Streak broken for Women's Soccer

The Johns Hopkins Women's Soccer team finished the week losing one game and winning another. Their loss to Muhlenberg snapped their 17 game winning streak.

On Sept 22. the Blue Jays faced the Muhlenberg Mules in an away game. The heartbreaking loss was partially due to their anemic offense, which had not scored in the previous game.

The lone goal of the game was the Jays' first goal allowed by the Lady Jays this season, breaking an eight-game shutout streak.

Although the Jays held a 16-12 shot advantage,the team remained scoreless for the second straight game.

The Jays are now 5-1-1 overall, and are fifth in the Centennial Conference.

"We had a bit of trouble scoring," says senior captain Shannon O'Malley. "We're definitely better than Muhlenberg, and we'll beat them in the conference tournament."

O'Malley commented that the team is not worried about the loss because of the fact that several teams go to the conference tournament at the end of the year, instead of the top team winning the conference, which will give the Jays a much-needed second chance.

"We got scored on early, and it's tough to come back when you're down 1-0," says freshman forward Jen Baldwin.

On Tuesday, the Jays came from behind to score back-to-back goals in a span of 1:38 during the second half to defeat 21st-ranked Salisbury State University, 3-2.

Junior midfielder Alicia Atwood scored on a shot from the top of the penalty box and freshman forward Jen Baldwin followed with another goal.

Sophomore midfielder Annie Colabella also scored during the second half, with Baldwin registering the assist.

Sophomore goaltender Annie Adamczyk made a career-high eight saves for Hopkins.

"We really picked it up in the second half, that's been our game all season long," Colabella remarked.

The team was also happier with their ball control in the game compared with that of the Muhlenberg game.

"We controlled the ball," Colabella said. "Sometimes we let the other team dictate how we play, but we came together and played our own game."

Although the team allowed two goals for the first time this season, the team focused more on the fact that they were able to get a lot of shots off and put a few into the opposing team's goal.

"We made a lot of opportunities up front, unlike the Muhlenberg game," Colabella added.

The Hopkins defense has shown that it is the backbone of the team both statistically and in the opinions of the players.

So far, the team has only allowed three goals during the regular season. The school record is 12, set in 1999.

"Our defense has been solid since the season started," said O'Malley. "It's definitely the thing that carries the whole team."

Despite the end of the unbeaten and shutout streaks, the team remains optimistic.

"It's goingto happen we're going to make mistakes," explained O'Malley.

"We knew we'd have to get scored on eventually," said Baldwin. "[The score] might as well be 1-0. I think we're going to take a lot from this game, and when we face tougher teams, we'll be better for having lost already"

The team feels that the biggest obstacle it must overcome in order to win the conference is performing better offensively. "Scoring goals is our biggest concern right now," stated O'Malley.