W. Soccer leans on Teng for win

The 17th ranked Hopkins women’s soccer team took down Swarthmore on Sunday afternoon by a margin of 2-0.

The team is off to a terrific start this season, despite a heart-breaking upset by Muhlenberg last week. The recent victory brings the Lady Blue Jays’ overall record to 7-2-1 and their record in the Centennial Conference to 2-1. The team exemplified its contention for the national title earlier this season by tying Emory, the first-ranked team in the nation, 1-1. As usual, the Blue Jay women’s soccer team has risen to near the top of the Centennial Conference and the national rankings midway through the season.

The game against Swarthmore started slowly for both teams as the half ended in a 0-0 tie. After a scoreless first half, sophomore Sydney Teng recorded both of the goals to lead the Jays passed the Garnet.

Teng did not hesitate after half-time, and put the pressure on the Garnet early by scoring only 42 seconds into the second half.

She was a great example of how persistence pays off when she followed her own rebound for the finish, after her initial attempt to find the back of the net was thwarted by the Swarthmore goalkeeper.

Teng continued her raid on the Garnet net and, only 18 minutes later, brought Hopkins a little closer to victory when she extended the lead to 2-0. Junior Jenny Hall connected a well-placed pass to Teng right outside the 18-yard box, assisting on the final score of the match. Teng did not have to chase any rebounds on this attempt as she eluded the keeper with a powerful lefty shot to the top corner of the net.

Teng was injured for the beginning of the season, and only returned to the field just two games ago, but her most recent performance demonstrated that she is off to a good start on achieving one of her personal goals for the season, “to step up [her] contribution to the team’s offensive game by being a solid finisher.”

Teng’s impressive showing led her to be named the Centennial Conference Offensive Player of the Week. No one can knock her contributions last Sunday, and with another personal goal for the season being, “to elevate [her] game and [taking] it to the next level by playing more consistently and performing in each match,” we can expect to see a lot more of Sydney Teng on the scorecard.

Meredith Maguire, senior goalkeeper and team captain, was another outstanding player on the field on Sunday.

Maguire captured her ninth career shutout by keeping Swarthmore off the scoreboard despite five shots on net. The shutout included two crucial saves late in the game to secure the Blue Jay triumph as Swarthmore put the pressure on late.

Regarding the many contributions of the underclassmen, Maguire commented, “We are a very young team this year, partially because we graduated a lot of people and partially because a few people [are] hurt. Even though we’ve lost a few key starters from last year, a lot of the younger girls are stepping up and filling in those roles well.”

As for the team’s goals this season, she stressed the importance of staying healthy and “[being] sure we take each game one at a time, because in last year’s playoffs we looked [past] a team and wound up losing to them.” The team is looking to use these short-term goals as building blocks to achieving their long-term goal of winning the Centennial Conference Championship and competing for the national title. Bringing home the Centennial Conference trophy this year would be the team’s 8th straight conference championship.

The women’s soccer team will be returning to action this Wednesday, Oct. 3, in Lancaster, PA, where they will be pitted against the Diplomats of Franklin & Marshall. The Blue Jays are undefeated against this conference competitor since 1997, parting victorious after their last 17 meetings.