Wild series for Hopkins Water Polo

The Hopkins water polo team (18-7) concluded a topsy-turvy week in the pool. Three games with three completely different outcomes: a triumphant win against 14th ranked Navy, a devastating double OT loss to Bucknell and a blowout defeat handed out by Princeton.

On Oct. 10, Hopkins faced off in a marquee matchup in their final home game of the season against highly ranked Navy.

The Jays, after such a successful season thus far (18-7), are unaccustomed to the underdog label. Yet the squad used the tag as motivation against the traditionally dominating Navy team.

Throughout the first half the Mids held Hopkins at a distance of at least two or three goal deficits.

Yet, Senior Kielan Crow would prove clutch for the Jays, tying the game at the tail end of the third with two goals in just 29 seconds. Crow would finish the game with four goals; a fitting end for the senior’s final home game of his Hopkins career.

After the Mids scored two goals in the fourth to take the lead 12-10 with 4:07 to play, the Jays responded resoundingly answering with two of their own from senior Ross Schofield and junior Stephen Kingery 25 seconds apart.

Sophmore Wes Hopkins’ third goal of the match would prove to be the decider as he put the Jays on top with 56 seconds left. Incredibly, this was Hopkins’ first lead of the match.

The squad would hold off Navy’s final push and celebrate the thrilling victory, 14-13.

Hopkins water polo returned to the pool on Oct. 13 in Lewisburg, PA, taking on Bucknell. The match would prove to be another high-intensity showdown in which Hopkins, this time, found themselves on the losing side, 12-10, in double OT.

“Throughout the entirety of the game, the score was really close,” junior Thomas de Lyon said. “Both teams were matched up evenly, which ended up forcing the game into overtime. We had some huge goals from Ross (Schofield), but overall, our offense was stunted by Matt Napleton, their (Bucknell) senior goalie. We just couldn’t find the back of the net on a lot of our shots, as we took over 30 shots, and were only able to put away 10 goals.”

This uncharacteristic offensive performance would carry over as Hopkins dragged their exhausted bodies into the pool yet again later that night to take on the high-powered Princeton Tigers.

The Tigers would mop the floor with Hopkins, never allowing them to sniff a potential win, dominating them offensively and defensively for a final of 14-6.  Hopkins appeared weary after their double OT battle and were never able to find their footing against Princeton. Interestingly, and a testament to the skill of the Hopkins team, Princeton would lose later that night to Navy.

“We came out flat against Princeton,” de Lyon said. “Their pressing defense from the first whistle prevented us from running a fluid offense. Their solid defense fed into their counter-attack, which was where they got most of their goals. In the future, I think that if we learn from and correct small errors in our play, our team will really come together, and we will be able to compete with Princeton on a level that is much better than what we showed this past weekend.”