W. Soccer regrets early NCAA loss

The Women's Soccer team had a disappointing end to their season this past Wednesday. The Lady Jays had high hopes of making school history by doing well in the NCAA tournament.

The team faced Stevens Tech of Hoboken, N.J. in the first round of tournament play, a win that would have made them the first Hopkins Women's Soccer team to advance beyond the first round.

It was a game that the Jays were favored to win. Unfortunately for Hopkins, it turned out to be quite another story.

Junior captain Annie Collabella stated, "This game was a big disappointment for us all. I think we came into the game much too confident. We were already thinking ahead of the Stevens Tech game to the second round in which we would have played the College of New Jersey. We did not consider Stevens Tech much of an opponent. Overlooking them was our biggest mistake."

The only goal of the game came with only 34 minutes left in the game. Sophomore forward Valerie Barnhart of the Stevens Tech team took a pass from Becky Gonter and fired a shot from 15 yards out into the lower left corner of the net.

The Hopkins women did put the ball in the net at one point, but it was called back due to being off sides.

Collabella added, "Stevens Tech had a very different style of play from which we are used to. Their line up was extremely odd, and we had a lot of difficulty matching up with it. As a result, we lost our composure early on, and just were not able to ever get it together. I think the breaking point was the goal Kathleen Turley scored, but was then called back due to her being off sides according to the referees. After having that goal called back, we just totally lost all momentum."

Fellow captain, Senior Lauren Hanlon inserted, "Our level of play in the Stevens Tech game was not the team that we are capable of being. We should have beaten them, but we were unable to rally ourselves and get out of the slump."

Although the Lady Jays were unable to get out of a slump in the Stevens Tech game, that was hardly the case this past fall. Theirs was a season that began with a relative degree of inconsistency.

It was not until October, a month into their season, that the Lady Jays found consistency and won eight games in a row to enter the NCAA tournament with a strong background and much confidence.

Senior Captain Lauren Hanlon stated, "Although we did not end on a winning note, I am still very happy with how we performed as a team overall this entire season." On that note, Junior Erika Peterson added, "I think this is the best season we have had in my three years playing soccer for Hopkins."

As can be expected, the seniors have gotten a bit nostalgic about the end of the season, and the end of their careers as soccer players here at Hopkins.

Senior Jill Minger said of her experience, "This was an especially exciting season in that we won the Centennial Conference Championship. We had not done that in my four years here, and it was always a goal that we strove to attain. The season as a whole was very positive, and I am sad that our last game was not a win, but I think we overcame a lot to get to the championship game for our conference. That is something I will always remember."

Hanlon weighed in again by saying, "All in all, it was a good way for us seniors to end our careers."

Collabella wrapped up the season in stating, "I wish we had not ended in the fashion that we did. Overall, though, we were truly successful because we got our act together throughout the season to come back and win the Centennial Conference Championship, and that is something that not many teams can say."

If Collabella is proven right, and if any of the underclassmen have anything to do with it, this Hopkins' soccer team will be making major waves next year.

Throughout this entire season, the underclassmen have proven to be the major firepower for the Jays. If their performance portends anything about the future of women's soccer here at Hopkins, it is nothing but high scoring games.

Junior Erika Peterson stated, "We have really developed as a team this year and laid a great foundation for the next year in the process."

Time will tell, but things look very promising for the Lady Jays. For now they are content to revel in a season in which the team grew together and formed a firm groundwork for posterity.