Hopkins finishes 7-3 in conf.

Despite two tough losses this past week, the Johns Hopkins Field Hockey team will head into the Centennial Conference Tournament with an air of confidence this weekend, knowing they kept pace with the two strongest teams in the league. Hopkins fell to Ursinus 5-4 last Saturday and lost to McDaniel 3-0 last Wednesday, but played competitively and proved it could hold its own against these powerhouses. Despite these two defeats, the Blue Jays finished the season 9-8 and 7-3 against Centennial Conference opponents, good enough to earn them the fourth seed in the conference tournament.

Although the Blue Jays got off to a slow start in Saturday's match at Homewood Field, they hung with the Ursinus Bears and nearly pulled off a huge upset. The Bears are currently ranked No. 14 in the country in Division III. The Bears began the first half with an unassisted goal by Jess Shellaway,?but dominant defense silenced both teams for the next 30 minutes.?

Finally, senior midfielder and co-captain Ashlee Duncan broke the drought, scoring a Hopkins goal with 5:37 remaining in the first period.?Less than a minute later, though, Ursinus jumped out in front again with Shellaway's second score of the game, giving the Bears a 2-1 lead at the halfway point.

The second half did not start off well for the Blue Jays, as Crystal McCarney widened the gap by scoring Ursinus's third goal of the game.?But Hopkins continued to maintain composure; a minute later senior forward Jenny Farrelly brought the Blue Jays back to within one by smacking a pass from Duncan into the goal.

Ursinus had another answer, as Amanda Young reestablished a two-point lead for Ursinus by scoring an unassisted goal with 11:13 left to play. Duncan's second goal of the game pulled the Jays back within striking distance, but McCarney restored the two-point cushion for Ursinus with just over four minutes left in the game, scoring off a feed from Shellaway. Hopkins earned a penalty stroke with 1:14 remaining on the clock, and Duncan successfully converted this opportunity to make the score 5-4.?But this turned out to be too little, too late. Hopkins was unable to take a single shot in the final minute of the game, so Ursinus won its 15th game of the season by a score of 5-4. This was Duncan's third goal of the game, giving this midfielder her second hat trick in her past three games.

"It was encouraging for us to get four goals," said Hewitt. "It gives us confidence going into the tournament."

"It means something that we kept up with them," said sophomore goalkeeper Meredith Shifman, who recorded 15 saves, tying her career high.?"They are a very highly ranked team and we showed that we are capable of beating them."

Hopkins, the number four seed, will take on Ursinus again this Saturday in an attempt to advance to the finals of the conference tournament.?If they win on Saturday, they will face the winner of the game between Gettysburg and McDaniel on Sunday.

All three teams who will compete with Hopkins for the conference championship have beaten the Blue Jays. "It gives us more motivation to win and show them that we can hang with them and beat them," said Hewitt.

Hopkins' other loss to a non-conference opponent came last Wednesday in Westminster against McDaniel College, where?the Jays were shut out 3-0 by the Green Terror.?However, their struggles can be partially attributed to the poor field conditions.?The grass field was extremely muddy and the Blue Jays were unaccustomed to playing in such damp conditions.

"We were at a huge disadvantage since we are a turf team that practices on a nice grass field.? The conditions were so sub-par that there was nothing we could do to get ready for this match," noted Shifman.

Hopkins was simply unable to launch a viable offensive attack.?The Green Terror jumped out in front with a goal by Melanie Thompson 22:51 into the game.?This turned out to be the only goal of the first half. Sara Thomas bulwarked McDaniel's lead, scoring an unassisted goal with 23:17 left in the game.?The Green Terror's final goal came on a shot by Kim Camponelli.?Hopkins trailed 28-8 in shots and 20-3 in penalty corners.?The Blue Jays were strong on defense, though, as Meredith Shifman made 15 saves and senior defenders Carly Cammarata and Jill DeStefano each contributed defensive saves.

The tournament will be held this weekend at Ursinus and the winner will move on to the NCAA playoffs.?

"[Ursinus] beat us on our home field, so we have to go there and repay the favor," said Hewitt.