Jays suffer tough loss to #1 TCNJ

The Hopkins field hockey team entered Sunday’s matchup with top-ranked and undefeated College of Central New Jersey with a .500 record of 3-3. In this non-conference match at Homewood field, TCNJ rode a quick start to a resounding 5-1 victory. Early on in the game TCNJ’s Erin Healy scored back-to-back goals in two minutes to open the score for the Lions. Coming off a Lions corner, Erin Waller passed the ball to Healy, who one-timed the shot past senior Elizabeth Peijnenberg at 5:39. Shortly after Healy again scored off a rebound in front of the net at 7:58. After the game, junior midfielder Storm Kodde reflected on the Lions’ offensive attack, “From the get-go the Lions were incredibly aggressive. They stopped us in the midfield quite often, not even letting us get to our offensive circle. They executed on all their corners which was a huge advantage for them. Every time they entered the 25-yard line they were looking to score.” The Lions lead grew at the 26:10 mark as the visitors capitalized on yet another corner. Camille Passucci shot top left to beat Peijenberg pushing the lead to three. However, Hopkins would answer back at the 31:27 mark as senior Liane Tellier inserted the corner to Kodde at the top of the circle. Kodde settled the ball and riffled a shot past Roisin Dougherty to put the Jays on the board. Minutes before the end of the half, Hopkins had an opportunity to make it a one-goal game as senior Meghan Kellet earned a penalty stoke after being taken out from behind on a breakaway. Kellet would be denied, not by the goalie but by the post, as the Jays went into the locker room trailing 3-1. At the start of the half, TCNJ would add to its lead at 42:36 when Waller took the ball off a Passucci corner and blasted it into the net. Passucci then capped off the scoring herself with a score at 46:16 to ice the game at 5-1. TCNJ ended up with the dominant advantage in shots (24-7) and corners (14-6). In the Blue Jays cage, net-minder Peijnenburg finished with five saves in just over fifty-two minutes of action before being pulled for freshman Zoey Atabek who made three saves without surrendering a goal. For TCNJ, Dougherty finished with three saves and the win. In order to improve in upcoming games Kodde explained, “We really need to bring the intensity. Our skills are absolutely there and we can outrun many teams but it’s this third component [intensity] that will make our game click in our upcoming matches.” Stay tuned as the Blue Jays takes on Muhlenburg this Friday at 7 p.m. in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Currently, Hopkins ranks ninth in the Centennial Conference with a CC record of 0-1 and an overall record of 3-3. Muhlenberg currently holds fourth place in the Centennial with a 1-0 conference record and an overall record of 4-0.