An offensive charge spearheaded by junior attack Jenna Reifler took Hopkins to a 15-5 victory over visiting UC Davis in their first-ever matchup. Reifler had a career day with four goals and two assists to lead the 20th-ranked Lady Jays to their sixth straight win and eighth on the season.
Along with Reifler’s efforts, junior mid Kristen Cannon added four goals of her own with four other Jays contributing multiple point games.
“Our offense is very balanced this year,” Cannon said. “Every person on the field is a threat when they have the ball in their stick. We are all very unselfish with the ball and care more about winning than who gets to score the goals.”
Fresh off of a high scoring game against Vanderbilt where the team totaled 13 goals, Hopkins turned on the heat early with its offense in top form. Five different players found the net in an 11-goal run to start the game.
Freshman Emily Kenul got things started with an early goal and was quickly followed by Cannon, who also had four goals on the day. Reifler bounced her first goal in after taking a pass from junior captain Dene DiMartino, putting the Jays up 3-0 early.
Without looking back, the Jays kept piling up points, as sophomore attack Alexis Maffucci scored consecutive goals within a minute.
Senior Jen Cook added another with a side arm score when both Cannon and Kenul followed with their second goals.
To close the half, both Cannon and Reifler completed their hat tricks before the Aggies got on the board when Courney Neff snuck a shot below the cross bar and Mary Doyle followed with a free position goal, bringing the half to an end at 11-2.
“Our team chemistry has been off the charts,” junior captain DiMartino said. “We were able to control the first half with our offense moving the ball so efficiently, resulting in quick goals.”
Picking up right where she left off from the high-scoring first half, Cannon’s fourth goal of the match came 20 seconds after the start of the second half.
UC Davis was able to answer this time with Melissa Kellan spinning around the slot to cut the lead to single digits.
Hopkins was able to launch another run of three goals to secure the lead at 15. In their last attempts, the Aggies were able to push two more goals past net but could not overcome the first half dominance by the Blue Jays offense.
Both Reifler and Cannon had four goals each with Kenul adding her own hat trick and Cook supplying a game high three assists.
DiMartino scored once and added two assists and a pair of ground balls and sophomore Haley Schweizer totaled a pair of points with four ground balls.
Senior goalie KC Emerson anchored the defense, earning the win with a pair of saves, while sophomore Caroline Federico stopped three in the second half.
“Everyone has really bought into the ‘success by committee,’ meaning that no one person can lead us to victory,” Emerson said. “Everyone has really bought into that which has allowed some of our younger girls the confidence to step up and contribute. Our team plays with a lot of heart and we are determined to come out on top.”
“We are such a difficult team to scout because of how balanced we are and I think we will surprise some teams coming up this season to keep our win streak going,” Cannon said.
Hopkins looks to extend their winning streak at Catonsville where they will take a short trip to take on the Retrivers of UMBC this Wednesday.
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