Last week the Women's Soccer team, although dropping a tough game to Gettysburg on Wednesday, responded by defeating Bryn Mawr by a score of 2-0 and destroying Western Maryland, 7-1. Hopkins now stands at 10-3-1 overall and 5-2-1 in Conference play.
It was a real nail biter against Gettysburg, as both defenses made it very difficult for any offensive surges. The only goal of the game was tallied in the 30th minute as the Bullets managed to capitalize on a scramble in front of the Hopkins' net.
The lone goal was all Gettysburg needed to hold off the Blue Jays for the remainder of the game and to maintain their perfect 6-0 record in Centennial Conference action.
It was a pretty evenly matched game that easily could've gone either way as both teams took a total of five shots each. It was Gettysburg, though, who managed to find a hole to put in one of their five.
"It was a tough game, and the result was an upsetting one." said senior goalkeeper Shannon O'Mally. "We have to win the rest of our games to make the conference tournament."
On Saturday the Blue Jays took to the turf against Bryn Mawr in a Centennial Conference match-up. Hopkins showed signs of offensive pressure early on, only taking seven minutes to light up the scoreboard. On a drive upfield, sophomore midfielder Annie Collabella crossed the ball to senior midfielder Alix Batty. Batty received Collabella's assist and put it into the back of the Bryn Mawr net.
With a 1-0 advantage, junior defender Lauren Hanlon lifted a shot from the left side passed the Bryn Mawr goalie to give Hopkins a 2-0 lead. Bryn Mawr could not get anything going offensively, as the Blue Jay defense did an outstanding job of keeping the ball away from the net. In fact, Hopkins' defense did not allow the Bryn Mawr offense to take one shot on goal, while the Blue Jay offense took an amazing 27 shots. Hopkins kept this game pretty one-sided.
Finally, in the 38th minute, freshman midfielder Sandra Lebo fed sophomore midfielder Leah Blom, resulting in the third goal of the game for the Blue Jays. Hopkins failed to capitalize on any of their offensive surges in the second half, but when the final buzzer sounded, the Blue Jays recorded their ninth victory of the season.
"We scored three goals early in the first half," said senior midfielder Karen Hirsch, "and then we tried to focus on settling the game and working on aspects of our game that will help in tough matches."
Western Maryland proved not to be much competition for the Blue Jays, as they were the victims of a 7-1 routing on Tuesday. Senior forward Kacey Foster opened the scoring in the fifth minute of the game off an assist from Collabella. Three minutes later, freshman midfielder Kathleen Turley capitalized on a feed from Blom to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 advantage.
Western Maryland managed to record a goal not long after falling two goals behind, but from there the Green Terror could not deter Hopkins from implementing some offensive terror of their own. Goals by Foster, followed by freshman forward Jen Baldwin gave the Blue Jays a 4-1 advantage within the first 15 minutes of the game. Junior midfielder Jill Minger added to the Blue Jay lead with a goal in the 20th minute, while Baldwin ended the first half scoring with an unassisted goal two minutes later.
In the second half, sophomore midfielder Aline Bernard capped the scoring off an assist from Minger, giving the Blue Jays the lead they would take to the locker room.
"We looked really good. We were not expecting to score that many goals," added Hirsch.
The Blue Jays will go for their third straight victory, as they will be pitted against Washington College on Thursday.
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