Freshman Dene’ DiMartino’s go ahead goal with just two minutes and 41 seconds remaining broke the Blue Jays’ 9-9 tie with Towson, improving Hopkins’s record to 6-2 on the season.
The Towson Tigers opened up the game with an early goal by Kelly Custer off a pass from Paige Duncan. Towson was able to hold the one goal lead for much of the first half until junior Sarah Taylor was able to answer. Sophomore Jen Cook fed her on the right side of the crease, with a little over fifteen minutes to go in the first half.
However, the Tigers immediately answered with a quick goal by Paige Duncan on the ensuing draw. Sarah Taylor was able to even the score at two, scoring her second goal of the game with 12:32 left in the first half. With the score notched at three going into the second half, the Blue Jays wasted no time, as junior Taylor D’Amore scored just 10 seconds in to the half. After Custer answered with a goal to tie the game back up, junior Sammy Cermack took advantage of a failed clear by Towson, scoring a go-ahead goal for the Blue Jays.
The two teams continued to trade goals and the score remained tight down to the last few minutes of the game, until DiMartino tallied what proved to be the game winning goal with under three minutes to play.
When asked about the close contest, Cermack credited the victory to the team’s focus and determination. “I think the reason why we were so successful against Towson was because of our ability to put together a solid effort for sixty minutes,” Cermack said. “We played with heart and hustle and were able to come out with the win because we worked together. We made mistakes but we hustled to get the ball back and never gave up.”
Following the big win against Towson was a matchup with the Princeton Tigers. The Blue Jays were unable to hold a 4-3 halftime advantage, as the Tigers rallied to win 10-7.
After a fairly even first half, which included Hopkins’ goals by D’Amore, Taylor, Cook, and DiMartino, the Blue Jays came out firing on all cylinders to start off the second half, with DiMartino and Taylor scoring back-to-back goals early in the half. Princeton’s Charlotte Davis was able to shrink the gap, scoring an unassisted goal just one minute after Taylor’s goal. DiMartino answered back scoring another unassisted goal, her third of the game. But from then on, it was pretty much all Princeton. The Tigers were able to control 9-11 draws in the second half, resulting in seven unanswered goals.
Despite the disappointing loss, the ladies were able to take some things away from the game that will help them moving forward. “The Princeton game really showed us how important it is to take care of the ball and maintain possession,” Cermack said. “I think that if we were able to give our all to get the ball on the draw and then work even harder to take care of it in our offensive end we would have been able to take control of the game.” The loss dropped the Blue Jays to a record of 6-3.
As the Blue Jays move into the second half of their season, their schedule will continue to get more challenging, but the team believes they are prepared. “We are so excited for our big games against Vandy and Florida but as of now we are trying to take the rest of the season one game at a time,” Cermack said. “At this point, every game is a big game, which means all of our focus for the next three days is on our game against American on Wednesday. We are planning on coming out hard and fast and taking the game early in order to bounce back from Princeton. It is going to be a tremendous team effort to get us back on track.”
The Blue Jays will look to get back on track when they travel to Washington, D.C. to face American on the 27th, before hosting Vanderbilt at Homewood Field on March 30.
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