The Hopkins men's water polo team faced Iona and 17th-ranked Princeton last Saturday and 15th-ranked Air Force the next day. After starting off the weekend play with an 11-5 win over Iona, the men fell to both Princeton and Air Force.
Coming off the overpowering 11-5 win, the Blue Jays entered the pool poised and ready to take on the Princeton Tigers. Hopkins got off to a quick start, leading at 3-2, before Princeton player Tim Wenzlau scored a goal with 29 seconds left in the first quarter to make the game 3-3.
The first play of the second quarter also involved Wenzlau, who scored to give Princeton their first lead of the day. The Tigers used Wenzlau's second goal to spark a 6-0 run. The Jays didn't score again in the second quarter and went into halftime with the score 7-3 in favor of Princeton.
Sophomore Mark Strickland ended the Jays's scoreless streak by shaking off a defender and scoring a goal off of a pass from senior Kyle Gertridge to make it 9-4 midway through the third quarter.
"It was good to finally score a goal after going goalless for so long," said Strickland. "I thought it might give us a spark, but unfortunately, it just wasn't enough."
The Tigers responded to Strickland's goal with a pair of goals to push its lead to 11-4. The Jays got goals from senior Peter Sauerhoff and freshman Alex Whittam, but Princeton was too strong in the tank. The Jays could not catch the Tigers and the game ended with a score of 15-8.
The loss dropped the Jays to a 9-12 overall record and a 1-5 record in the CWPA, while the win was the third straight for Princeton, and improves their record to 10-9 overall and 6-1 in the CWPA.
The Jays returned to the pool on Sunday to face 15th-ranked Air Force. Coming off a 1-1 day, the men were eager to get back in the pool and pull out a win over Air Force.
"Even though we lost against Princeton, we knew we could go out against Air Force and compete," said sophomore Jeremy Maurer. "That's the thing with this team, no matter what happens in our last game, we always look forward to the next. I knew this game was going to be a good one."
Hopkins was able to score first in the game with a goal from Whittam. The Air Force Academy Falcons responded with two back-to-back goals to take a 2-1 lead heading into the second quarter.
At the beginning of the second quarter, the Falcons were able to put two more goals in net and push the lead to 4-1. Gertridge scored his first goal of the day, making the score 4-2 and sparking a 4-0 Blue Jay run. The score was 5-4 in favor of the Jays as Air Force player Bobby Geiger scored right at the end of the quarter to make the score 5-5 heading into the half.
As the third quarter progressed, both teams traded three goals each, making the score 8-8 heading into the fourth. Just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter, Alex Churnside of Air Force scored and put the Falcons on top 9-8. Another Air Force player, Jack Hines, was able to push the Falcon lead to 10-8, with 3:53 remaining in the game.
With a 10-8 deficit and just under two minutes left in the game, the Jays got two goals from Sauerhoff and freshman Kielan Crow. This put the match's score at 10-10. Air Force then was able to draw an ejection on behalf of Hopkins with 13 seconds left in the game. Air Force player Kurt Lenmen scored a man-up goal with seven seconds left in the game to lift Air Force to an 11-10 victory over the Jays.
The loss marks the Jays's second loss in a row, and drops their record to 9-13 on the season. Gertridge led the Jays with three goals, while Whittam also had a pair. Whittam, junior Jeremy Selbst and freshman Eli Levitt all had a pair of assists.
Selbst finished with 10 saves for the Jays, his fifth-straight game with double-digit saves.
Next up for the Jays is the Division III Eastern Championships, held in Washington, Pa. The first of these games is Saturday at 10:45 a.m.
