Field hockey drops tough game to Bears

The Blue Jays fell short against the sixth-ranked Ursinus Bears, with the final score standing at 6-2.

Junior midfielder and defender Amy Hallowell commented that the performance did not fully demonstrate the talent that the Jays possess.

“The game against Ursinus did not demonstrate our team’s full capabilities, but I am excited to see them emerge in our next few games leading up to the Conference tournament,” Hallowell said.

A little over 10 minutes in, the Bears’ senior forward Amber Steigerwalt dribbled toward the Blue Jay goal. Although her shot passed senior goalie Zoey Atabek, freshman midfielder Katie McErlean was able to block and clear the ball, keeping the game at 0-0.

Midway through the first half of the game, Steigerwalt got the Bears on the scoreboard with a sharp angle shot near the right goal line. In the 26th minute, the Bears’ forward Colleen Leahy got a hand on a rebound off Atabek’s save and put the ball inside the left post.

The Bears scored again four minutes after Leahy’s goal. The Bears’ freshman midfielder Gemma Dufoe collected another one of Atabek’s saves, passing the ball to fellow teammate, junior forward Brooke Overly, who scored to make the game 3-0.

In the beginning of the second half, the Bears failed to seize the opportunity to score on a penalty stroke. The Bears’ sophomore defender Bridget Sherry could not get the ball past Atabek.

In the 36th minute, the Bears increased their lead to 4-0 with another goal by Overly.

The Blue Jays got on the scoreboard during the 50th minute. Senior midfielder Austin Davis made a crucial stop on the ball, junior defender Francesca Cali made a wide pass, and Hallowell drove a low shot into the left corner.

The Bears bounced back with a shot to the bottom right corner by senior defender Aliki Torrence. The Blue Jays immediately responded. Just 85 seconds after the Bears’ goal, McErlean shot from the top of the circle, and junior forward Morgan Pothast tipped it over the Bears’ sophomore goalkeeper Jules Singer and into the top of the goal.

“Our corner execution made a huge difference in the success of our offense,” Hallowell said. “In the second half, we won several corners, which resulted in two goals and shifted the momentum of the game.”

The Bears finished the game with another goal by Overly. Collecting a corner kick, Overly directed the ball into the right corner of the Blue Jay goal.

Despite the loss, senior goalkeeper Zoey Atabek finished with a season-high 15 saves. Cali is now tied for the fifth most defensive saves in Hopkins history, while Pothast is now tied for the 23rd most goals in Hopkins history.

The Blue Jays have a positive outlook moving forward and plan to continue focusing on improving their execution.

“Our outlook for the rest of the season is positive and hungry,” Pothast said. “We have played some difficult out-of-Conference games early on this season. In our last month of play, we will look to apply what we learned from those games in our upcoming in-Conference games. We are hoping to finish the season strong with a winning record and playing during the first weekend of November in the Centennial Conference finals.”

Making a significant impact on the program, this season’s freshman class have continuously brought a competitive attitude to practices.

“Our team is developing really well,” junior goalkeeper Greta Helvie said. “We are making big strides from last season, and the freshman class is relatively large, so they have a big effect on the team and do a good job of pushing everyone to do their best, especially during practice.”

With half of their regular season ahead of them, the Blue Jays are motivated to finish strong, no matter the outcome of their past few games.

“My coach recently inspired the team with a quote: ‘Win or learn. Never lose.’ Moving forward, we are taking those words to heart in order to learn from every loss and come out stronger than ever in the face of the Conference tournament,” Hallowell said.

The Blue Jays return to Homewood Field on Friday, Oct. 14 to battle against the Haverford Fords.