Hopkins sophomore goalie Erik Henrikson continued his impressive season last weekend at the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament in Calif. Henrikson’s stellar performance in the tournament earned him the honor of Defensive Player of the Week, an award given by the Collegiate Water Polo Association. Henrikson led the Blue Jays to a 3-1 record in the tournament, which included wins over first-ranked Redlands, third-ranked Pomona-Pitzer and eighth-ranked LaVerne.
In the opening game of the tournament, Henrikson notched seven saves and five steals despite suffering a loss to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. In the following game, Henrikson had five saves to go along with a career-high eight steals to lead Hopkins in an exciting come from behind win against Pomona-Pitzer. After seeing limited time in the Blue Jays’ defeat of Laverne, Henrikson had an outstanding game in a big win over top-ranked Redlands. Henrikson tied his career-high with 13 saves in huge upset victory, to go along with six steals, while allowing just five goals.
This past weekend, Henrikson again played well, despite taking two tough losses to top Division I teams. Henrikson had six saves against 12th-ranked Princeton. On Sunday, Henrikson again made six saves in a loss at Bucknell. As a result of all of his accomplishments, Henrikson was awarded Athlete of the Week by The News-Letter.
News-Letter: Despite these two very tough losses this past weekend, do you believe the team can learn and improve from these setbacks?
Erik Henrikson: “I do believe that we can learn from these losses (against Bucknell and Princeton). Those games were tough league losses. I think we really just have to focus on our defense. Opposing teams are scoring a lot from center and man-up opportunities. We are going to have to do a better job of shutting down their center player.”
N-L: How have you improved your game over the past two years?
EH: “My game has improved a lot now after having been through a season and a half at Hopkins. Now I’m used to the offenses and defenses that we run. I think the addition of our new assistant coach, Adam Foley, has really been great for us because he does a good job of pushing us and making us a lot stronger in the pool.”
N-L: What has attributed to the team’s successful start this season?
In terms of the team’s successful start, Henrikson believes improved conditioning has really paid off for the Blue Jays as well as more team depth and balance. “I think we are having a very good season so far. Our team works well in that water, and we are very balanced. Most of the time we have five or more people scoring every game, and that shows a lot of depth. We have had a few ups and downs with the season, but every team has to go through those so I think were doing great. The key to our success has come from our swim shape. Our improved conditioning has really paid off. We do a great job of countering down the pool to offense. We really tire out a lot of teams, giving us an advantage later in the game when we can still go hard up and down the pool while the other team is slowing down.”
N-L: With such a solid start (record of 12-6) to the season, what are the main goals that the team wants to accomplish throughout the rest of the year?
EH: “The goal for the season is to make it to an Eastern Championship Game. It’s been a crazy season in the east this year, and it’s all up for grabs in the Southern Division, so I want to see our team make it to the finals. On a personal level, I want to do everything I can to make sure we don’t lose any more games for the rest of the season.”
N-L: Thank you very much for your time, Erik. Best of luck throughout the rest of your season.
EH: Thanks so much for the honor of Athlete of the Week!
The Blue Jays will look to bounce back this weekend at the CWPA Division III Championship here at Hopkins, with their sights ultimately set on the CWPA Championship in Providence next month.
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