Going into their third game of the season, the No. 5 Blue Jays took on Villanova at the Wildcats’ home field. Already having home field advantage, the Jays also had to conquer the snow as the Villanova stadium held about five inches of snow throughout. The weather seemed to effect the Jays as they started off the game slowly.
Trailing 2-0 as the game was barely three minutes old, the Jays needed to step up their game. Freshman Shack Stanwick and junior teammate Ryan Brown both shot to the back of Villanova’s net in the final nine minutes of the first period, bringing the score to 3-2 at the end of the first quarter.
The Jays began the second quarter by scoring twice in the opening 15 minutes. Hopkins junior Holden Cattoni scored big on the extra-man conversion at the 13:20 mark. Roughly 29 seconds later, Brown added his second goal of the game in transition. The Jays then held a 4-3 lead.
The Jays’ scoring run was not quite finished as 45 seconds later freshman Patrick Fraser threw home a goal on the extra-man conversion, giving Hopkins a 5-3 lead.
The Wildcats would rally to score the final two goals going into the half, bringing the score to a tied up 5-5.
Hopkins hit the field with force in the second half, scoring three of the first four goals. Hopkins senior Wells Stanwick along with Brown and Cattoni all chipped in scores with only one mark from the Wildcats bringing the score to 8-6.
Both teams would exchange goals for the remainder of the period, leaving a 9-8 score going into the fourth and final period.
Just 65 seconds into the fourth, sophomore Wilkins Dismuke scored off a scramble from the slot. Nearly 17 seconds later, W. Stanwick added yet another mark on the scoreboard off of a one-on-one with Villanova goalie Dan Willies, putting the ball in the back of the net and putting Hopkins up 11-8. The Wildcats would capitalize on an extra-man conversion bringing the score to 11-9.
However, Hopkins sophomore John Crawley grabbed a free ball and threw it top shelf past Villanova’s Willis. Shortly after, Brown grabbed his fourth goal of the day, throwing an underhanded bomb to the back of the net
The wildcats would grab one more goal before the game was over bringing the final score to a Hopkins victory of 13-10.
The Jays will return to action on Feb. 21 when they travel to North Carolina to take on UNC Chapel Hill.
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