SALISBURY, Md. - The No. 10 Salisbury University men's soccer team fell to Johns Hopkins University on Wednesday afternoon at the SU Soccer Complex. The loss is the first of the season for the Sea Gulls, who entered the contest with a record of 7-0.

The match was very physical on both sides, as there were 28 fouls combined and two yellow cards in the contest. The game was very balanced as both teams each fired off fo u r shots on goal. The Sea Gulls' (7-1) best opportunity came just seven minutes in, as senior midfielder Kyle Sterling (Salisbury, Md.) collected a ball in the middle of the field. Sterling shuffled through several Blue Jay (7-2) defenders and ripped a shot to the top left corner of the goal, where JHU senior goalkeeper Ravi Gill made an acrobatic save to push the ball over the top of the goal. In the first half the Sea Gulls fired off 10 shots to the Blue Jays' four. SU held a major advantage as they were able to earn nine corner kicks, compared to just one for JHU.

In the second half the Johns Hopkins offense began to find their rhythm as they were able to keep the ball on Salisbury's side of the field. The Blue Jays finally broke free in the 79th minute when JHU sophomore forward Sean Duggan collected a deflected shot attempt inside the 18-yard box and swiftly pushed the ball past SU senior goalkeeper Greg Wellinghoff (Salisbury, Md.) into the lower right corner of the goal. The Sea Gulls pushed hard to even things up and came up just short on a corner kick opportunity in the 85th minute by Benjamin Reed (Arnold, Md.). Reed played the ball into the middle of the box, where junior midfielder Casey Rector (Ellicott City, Md.) rifled a shot on frame that Gill saved on the goal line to preserve the 1-0 victory.

For the match, the Sea Gulls outshot the Blue Jays 13-9 and held a vast corner kick advantage off 11-3. Gill notched his seventh win of the season with four saves. Wellinghoff takes the loss, his first of the season, as he finished with three saves.

The Sea Gulls must regroup quickly as they travel to York, Pa. for a Capital Athletic Conference contest with serious implications against No. 25 York (Pa.) College. The two teams have combined to win the past seven CAC championships and have squared off in the CAC final three out of the last five years. Game time is set for 2:00 p.m.