It's now or never for the Hopkins men's soccer team. Either win and keep the season alive, or lose and go home empty-handed. The Jays have realized this and with an exciting and nerve-racking weekend, they hung on and won to earn a spot in the NCAA Division III Sweet 16.
The Jays first faced Misericordia on Saturday and then moved on to defeat Salisbury on Sunday.
Fresh off a Centennial Conference Championship win, the Jays prepared all week to come out on top in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament. The Jays left for Salisbury, the host location, around mid-day on Friday and did not plan on coming home until Sunday night.
Knowing that the worst thing they could do is to take any remaining games lightly, the Jays showed no mercy on Saturday as they completely dominated the Misericordia Cougars. In the opening minutes, it was clear that the Cougars were going to have a nearly-impossible time trying to disrupt what appeared to be a relentless Jay offense.
In the 18th minute, junior Evan Kleinberg ripped a shot that had the goalie beat but was somehow stopped by a Cougar defender. Misericordia could breathe again for a little while as the score remained even at zero in the first half.
Disgruntled with a scoreless 45 minutes, senior Scott Bukoski decided to take matters into his own hands early on in the second half. In the 47th minute, Bukoski fired a blast that had Hopkins fans convinced that a goal was sure to result, only to sit back down as the clang of the crossbar proved otherwise.
However, just five minutes later, junior Kevin Hueber drew a foul about 20 yards out and Bukoski was there to get back what was taken from him just moments earlier. Bukoski sent a screaming shot around the wall and just inside the left post, putting the Jays up 1-0.
The Jays did not stop there as freshman Brandon Sumpio buried a shot in the 80th minute to secure the victory for his team. He beat the keeper and the last defender to sneak the ball in for his second goal of the season. Wining by a score of 2-0, the Jays then went back to the hotel to rest up for the game against host Salisbury on Sunday.
Playing against the Salisbury Sea Gulls for the second time this year, the Jays were looking another win. But this time was going to prove to be significantly more difficult as the game was deadlocked throughout all of regulation and both overtimes. Both teams did not let up for a second and the Jays and Sea Gulls had several opportunities to score but both goalies did not allow it.
"It was a good game," said sophomore co-captain Corey Adams about Sunday's match. "We dominated in the first half but they stepped it up in the second half."
After 120 minutes of play, the winner was going to be determined by penalty kicks. The crowd was on edge; either they could not look or they could not blink. One team's season was going to come to an abrupt end. Senior Max Venker started it off by burying his shot for the Jays. But Salisbury's Alex Hargrove retaliated with a score of his own. Adams then went one way as the goalie went the other to put the Jays up 2-1 in the shootout. And yet again, the Sea Gulls held on by sinking their second shot.
The hearts of the Jays skipped a beat when freshman Nick White's shot was tipped by the outreached hand of the Sea Gull's goalie but they let out a sigh of relief as the ball still managed get in the goal. A rip by Sea Gull Kyle Sterling tied it up for the last time at 3-3.
Hueber then made the fourth shot for the Jays and, soon after, Benjamin Reed for the Sea Gulls just missed over the crossbar to put the score at 4-3. It was all down to junior midfielder Tony Gass. And he did not falter, sending the Blue Jays into a wild celebration on their opponent's home field. "We're excited," said Adams, as the team looks forward to playing defending National Champions Messiah College in the next round of the tournament. "Not many teams get the opportunity to knock off the defending champs in the NCAA tournament and we know that if we play our best we can beat the best; we can beat anyone in the country."
Seniors like Captain Nate Wysk are just trying to stay relaxed throughout the tournament as their college careers comes to an end.
"It really hasn't hit me yet; even though I realize that every game now is potentially my last, I plan on playing and winning four more games before I have to think about that and figure out what else to do with my time," Wysk said.
With the excitement of the first two rounds behind them, the Blue Jays now prepare for the biggest game of their season on Saturday at Messiah.
Game time is set for 5 p.m.
