Our field hockey squad travelled to Swarthmore last weekend to face off against the Garnet. The Jays rallied late but were unable to overcome to deficit as the Swarthmore women held them off to win 3-2.
It was a tough loss for the women, who have been seeking to improve their conference standing and build towards a strong run at the Centennial Conference championships.
The women went came into the week with a no-prisoners mentality against their opponents.
"This week we have nothing left to lose. No matter who our opponent is we better be ready to play." junior Lianne Tellier said.
"I'm 100% confident in everyone on our team and I'm excited to prove ourselves in the next few games."
Swarthmore got on the board early and brought the score to a 3-0 lead just before the end of the first half. It wasn't an impossible deficit for the Jays to overcome in the second half.
Hopkins came out with some steam in the second half, bringing the score within one point after goals from sophomore Meghan Kellet and junior Maggie Phillips. The second goal came with less than three minutes to play.
The main difference in the game came in scoring opportunities, with Swarthmore leading Hopkins 19-9 on shots taken. While this was a close loss for the team, it didn't kill their spirit, as they moved on to face a much tougher opponent during the week.
Franklin & Marshall came to Homewood Field on Wednesday to play against the Lady Jays in what proved to be a heated contest. Needless to say, the third-ranked Diplomats presented a challenge to the seasoned Hopkins squad.
First goal snuck in as the ball rolled off the top of the F&M goalie's foot. It was a nice look from the combined efforts of junior Sam Stuek and senior Annie Shepard, who marked up an assist and a goal, respectively.
The game contained a lot of back and forth possession between the Diplomats and the Jays. For the first 20 minutes of play, senior goal keeper Kim Stein held a strong front along with the Hopkins D.
With just over 14 minutes left in the half, F&M struck back against Hopkins with a goal that snuck in to the bottom right, just past the reach of Stein. The play occurred on a corner just after a Hopkins foul.
The Diplomats struck again with 6:15 left in the half, bringing themselves up by one with just minutes to go. The Jays tried for a final push before the end of the half, but came up short after coming close in the last minute.
After the first half, Hopkins has posted one goal on two shots, with the defense providing eight saves. F&M's stats proved a bit different, with two goals, 14 shots, and just one save.
Our ladies had to prove it to the Diplomats in the second half. The pressure was on after Franklin & Marshall went up by one.
The second half was dominated by scoreless minutes. F&M continued to pound shots in on the Hopkins goal, but was denied an every occasion.
At the end of the game, the Blue Jays lost with six shots and 14 saves versus F&M's 25 shots and four saves. The stats say a lot in terms of Hopkins's defensive performance. The team did a great job controlling the ball in the middle and back end of the field. However this wasn't quite the story with the attack.
Just like the Hopkins D, Franklin & Marshall also put up a great wall to prevent scoring opportunities for the Jays. Despite the few opportunities presented to the Blue Jays, they still managed to net one goal in the contest.
It ended as a great game for the Jays, who have seen their share of challenging opponents in the Centennial Conference this season. They also had a tough game in Salisbury in mid-September.
Despite the loss, the team looks forward, taking their defeat against F&M in stride. "I think our team played great today. We're not going to let up on the intensity any time soon." said Stein.
"We have a big game on Saturday and we plan on coming out even stronger. As for F&M, the outcome will be very different when we play them in the Centennial Conference championships."
Coach Fraser was right in the same line of thought as her goal keeper. "It was a huge game for us from the beginning, with them being ranked third in the country." she said. "We played great field hockey, but in the end we just needed to generate more opportunities on the attack."
"It was the level of play we've come to expect."
Hopkins battles through one of the more difficult schedules, seeing highly ranked teams in non-conference and in conference play. By the time the conference championships roll around, the team will have a great shot at putting themselves on top.
This Saturday will indeed be an important game for the Lady Jays. They travel to Ursinus to play at noon in a conference matchup.
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