W. Soccer crushes Ursinus

The Johns Hopkins Women's Soccer team improved their record to 7-1-1 after going 2-0 last week. They defeated Salisbury State, 3-2, and on Saturday beat Ursinus, 5-0.

The team got off to a typically slow first half, as neither side scored to go into halftime tied 0-0. Slow first halves are not out of the ordinary for the team, who acknowledge that they generally come out much stronger towards the end of the game. Playing against Ursinus proved no different, as the team came out of the half in charge, racking up five goals in an offensive barrage.

"Even though we had a slow start, we were able to pull it off in the end," says junior midfielder Alicia Atwood.

They kept the game under control by sticking to their style of play, which is a controlled passing game.

Senior sweeper Yquem Romans got the scoring started with what turned out to be the game winner of a penalty kick in the 49th minute.

Senior Kacey Foster scored two goals, one after beating the opposing goalie on a header. She is now tied for the team lead in goals with five.

Also tied with five goals is freshman standout Jen Baldwin, who assisted Foster on her second goal to put the Blue Jays up 3-0 with 21 minutes to play. Baldwin continues to lead the team in scoring with 16 points and six assists.

She is on pace to finish the season as one of the top freshmen scorers in school history.

Sophomore forward Aline Bernard put the team up 4-0 with a goal off of a corner kick. Bernard finished up the scoring with a goal in the 88th minute off an assist from Atwood.

Junior goaltender Shannon O'Malley recorded her fourth shutout of the season, making four saves for the Blue Jays. She leads the Centennial Conference in save percentage (0.952) and goals against average (0.17.)

Despite the lopsided score, the Blue Jays noted some rough play by their opponents. Yet it was Ursinus who ended up hobbled, as five players left the game with injuries.

Through nine matches, one thing clear is that the Blue Jay underclassmen have really stepped up. Hopkins freshmen and sophomores now account for 16 of the team's 26 goals, and 42 of the team's 70 overall points.

Hopkin's defense has been huge thus far, on pace to eclipse the school record for goals allowed in a season. The team is on pace to allow just six goals on the year, with the school record for fewestgoals allowed in a season being 12.

Johns Hopkins ranks second in the Centennial Conference in scoring defense, allowing 0.33 goals per game. This is balance by a second ranked scoring offense at 2.89 goals per game.

Despite the team's impressive performance this season, they still are not ranked. Many on the team feel slighted. "I think we deserve more respect," says Atwood.

Going into their next home match against College of New Jersey, the team is riding a 17 game win streak at home, which include five games thus far this year. They are 39-7-3 at home since the start of the 1996 season.