W. Polo upsets St. Francis at Princeton Invitational

The Hopkins Water Polo team took a trip up north to Princeton, New Jersey for the Princeton North/South Invitational this past weekend. The invitational was full of stiff competition, including several top-ranked Division I schools. Last year, the Jays ran into trouble at the Princeton Invitational, losing three of their four matches, including a tough loss to St. Francis by a score of 14-8. However, this year, they hoped to rebound from and improve upon last year's showing. And improve they did, winning two of three games during their trek to New Jersey.

Most notably, Hopkins avenged last year's loss to St. Francis in the second game of the invitational, winning by a score of 8-7.

"This is the first time in Eastern Division III history that a Division III team beat a top 15 ranked Division I opponent," said Hopkins' head coach TedBresnahan.

St. Francis, ranked No.15 in the Division I Men's National Collegiate Top 20 Poll, proved to be a tough and worthy opponent. However, the Blue Jays were able to start off strong, scoring early and often. By halftime, they built an unexpected 4-1 lead, courtesy of goals by junior drivers Mac Sanford and James Singleton, as well as a pair of goals by junior driver Brian Mead.

But the Terriers would not go down easily, as they mounted a furious comeback in the second half, scoring the first three goals of the third period and knotting the score at 4-4 in the process. The Jays answered back, however, as Mead added two more goals of his own to make it 6-4 as the game headed in to the fourth quarter. In the last quarter, both teams traded goals, with Sanford and Singleton scoring goals for Hopkins. Throughout the game, senior goalkeeper Craig Smith made some incredible stops, totaling 14 field saves.

"We've been playing St. Francis a lot over the past few years and they are a very intimidating team," said Smith of his team's victory. "Many of the players are in their late twenties and have experience playing professionally in Europe. We just played to our potential and the next thing we knew, we had won the game."

Hopkins is currently tied for the No. 3 slot in the Men's Division III National Collegiate Top 10 Poll and is No. 7 in the CWPA (Collegiate Water Polo Association) Top 10 poll.

In their first game of the invitational, the Jays faced Brown in a hard-fought match characterized by tough defensive. But Hopkins was able to pull through and beat the Bears for the first time in school history, thanks in large part to spectacular performances by Smith and Mead. Smith preserved the victory by blocking two four-meter penalty throws and making 10 field blocks. Also, Mead led Hopkins in scoring with four goals.

Bresnahan said that Mead, "just picked up where he left off as an All-East player."

The Bears struck first; however thanks to two goals by senior utility Geoff McCann and Mead, Hopkins was able to come back.Unfortunately, by halftime, Brown again had the lead, 5-4.

Coming into the third quarter, it seemed like every time Hopkins caught up to the Bears, Brown just pulled ahead again. The Jays hoped to change this trend, however, with another goal by Mead with 6:40 left in the quarter; Brown scored again, maintaining its small advantage going in to the final frame.

With their backs against the wall, Hopkins came into the fourth quarter trailing by one, and history was not in the Jays' favor, as they had never before beaten the Bears. However, with 4:18 to play, Mead tied the game up, and with 2:11 left to play, McCann punched in the game winner.

Despite their strong performances in the first two games, the Jays were "unprepared and unexcited" against their next opponent, Air Force, said Smith. With the game starting at 8:30 a.m., it seemed as if many of the Blue Jays were still half-asleep, as Air Force jumped to an early lead and never looked back. By halftime, the Falcons were up 4-0.

Air Force extended its lead to six goals, before Ryan McCormack found the back of the net for Hopkins' only goal. However, the Falcons remained relentless, as they added three more goals in the fourth quarter to bring the final score to 9-1. Despite the poor showing, Smith had another impressive performance, making eight field saves as well as one penalty shot save.