Continuing their dominance of late, the Blue Jays Men's Soccer won decisively in both of their games this week, defeating Drew 4-1 on Saturday, and Haverford 4-0 on Wednesday to improve their overall record to 11-1, and their division record to 6-0.
Saturday night against rival school Drew, the Blue Jays raced to an early lead and never looked back, handing Drew its second loss in as many weeks. The game marked the Blue Jays' seventh consecutive victory in a contest that featured one of the toughest opponents they will face all season. Before the game, Drew was ranked No. 18 according to the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) and No. 3 in the Mid-Atlantic Region.
The Blue Jays had little trouble disposing of Drew, however, thanks in part to an early connection between two of the team's most potent offensive weapons. Only 12 minutes into the match, senior forward Matthew Doran passed to sophomore forward Chad Tarabolous for the score.
"We always try to score first and score early," says senior forward Aerik Williams. "When we do that the other team gets deflated and then we just try to keep up the pressure."
Just 13 minutes later, Williams sent a corner kick to junior defender Adam Hack who headed it in for a goal. The Blue Jays increased their lead to three goals to zero just before halftime, when Tarabolous headed senior midfielder Ryan Kitzen's corner kick into the net.
The second half held much of the same for the Blue Jays as they increased their lead to a commanding four-goal margin when Doran fed junior midfielder Daniel Brienza for the score. Drew ended the
Jays' shut out late in the game, however, when Olaksandr Stakhiv scored with twelve minutes remaining to decrease the Hopkins lead to three goals.
The scoring for both teams stopped there and the Blue Jays won in convincing fashion by a final score of 4-1.
Players reacted with enthusiasm following the game that had been billed as the biggest test so far for the veteran Blue Jays this season.
"We were pretty excited about the win against Drew," says Williams. "Hopefully the win will have a snowball effect and we'll be able to extend the winning streak further into the season."
By defeating Drew, the Blue Jays beat a nationally ranked team for the first time in nearly three years. The last win occurred against Rowan on Oct. 8, 1998 when Rowan was ranked No. 6 by the NSCAA.
The Blue Jay's hero on Saturday was Doran who finished the Drew game with a goal and two assists. As a result of his recent game-breaking performances, Doran was named to the Centennial ConferenceHonor Roll for the second time this season.
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