Men’s soccer evens up conference record

After a week of practicing in the rain, the Hopkins men’s soccer team was unfazed by the grim conditions, coming up with a 2-1 win in a rain-doused match against Gettysburg last Wednesday. The Jays entered the contest 0-2 in the Centennial Conference but proved their season was far from over in a triumphant win against the sixth-ranked Bullets, who entered play with a six-game undefeated streak.

The win against Gettysburg propelled the Jays into their Saturday night matchup against the Dickinson Red Devils. Both teams arrived at Homewood Field 1-2-0 in the Centennial Conference, and the Jays were hoping to build on their momentum from earlier in the week, as they looked to bounce back from a slow start in conference play.

The game remained tied at zero until a pivotal goal by senior forward, Victor Osio, in the 29th minute of play. Osio capitalized on a free kick right outside the Red Devil box after a Dickinson foul that gave him his fourth goal of the season.

The pressure was on the Red Devils in the second half as Hopkins remained up 1-0 heading into the locker room after outshooting the Devils 10-5 in the first half of play.

The Jays would walk away triumphant as neither team would be able to capitalize on another scoring opportunity in the second half, and the Jays again outshot the Devils in the second half 8-5.

Senior goalkeeper Bryan See was crucial to the Jays’ defense with a season-high nine saves in the win against Gettysburg and another five in the shutout against Dickinson. Because of his performance last week, See was named Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

For such a young team, growing pains are expected. In their first two conference games this season, the Jays lost in heartbreaking fashion. First, was their 3-2 against Haverford followed by a 1-0 loss to  Swarthmore in overtime.

As See notes, the team took their two early losses in conference play as an opportunity to reflect as a team and learn from their mistakes.

“We were really determined to get winning results after dropping the first two conference games in the dying minutes,” See said. “We did not want to repeat that again so everyone really gave all they had until the final whistle.”

The match against Dickinson was See’s sixth shutout of the season and his 11th overall in his two seasons as a Blue Jay. He attributes the Blue Jays’ success to their command of the game in the second half, in which the Jays’ defense was crucial to keeping the Red Devils away from the Blue Jays’ goal.

“Victor’s goal automatically put the pressure on Dickinson since they had to chase after the game now,” See said. “But our back line was really resilient in the second half, only giving up two shots on goal.”

With the wins against Gettysburg and Dickinson, the Jays record was lifted to 2-2 in the conference, placing the Jays’ in a three-way tie for fourth place in the Centennial Conference rankings. The Jays now stand 7-2-2 overall for the season.

The Jays face their next conference opponent, the Ursinus College Grizzly Bears, this Saturday on Oct. 8. The Jays will travel to Collegeville, Pa. to play the Grizzly Bears at 3 p.m. The Grizzly Bears have yet to win a conference game.