Women's soccer overcomes Mary Washington

The Women's Soccer team continues to march on with two more wins under their belt from this past week.

Freshman Meg McIntosh has added the extra spark the offense so direly needed.

In their game this past Saturday, Oct. 26, against Mary Washington College, McIntosh had two goals. Her second goal being the final goal of the game, lifted the Lady Jays to victory by a score of 2-1.

The game did not start off well for the Lady Jays, though. The opposing Eagles immediately put the Jays on the defensive by scoring in the first two minutes of the game.

McIntosh put Hopkins on the scoreboard in the 36th minute of the game, off a feed from Junior Laura Bauer, tying up the game, 1-1 going into halftime.

It was not until the 66th minute of the game that McIntosh netted her second goal, which also proved to be the game winner. This goal came off of a feed from Junior Erinn Sosa.

Sophomore Kathleen Turley weighed in.

"It was a hard-fought game, but we proved to be the stronger team and came out on top in the end. Winning these past five games has been very encouraging for us. Hopefully it will help our chances for post-season play."

This was definitely a game in which the Lady Jays dominated. They outshot Mary Washington 17-7 and had a 3-2 advantage in corner kicks.

Senior Shannon O'Malley had a strong showing in goal, making three saves to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.

Senior captain Yquem Roman stated, "This was an exciting game for us. Even though we were down early in the game, we still were able to make a comeback. I was glad to see that we never let down and played our hearts out the entire game."

McIntosh had an equally stellar performance in the match against McDaniel the Wednesday prior, Oct. 23. The Jays managed to win that game, also by a score of 2-1.

She was able to break the 1-1 tie that persisted the whole game in the 81st minute to give Hopkins the lead.

Junior Erinn Sosa commenced the game with a bang by scoring an unassisted goal in the first four minutes of the competition. The goal helped keep Hopkins ahead until McDaniel finally netted a goal in the 51st minute of play.

McIntosh's goal was a zinger, shot from the top of the penalty box into the lower left corner of the net. The Hopkins defense prevented all remaining efforts of McDaniel to put the ball in goal, ensuring the Hopkins win.

Senior goalkeeper Shannon O'Malley, made two saves for Hopkins. The Blue Jays had a 14-5 advantage on shots and a 2-0 margin on corner kicks. To her credit, the McDaniel goalie, Candace Kuligowski stopped eight Hopkins shots.

"The game against McDaniel was a real team effort. Our whole team makes my job that much easier, even when we play teams that are not that strong. It is nice to be in goal behind such a cohesive team," said O'Malley.

McIntosh has been a scoring machine for the Jays of late.

She has been back from her injury for just four games, and is already tied for second on the team with 10 points. Not simply is she scoring goals, but she is scoring crucial game winners as well.

Senior captain Yquem Roman stated about McIntosh, "Meg has really made a major impact in just a few games. She has provided an added spark that our offense really needed. It is good to see our underclassmen making such marks early on in their careers. Not to mention how great it is for our team. We are on a winning streak right now, which is crucial preparation for the highly likely possibility that we will be in post-season conference competition. It is a very exciting time for our team."

The Lady Jays are now 11-5-1 overall. Their next game is Saturday, Nov. 2 here on Homewood field against rival Franklin & Marshall. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. The contest will be the final one for the Jays at Homewood Field this season.