Field Hockey snaps losing streak

The Johns Hopkins field hockey team can't seem to put together back-to-back wins. After finally snapping a season-high five-game losing skid by defeating Scranton College, 1-0, Saturday night, the Jays proceeded to drop their third conference game of the season. The loss came at the hands of Swarthmore, 1-0, Tuesday night.

The Blue Jays were shut out for the fifth time this year and saw their record fall to 3-8. With seven league games left to play, Hopkins finds itself at the bottom of the conference rankings at 0-3. In order to qualify for the conference tournament, the Blue Jays will have to significantly improve their play against league opponents.

"Realistically, we have to win six of our last seven conference games to even make the conference tournament," said head coach Megan Callahan.

In Tuesday night's game, both teams came out aggressive and took plenty of shots, but neither team squad found the goal throughout the entire first period. Hopkins took 11 shots in the opening half, one less than Swarthmore. Unfortunately the Garnet Tide's defense, led by goalkeeper Karen Lorang, prevented the Blue Jays from scoring.

Swarthmore finally broke the deadlock early in the second half when Summer Spicer fed Julia Morrison for the game's lone goal at 2:16 into the second period. Both teams continued to take shot after shot, but neither team could finish the job. Hopkins held a 12-8 shot advantage in the second half and a 23-20 edge overall in this category, but the Jays simply had no luck.

Senior midfielder and co-captain Chrissie Terpeluk took eight of the Jays shots, freshman midfielder Casey Branchini attempted six shots and junior midfielder Meighan Roose took five. Hopkins also had an 8-0 advantage in penalty shots.

"We had plenty of opportunities," said Callahan. "We just couldn't execute in the attacking circle."

The defense had another strong game on Tuesday night, as sophomore goalkeeper Dayna Eng made eight saves for Hopkins. During its last five games, the Hopkins defense has yet to surrender more than three goals in any game. Unfortunately for the Jays, their offense has managed to score a goal only once in that same five-game stretch.

The loss to Swarthmore came on the heels of a victory against a non-conference foe, Scranton College, which the Blue Jays defeated by a score of 1-0. Junior midfielder Shelby Boxenbaum came off the bench and blasted a shot past the Royals' goalkeeper midway through the second half. Sophomore forward Jamie Zubrow was credited with an assist on the play. The goal, which was the Blue Jays' first in four games, proved to be the eventual game-winner, as Eng held the Royals scoreless with three saves.

The defense also came out strong for the Blue Jays, as they held their rivals to just seven shots. The offense was also aggressive throughout, racking up 24 shots in the game. Roose paced the Jays with five shots. Thirteen of the 24 shots were on-target, but Scranton goalkeeper Andrea Marino kept the game close by making 12 saves. Hopkins also led the way in penalty corners, with 11 to their opponent's four. However, the Scranton net seemed impenetrable for the Jays, who have scored just 11 goals in their 11 games this season.

Saturday's loss followed a 3-0 shutout at the hands of Muhlenberg Friday night. The Blue Jay defense kept the Mules from scoring throughout the entire first half. The Mules only took three shots in the first period, one of which was stopped by junior goalkeeper Meredith Shifman.

Hopkins, however, struggled offensively and took just one shot in the first half. Both offenses picked it up in the second half, with Hopkins taking four shots and Muhlenberg recording eight. Twelve minutes into the half, during a penalty corner play, Kristen Bruschi passed to Sarah Levin, who shot the ball past Shifman for the first goal of the day. Five minutes later, the Mules struck again as Bruschi scored the first of her two goals with an assist by Stephanie Light. Bruschi then capped the victory for Muhlenberg with another goal with five minutes left in the game.

Shifman made a total of four saves in the game, but as has often been the story this year, the offense was unable to execute at key junctures in the game. Hopkins had numerous scoring chances, including seven penalty corners, but they were unable to finish these off and it cost them another conference game.

The Blue Jays still have a chance reverse their fate, as their final seven games of the season are all against Centennial Conference teams. They will travel to Lancaster, Penn. on Saturday to play Franklin & Marshall and then will return home next Wednesday to face Dickinson at 4 p.m. The Blue Jays will be seeking their first home victory of the season, as they are 0-4 at Homewood Field.

"These are going to be tough games," said Callahan. "The Centennial Conference is a hard conference, and it doesn't matter where a team is ranked, we simply have to win."

Callahan firmly believes that her team can get past these scoring struggles and even make a bid for the conference championship. For now, though, the team will focus on each game as it comes.

"We definitely have a lot of talent," said Callahan. "It's just a matter of finding the winning combination."