Hopkins knocked off Centennial Conference foe Bryn Mawr on Saturday, ending their five-game losing streak and getting them back to a .500 conference record of 4-4.
Sophomore Leslie MacManus got the scoring started early, with a goal just two minutes and 50 seconds into the contest. Senior Maddie Fryer scored her seventh goal of the season later in the half, off of a pass from junior Alexa Lantiere.
Lantiere then scored a goal of her own — her team-high tenth of the season — giving the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead going into the half.
The Blue Jays didn’t waste much time after the half, as Lantiere scored another goal off of a MacManus corner and a pass from Fryer. Bryn Mawr was finally able to get on the board at the 40 minute mark, closing the deficit back to three goals.
Later in the second half, the Blue Jays earned a penalty stroke, which sophomore Elena Gresick was able to bury, giving Hopkins a 5-1 lead. Fryer was able to score her second goal of the game, connecting with a loose ball off of another MacManus corner in the 62nd minute, giving the Blue Jays a comfortable five goal lead.
That would be the end of the scoring, as the Blue Jays held on to a 6-1 victory.
Sophomore Zoey Atabek recorded eight saves in goal for the win. Lantiere scored her 20th and 21st goals of her career, moving into a tie for the 14th place all-time for career goals.
Although things haven’t always gone the Blue Jays’ way this season, the ladies realize that this was a huge win for them.
“Breaking our losing streak this past Saturday was essential for our team,” Lantiere said. “We are in a really tough position, after a five game losing streak and now only having three games left in the season. Making it to the Centennial Conference championship games may be more difficult after these set backs, but I think since this win gave us an even in-conference record and a much needed morale boost it can help lead the way to victory in our remaining games.”
Lantiere pointed to a number of things as keys to coming out on top Saturday, specifically focusing on the “little things.” “Some of our keys to success for our win on Saturday include personal accountability and possession,” Lantiere explained. “We had two really good practices the days leading up to this game where we focused on the little things (possession, passing and receiving and moving the ball to the right). Our goal was to raise our level of play by tightening up our basic skills and being accountable for each individual move. A big part of this was doing the easy thing, finding the easy open pass, dodge or shot, which seems simple, but was something we had been struggling with. During the game against Bryn Mawr we brought these tools to the field and it allowed us to dominate the game.”
Despite the big win on Saturday, the ladies know they have a lot of work to do and are staying focused on the opponents ahead of them. “Our goals for the rest of the season are to win our remaining games and make it to the conference championship,” Lantiere reiterated. “Strategically I think our plan for success will be the basics, the same as what we focused on before the Bryn Mawr game. Another key component to being successful and meeting our goals is increasing our intensity and motivation so that we can give it our all in every game.”
The Blue Jays will look to keep the ball rolling on Tuesday at home against McDaniel, as conference playoffs quickly approach.
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