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A Phelpsian feat in Hopkins' wet victory

By Mike Klingaman

September 11, 2008

Chris Baldwin scored three defensive touchdowns in Hopkins' 34-3 victory over St. Lawrence. (Baltimore Sun photo by Gene Sweeney Jr. / September 9, 2008)

Tropical Storm Hanna brought out the best in Chris Baldwin, a safety on Johns Hopkins' football team.

Saturday, on rain-drenched, wind-swept Homewood Field, he scored three defensive touchdowns in Hopkins' 34-3 victory over St.Lawrence (N.Y.). It was the high-water mark of his football career.

Baldwin returned two interceptions and a fumble recovery for touchdowns, forced another fumble and made 10 tackles - much of it during a deluge.

"I was 100 percent wet and I was pumped," said Baldwin, a senior political science major from Southampton, N.J. "I felt a little like Michael Phelps.

"I remember standing for the national anthem with 30-mile-an-hour winds driving buckets of rain into my face. Couldn't see the flag. And I thought, this is a once-in-a-lifetime game."

His touchdowns were three more than Baldwin scored all last year as a running back for Hopkins (1-0).

"Chris wanted to play defense this year," coach Jim Margraff said. "He felt he was more productive there. He was right."

That he has scored more points than Hopkins' entire offense hasn't been lost on Baldwin.

"I've let them know it," he said. "My locker is next to that of Andrew [Kase, the Jays' star running back]. I've busted his chops a bit. He says the next game will be a different story."

Hopkins plays Saturday at Randolph-Macon, in Ashland, Va.

Sea Gull pride

The Sea Gulls are piling up goose eggs.

The Salisbury men's soccer team has shut out opponents for the past 418 minutes in winning its first five games. But brag about the scoreless streak? Never.

"We don't talk about it at all," said coach Gerry DiBartolo, whose Sea Gulls go for their fifth straight shutout Saturday at Randolph-Macon. It's as if they don't want to jinx themselves.

"It's not discussed at practice or in front of the coaching staff," DiBartolo said.

Last year, he said, Salisbury held teams scoreless for 546 consecutive minutes, a feat that "never came up in a conversation."

Whatever works.

Ranked 17th in NCAA DivisionIII, the Sea Gulls have allowed just one goal in their past 11 games dating to last year, when they posted 16 shutouts and reached the second round of the NCAA playoffs.

This season, when North Park (Ill.) scored in Salisbury's opener, the players kicked themselves.

"They asked that we burn a DVD of the game very quickly for them so they could see where the breakdown happened," the coach said.

No one epitomizes the Sea Gulls' resolution more than Justin McGrath, a junior defender from Perry Hall.

"If we take Justin out for a breather, the first thing he asks is, 'What did I do wrong?'" DiBartolo said. "He wants to be on the field all the time, shutting players down.

"That's pride."

Terps are No. 1

Three straight victories over ranked teams have lifted Maryland to the top of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association poll.

The Terps (4-0) dethroned national-champion North Carolina (2-2) this week as the country's No.1 team.

Maryland is at the head of the class in more ways than one. The Terps have a combined grade point average of 3.5 on a 4-point scale - the team's highest academic rating in coach Missy Meharg's 21 years.

Success didn't come easily. Players needed to refocus on their schoolwork.

"We [coaches] sat on these kids last spring, when they were socializing a ton and making 'interesting' decisions off the field," Meharg said. "We were really critical in defining their potential, both athletic and academic."

Result? Three players earned straight A's last spring, with most of the squad close behind.

"Setting goals in the classroom really does translate to performance on the field," Meharg said.

The Terps have outscored opponents 19-2. They play host to Syracuse at 11 a.m. Saturday at College Park.

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