Men's Soccer captures ECAC title

Although it was not the title they hoped to claim at the beginning of the year, the Men's Soccer team celebrated its win of the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Region soccer tournament last weekend.

The Blue Jays defeated Moravian 3-2 on Saturday to advance to the finals before defeating Franklin & Marshall, 1-0, to win the championship on Sunday.

By earning the ECAC title, the Blue Jays capped a season that saw the team amass a 17-3 record, the third best in school history. Sunday's win also marked the second time in three years that the Blue Jays have won the ECAC title. In 1999, Hopkins defeated Carnegie Mellon and Muhlenberg en route to the title.

The ECAC title proved bittersweet for the Blue Jays, however, who aspired to reach the NCAA tournament instead.

"We were upset that we didn't make the NCAA tournament, but we wanted to go out on a winning note, and we did that," says senior forward/midfielder Paul Galli.

Against Moravian, the Blue Jays got off to a slow start, fell behind early and failed to take the lead until late in the game. In the 20th minute, Brian Donofrio scored an unassisted goal to put the Moravian Greyhounds on top 1-0.

In the 39th minute, freshman defender Chris Brown evened the score with his first career goal as a Blue Jay. From there, the Jays took their first lead of the contest in the 63rd minute when junior midfielder Daniel Brienza scored off a pass from Galli to make the score 2-1.

Hopkins surrendered the lead, however, with just over 11 minutes left when Daniel Samuelsson scored an unassisted goal. The Blue Jays pulled ahead though in the final minutes when senior midfielder Ryan Kitzen scored what would prove to be the game-winning goal with 1:16 remaining in regulation.

Sunday's championship game against Franklin & Marshall was a far different contest, one more geared toward defense as Hopkins won by a score of 1-0.

Senior forward Matt Doran provided all of the offense necessary with a penalty kick goal in the sixth minute that gave the team a 1-0 lead. The Jays' stellar defense took over from there, holding Franklin & Marshall to 8 shots on goal for the day.

Doran's goal ended the senior's extraordinary career as a Blue Jay. He led the team this season with 18 goals and 49 points. He recorded 70 goals and 168 points during the course of his career. Those numbers put him second on the Hopkins' career list and in the top 20 on the all-time Division III list.

In addition to giving the Blue Jays the win and the title as ECAC Mid-Atlantic Region champions, the Jays' shutout had meaning of its own. It marked Hopkins' 13th of the year, which left the team one shutout short of setting a school record.

"In the ECAC we just took our experience and used it to our advantage. In the end we prevailed," says Galli.

The win also provided a vindication of sorts for the Blue Jays who felt they were good enough to have competed in the more prestigious NCAA tournament.

"We wanted to send a message to the NCAA that we should have been in the tournament and by winning the ECAC we tried to do that," adds Galli.

Also, the Blue Jays' dominant season was rewarded in another way on Tuesday when seven players were selected to the All-Centennial Conference teams. Doran, Kitzen, and senior forward Aerik Williams were all named to the first team. Galli, junior defender Adam Hack, junior defender Greg Mangels, and sophomore midfielder Chad Tarabolous were all named to the second team. By sending seven players, the Blue Jays will be represented with more players on the team than any other conference school.

While these individual accolades do little to ease the frustrations of not making the NCAA tournament, they are a tribute to the team's achievements this season.

"The only reason somebody can get a personal achievement is by getting help from the team," says Kitzen.