This past weekend, the Hopkins women's soccer team continued their undefeated season when, after beating Muhlenberg the day before, the team outshot Dickinson in a penalty kick shootout for the Centennial Conference Championship title.
The team maintained the same level of intensity and training techniques that had led them to victory throughout the season. According to senior defender Jane O'Connor, "The stuff that we were practicing gave us success during the season. There was no need to change anything. We just kept up the same stuff and made sure everyone was working hard."
Coach Leo Weil, who has coached the Jays to seven Conference Championships over his 17 years at Hopkins, said, "We didn't do a whole lot different than what we've done. We worked on penalty kicks at the end of practice for the last couple weeks. We knew both the teams that we played, but in both cases we played away, on grass and on smaller fields. It was totally different circumstances."
The Jays started off the weekend against the fourth-seeded Muhlenberg team. After defeating Muhlenberg during the regular season 3-0, the Jays struggled to make anything happen, and regulation concluded scoreless with Hopkins leading Muhlenberg in shots on goal 13-10. Following missed scoring opportunities in the first round of overtime, one from freshman forward Erica Suter and another from freshman forward Paulina Goodman, Hopkins was able to capitalize during the second round of overtime when, amidst a mob of players, Suter made the most of a pass from senior midfielder Lisa Irizarry in the goal box for the only goal of the game.
"We regressed a little on Saturday to how we were playing towards the beginning of the season," Coach Weil said about Saturday's game. "We played somewhat tentatively and didn't want to take chances."
Less than 24 hours later, the Jays again took the field, this time against second-seeded Dickinson College. From the start, Hopkins was able to control the ball better and showed more fire than they had the previous day. Although the Jays seemed to maintain possession throughout much of the first half, they were only able to get five shots off. "Dickinson put up a really good fight," Goodman said. "We couldn't get in position for a good shot that could have gotten past them and past their keeper, who was also very good."
In the second half Goodman was awarded a penalty shot after being taken down by Dickinson's Courtney Anderson, but goalkeeper Kailyn Hartmann was able to deflect it. Once again, regulation ended scoreless, and after two rounds of no goals in overtime, the game came down to a final penalty kick shootout.
There is, arguably, nothing more intense in the game of soccer than a post-game penalty kick shootout. After 110 minutes of intense but scoreless action, the game's decision rests in the hands of six players - a team's goalie and five selected shooters.
Since the 1970s when this deciding method was made popular, there have been a number of close matches that have been decided by "P.K.s," including the 1999 Women's World Cup Final between China and the United States. For Hopkins, the five players are chosen based on two criteria - those who are good and those who are willing. That being said, the outcome of the game rested in the hands of five players - Jane O'Connor, Lisa Irizarry, Natalie Held, Erica Suter and Molly Bralower.
O'Connor took the first shot, a hard ground ball that went past the goalie and into the right side of the goal. Dickinson's Sarah Casey made the Red Devil's first attempt, a high ball that sailed over the cross bar. Irizarry and captain Natalie Held each made their shots, as did Dickinson's Courtney Anderson and Ashley Kunkle. Suter's ball bounced off the post and Dickinson's Sarah Montminy followed up with a high right ball that missed the goal as well. The final shot came down to freshman defender Molly Bralower. Bralower sent a left ground ball into the net, winning Hopkins their fourth straight Centennial Conference Championship. "It was a little nerve-racking," Bralower said. "But we practiced penalty kicks all week and I was confident in myself and in my teammates."
In addition to the win, Suter and sophomore defender Jenn Paulucci earned Centennial Players of the Week titles, Suter earning Offensive Player of the Week and Paulucci receiving Defensive Player of the Week. Junior goalkeeper Karen Guszkowski also earned her 11th shutout this season, giving her the record for most shutouts during a single season. "It's obviously awesome to be in the record book. But I have to give credit to the team in front of me. I wouldn't get that if the team in front of me was letting balls in. A lot of the credit goes to them," Guszkowski said, when asked about this accomplishment.
After securing the title of Centennial Conference Champions, Hopkins continues its undefeated season as it hosts the first and second games of the NCAA Regional Tournament this weekend. "We've accomplished a lot of the goals that we set for this [past] weekend. The next goal for us is to go further than any other team has gone - to win both of the games this weekend. That's the next step for us," Coach Weil said.
The Jays will take on Meredith College in their first game of the NCAA Regional Tournament at 5 p.m. this Saturday.
