The sixth ranked Hopkins women’s soccer team faced off against fellow Centennial Conference opponent Gettysburg over the weekend. Entering the game, the two were tied for first place in the conference. However, it was the Lady Jays who got the best of the Bullets, securing a solid Centennial Conference tournament with a first round bye.
The Jays got off to a slow start, as they spent most of the first half pinned in their own half. The team struggled to generate a consistent offense and couldn't maintain a lot of pressure and get shots on the Gettysburg keeper. Luckily, the defense picked up the slack for the Lady Jays, as they didn't allow any legitimate scoring opportunities to the Bullets on offense. As a result, the two teams entered the locker room at halftime, deadlocked at 0-0.
The second half proved to be more exciting than the first as Hopkins found their stride. In the 70th minute, senior midfielder Christina Convey was able to break the stalemate and deliver the first goal of the game, giving Hopkins the 1-0 advantage. Convey was ecstatic about the consistent success of the offense. “We have so many different people that can make a difference so playing time is spread out," she said. "One player can give all she has for the time she's out there knowing someone else can come on and pick up right where she left off, without any drop in the quality of play.”
After the initial goal, the Jays added two more during the final 72 seconds of the game. The first was by junior forward Hannah Kronick, who continued her record-breaking point streak, while senior forward Kelly Baker added the next.
The performance by the Lady Jays proved their dominance, as the three goals scored accounted for two less than Gettysburg had given up throughout the entire season. Such an accomplishment signifies the continued great play by the Jays offense.
Hopkins will finish off the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 2 against Franklin and Marshall, their final game until the playoffs begin on Nov. 9. “We're having fun right now, and we want to go all the way to Texas,” Convey said. “The loss against TCNJ put our goals back into perspective. The loss really stung and we were able to fix some things that better teams are able to take advantage of; we now have confidence and a more realistic outlook on the season of what could happen if we don't keep playing well.”
In addition to the five game winning streak, junior Emily Nagourney was named Centennial Conference Defensive Player of the Week. Nagourney led the defense all week long, as they did not surrendered any goals to their opponents.
Nagourney discussed the recent success of the defense. “The biggest factor for the success of the defense is definitely communication. We have a lot of experience on the back line this year, but we also have underclassmen that are becoming a big part of why we are so successful," she said. "We have played together six days a week since August, but we still have to make sure everyone is on the same page when it comes to games. So it doesn't matter whether you're a freshman or a senior; if you can see the field, you have to speak up and that's helped us a lot this year. Everyone back there has become really comfortable with one another and we're playing as a unit.”
Nagourney was also happy about the win over Gettysburg on Saturday. “Going into the game against Gettysburg, our game plan wasn’t any different than it normally is," she said. "Every game we try to improve on things from the game before. Fortunately, we have had good momentum coming from the past few games and that definitely carried over into Saturday for us. Mentally and physically, this was a big game because we had three games the week before. But we were able to come out on top and clinch the number one seed for conferences giving us a home field advantage for the tournament in two weeks!”
Hopkins is now ranked sixth nationally, and Nagourney brings the total count of Blue Jays that have earned player of the week honors to four. They are now first in the Centennial Conference and are poised to enter the playoffs, hungry and determined for a serious shot at the national championship.
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