 
The Blue Jays held a slight 13-12 edge in shots while each team recorded seven shots on goal. Matik collected the victory in goal for Ursinus tallying seven saves and his second consecutive shutout of the season, meanwhile for Johns Hopkins Valsamedis was dealt the loss after totaling six saves through 90 minutes of action.

 
The Bears will return to action on Wednesday, September 27^th as they host Franklin & Marshall for a Centennial Conference contest starting at 7:30 p.m.