Coleman, White net goals in overtime victory

Not even the rain could slow down the men's soccer team on Saturday as they looked to continue their hot streak and remain tied at the top of the Centennial Conference.

Though they had a slow start to the season, the team has picked it up as of late with hopes to make a push into the playoffs.

After a couple of losses at Richard Stockton, Coach Appleby gave a speech that turned the team around.

Freshman Kotaro Mitsuhashi explains it as hard hitting.

"[Coach] told us we need to pick it up and start winning games, since we are not guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament," Mitsuhashi said.

The Blue Jays took that advice to heart in their rugged victory over conference rival Franklin and Marshall.

Senior forward Sean Coleman came off a recent injury and stepped in to prove his senior leadership, scoring in the 96th to put the Blue Jays ahead for the overtime victory, 2-1.  

The game started with quick offensive pushes from both sides, but junior defender Nick White was the first to strike in the 12th minute, putting the Blue Jays up 1-0.

Freshman midfielder Rob Heuler took a long ball over Franklin and Marshall's defensemen to put a nice pass into White.

White played it nicely, one-touching to settle the ball, he then pinpointed a shot into the low side of the far post.

Not only was it a big shot in the game, but it was also a big shot for White, as it was his first goal of the season.  

With strong defense and a midfield presence, Hopkins held its 1-0 lead into the second half. By the time the 75th minute came rolling around, the rain had began its descent.

With the Diplomats awarded a corner kick, Alex Grassi booted one into the box.

Freshman goalie Nick Cerrone popped out in an attempt to clear the ball but lost control.

The Diplomats took advantage of the free ball and were able to get a shot off, but a Hopkins defenseman was there for the deflection.

Unfortunately, the deflection went straight to Jacob Miller, who was able to put it in the back of the net, tying the game at 1-1.

But the Blue Jays came back chomping at the bit to take back the lead. In the 80th minute, junior midfielder Brandon Sumpio shot a bullet from 20 yards out.

Zach Fernberger, the Diplomats' goalie, was able to get his hands on it for a nice stop to keep the game tied. The past six times that these two teams have met, it has gone to overtime for five of them.

This game would be no different. A big game for both teams with Centennial Conference implications on the line, both offenses came out firing.

Hopkins came out stronger with Coleman scoring his eighth game-winning goal in the past two seasons.

Heuler picked up his second assist of the night as he had a nice feed to Coleman, who then proceeded to rocket one into the top left corner.

The Blue Jays snapped their four-game losing streak to the Diplomats, controlling most of the offensive side with a 7-5 edge in shots and a 4-2 edge in corners.

The loss was Franklin and Marshall's first home loss since Sept. 4th, 2010, finishing a streak of 10 games. The rivalry proved to be a close one again, as this was the 14th time in the last 15 meetings between these teams that has been decided by one or fewer goals.

The big win put the Blue Jays at 3-0-1 in the Centennial Conference where they remain tied at the top heading into their non-conference contest with interstate foe Salisbury on Wednesday afternoon.

Part of the Jays four-game road trip that began Wednesday, Sept. 28 at Gettysburg, Hopkins travelled to Salisbury, marking the 10th time in the last 11 years the rivalry was played on opposing soil.

The Seagulls entered the game ranked 18th in the country and lived up to that honor by besting the Blue Jays, 2-0.

In what has become typical Hopkins fashion, the first half was a defensive struggle. Neither team was able to sneak one into the net, and the two teams combined for just three shots.

In the 55th minute, however, Salisbury's Trevor Sharpe would put the Gulls ahead for good, knocking one past Hopkins's Cerrone.

The Blue Jay defense kept Salisbury at bay for the next 30 minutes, as Cerrone made a career-high six stops in the loss, but could not even the score. Sharpe would score again in the 85th minute, the final score of the 2-0 affair.

Hopkins will complete its four-game road swing and return to Centennial action on Saturday at Ursinus. The Blue Jays are 17-1 against the Bears in the regular season all-time and hope to keep pace with Gettysburg who will take on Swarthmore on Sunday.