The Hopkins men's soccer team had an impressive week, snapping a two game skid with a win over St. Mary's this past Wednesday followed by a dramatic victory over Centennial Conference rival Haverford College on Saturday.
The Blue Jays are well-accustomed to close games, and this experience certainly manifested itself in the team's two one-goal victories this week.
Hopefully the Jays can build off of this past week and utilize their proven resilience in the games to come.
In their final game before the start of the Centennial Conference season, the Jays traveled to southern Maryland for a match with the Seahawks of St. Mary's College. The Seahawks were unbeaten prior to facing the Jays, having recorded impressive wins against two Centennial Conference foes in Franklin and Marshall and Ursinus.
The non-conference match-up remained scoreless until the 43rd minute when Hopkins freshman Matt Carey scored on a perfect diagonal pass from classmate Kotaro Mitsuhashi. The goal marked the first of Carey's career, and also ended an 180-minute scoreless streak for the Blue Jays.
Hopkins capitalized again 14 minutes later when senior Sean Coleman buried the second goal for the Jays.
The Seahawks, however, did not disappear without a fight. In the 69th minute, the combination of Chris Quamina and Stephen Hauschild struck to cut the lead to one goal, 2-1. The experience and resilience of the Jays enabled them to prevail, though, holding the Seahawks for the final 20 minutes to secure the victory.
The win included contributions from the entire roster with 20 players seeing action. The Jays needed the extra, available bodies, given the physical play of a match that included 13 fouls and six yellow cards.
The team rallied around freshman goalie Nick Cerrone, who recorded six saves in his first career collegiate start.
Hopkins hoped to carry over their momentum and continue their success in the Centennial Conference season opener against Haverford College.
The Jays' past one-goal decisions certainly prepared Hopkins for another close game when they found themselves tied at zeroes in the 88th minute of play against Haverford.
"There was a lot of back and forth play with neither side finding a way to capitalize on any number of chances," senior defender Corey Adams said.
Adams is no stranger to the Fords, having consistently contributed to Fords' defeats in the past four years, and this game was no exception.
When freshman Simon Rojas evaded multiple defenders and was fouled in the box, the Jays were awarded a penalty kick. Adams was called upon by head Coach Craig Appleby to take the kick, and as usual he didn't disappoint.
The goal proved to be the game-winner for the Jays, improving them to
3-2-1 and 1-0 in the Centennial while the Fords fell to 3-2 and 0-1.
Despite being outshot by Haverford, the Jays counted on the play of their young goalie Cerrone who recorded his first career shutout. The win marked an entire team effort once again, with 19 Jays seeing the field.
"Haverford has greatly improved as a program since I've been at Hopkins, especially when they're playing at home," Adams said. He attributed the win to the team's hard-nosed mentality.
"[We won because of] the hard work and dedication my teammates put in as preparation for the game," Adams said. "We also had the focus and execution to best ensure a victory."
There is no question that the victories this past week give the Jays the confidence and understanding of what they must do to have success as the season progresses.
With few non-conference games remaining, the Jays must use the experience they gained in the close wins early on in order to best position themselves against their upcoming Centennial Conference opponents.
While the Jays early success is a result of an entire team contribution, multiple players have stood out so far. Senior Sean Coleman leads the team in goals as well as in shots on goal, totaling two goals on 23 shots.
Nine others have each scored once, totaling 11 goals in the six games so far. The Jays hope to add more offensive production to complement their stellar defense, comparable to their 7-0 offensive explosion over Goucher College on September 4th.
The Jays return to action on Friday, September 23rd against Muhlenberg, beginning at 7 p.m. at Homewood Field.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.