The Hopkins Field Hockey team beat local opponent Goucher College on Sunday Sept. 18, in an exciting overtime victory. Hopkins was immediately put under pressure as Goucher went on the offensive. Nine minutes into the game, Goucher already had the first point on the board.
However, the Jays remained calm, as they have found themselves in this situation last season.
“We had a tendency last year to start from behind in a lot of our games,” junior forward Clare Kavanagh said. “So on the one hand, we know how to battle back, but also we are working really hard to stop that bad habit... We have worked so hard on changing our team culture, and as a result we have become incredibly tenacious.”
This tenacity certainly showed throughout the game, specifically in the moments just following Goucher’s first goal. At the 13:50-minute mark, senior forward Victoria Piscopo tapped the ball in to tie the game. In the final minutes of the first half, the Jays continued to hustle, but they were unable to capitalize in the opening period.
At half-time, the Jays took a break to regroup and discuss strategy for the second half. Having played a game that went into overtime against the Washington College Shorewomen just two days before, the Jays had hoped to conserve their strength and finish the game in regulation time.
“Halftime has always been a collaboration between the players and the coaches,” Kavanagh said. “We knew that we were tired from the double overtime on Friday, so we really needed to let the ball do the work.”
With this strategy in place, Hopkins dominated in the second half, keeping the ball on the offensive side and out-shooting Goucher 10 to one. Despite their best efforts, however, the Jays were unable to score, forcing the game into overtime.
In the beginning of the first overtime period, Goucher seemed to regain a bit of control, putting tremendous pressure on junior goalie Greta Helvie and the Hopkins defense. But the Blue Jays did not buckle under the pressure. With noteworthy saves coming with only seven and five minutes to go in the game, Hopkins continued to stay resilient despite their fatigue.
After a Goucher corner with just over two minutes remaining, Hopkins regained possession and drove the ball up the field. Senior forward Lindsey Adams then received the ball and scored the game-winning goal to give Hopkins another victory and herself a career-high three points.
With a season-high nine saves, Greta Helvie undoubtedly helped drive the Hopkins win. Fans and her teammates alike were impressed by the junior’s composure in the high-pressure condensed overtime period, where she saved six shots.
In reflecting on her performance, Helvie credits her team.
“The defense did a great job of never giving up and keeping the ball out of the goal,” she said. “There was one really close corner where I had basically stopped the ball like an inch in front of the goal line and [junior] Francesca Cali and [freshman] Katie McErlean came in and just sacrificed their bodies to keep it out. We’ve been talking a lot about playing for the team this year, and just seeing that they were pushing through the tiredness of our second overtime in three days is what made me feel like I could too.”
Kavanagh also echoed Helvie’s sentiment on the Blue Jays’ determination.
“This team has grit. By overtime relying on our training wasn’t enough. We showed more heart this weekend than any team I’ve been on,” Kavanagh said.
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