BALTIMORE, Md. – No. 2 Messiah and No. 13 Johns Hopkins wrote another chapter in their storied rivalry on Thursday night with a back-and-forth battle that finished scoreless after 110 minutes. Both teams fought through bits of choppy play, and each team came dangerously close to a game-changing score; neverthless, Messiah settled for the road result.

The tie moved Messiah to 1-0-2 on the season while Johns Hopkins went to 2-0-1.
 
Dangerous Moments, Near Misses
Matches between Messiah and Hopkins have historically been both dramatic and full of intrigue, and Thursday's contest was no exception. Each team had dangerous opportunities to score, Messiah seemed especially poised on more than one occasion to break the stalemate.
 
The Falcons' first great chance came early in the 12' when a restart from the midfield led Sarah Strachan into the right side of the box for a shot. Her offering was tipped at the crossbar by keeper Bess Kitzmiller, and the ball then hit the crossbar itself before getting cleared away.
 
Fast forward to the 53' and it was Strachan again in the mix. This time Messiah's passing across the top of the box ended with a feed to Strachan on the right end line where she put a hard serve to the goal. However, Kitzmiller was there to grab the offering from the air before it could get through.
 
Get'm Next Time
The Falcons' best two chances in regulation came late in the second-half, and each will no doubt be run over again and again in the minds of Messiah fans. In the 64' the chance came off a 25-yard free kick from the right side of midfield. The serve went across and to the far post to Barb Foster, and her clean volley  from 10 yards off the post went just wide of the frame.
 
As close as that was, the best chance by either team came in the 82' when Abby Monko was played square from the left side and into the box. Her defender stepped on the pass but both missed the interception and fell down, leaving Monko alone with Kitzmiller from eight yards out. Monko's clean shot got past Kitzmiller but hit the left post and was cleared away.
 
Called Back
In the first overtime period Messiah appeared to score the winner, but the center official called a foul that, for unintended reasons, left most fans confused. The play started in the 96' with a corner serve from Lilly Shover that went to the far post. There, Julia Kyne headed the ball over the goal line, seemingly ending the game, but the center official called a foul on either Kyne or another Falcon, negating the goal. The confusion in the box increased when Kitzmiller grabbed the ball out of the net and played it out as opposed to the Blue Jays restarting with a kick.
 
Yunez Holds the Jays
Messiah missed their chances to score, but so did Hopkins. They did so, too, on twice as many shots overall (11-5) and four times as many on fame (8-2). Sara Yunez came up big for Messiah with a career-high eight saves, surpassing her previous mark of six saves from last year's NCAA Sectional Final win over Williams.
 
Emil Maheras led the Blue Jays with four shots, all of which were saved by Yunez. Maybe her best play of the night wasn't a save: in the 88' Hopkins' Sophie Murphy sent a brilliant in-swinging corner to the crossbar that Yunez tipped away to keep the Blue Jays from sending it home.
 
Up Next
Messiah's annual tour of both ranked and rival opponents continues this Saturday when they travel to No. 4 William Smith for a match at 12:00 noon. The Herons are 2-0 after winning both games across last weekend's season-opening play.