Hopkins took the field at M and T Bank Stadium this Saturday surrounded by a record number of cheering fans. The usually purple crowd of the Baltimore Ravens' home stadium was a screaming, waving sea of blue as the Blue Jays took on the University of Delaware Blue Hens. It was a Cinderella story for the Hens, an unranked team upsetting second-seeded Virginia in the first round of the playoffs, and struggling their way to the final four. However, Hopkins would show no mercy. The Nest is only big enough for one blue bird. In the lowest-scoring game of Final Four history, Hopkins maintained the lead for the entire game. Following a final three-goal rally in the fourth quarter, the Blue Jays closed out the game, winning 8-3 and earning a chance to avenge an earlier loss against the Duke Blue Devils in the finals. "It's funny, a lot of people kept saying it's going to be Hopkins and Duke in the finals," Coach Pietramala said. "But there are four good teams here, and all four teams are good enough to get to that championship game. We were fortunate enough to do that."
The game started out slow for the Blue Jays. Although they maintained possession for most of the first quarter, the Delaware defense was aggressive and physical, presenting an almost impenetrable force. However, junior midfielder Stephen Peyser eventually broke through, ripping an unassisted shot between the pipes with 6:19 left on the clock for Hopkins' first goal. From there, Delaware took control, but the Jays' defense held strong, blocking almost all of the Blue Hens' attempts to shoot. When any shots did fly, senior goalie Jesse Schwartzman was a wall. Not a single shot made it past him in the first quarter. "It was a whole team effort," Schwartzman said. "They took some shots that I was able to see, and our defense limited their opportunities. Luckily for me, the shots that they took, I was able to save most of them." Schwartzman finished the game with ten saves.
Hopkins came out strong in the second quarter with an unassisted goal by junior midfielder Paul Rabil after only three minutes of play. The goal marked Rabil's 26th of the season, a career high. Rallying from Rabil's goal, Delaware once again took control, ripping shot after shot in a series of narrow misses, until Delaware's Curtis Dickson snuck one through with 4:28 left on the clock.
The second half of play, however, belonged to the Blue Jays. Freshman midfielder Michael Kimmel scored his 21st goal of the season with a high fast shot from the top of the box. Delaware's J.J. Moran responded with an assisted goal from Jordan Hall to make the score 3-2. The Hen's wouldn't score again for twenty-two minutes of play. By then, it would be much too late. Sophomore attack Tom Duerr put one between the pipes with fifty seconds left on the clock, and Kimmel ended the quarter with a sneaky shot from the crease with eight seconds left on the clock, making the score 5-2 going into the fourth quarter.
The Jays didn't waste any time in the fourth. Stephen Peyser ripped one into the net less than a minute after the opening face. Shortly afterward, he scored his third goal of the game with 6:58 left in the game to make the score 7-2. Following Peyser's goals, it appeared the Blue Jays would stall out for the victory. Kimmel obviously had no intention of doing so as he ripped a shot through with 3:31 left in the game. Delaware's Dan Deckelbaum finished the game with one final goal, but by then, it didn't even matter.
As the final seconds ticked down, the Blue Jays rushed the field, huddling together and screaming at the top of their lungs. From a season that once laid in shadows and doubt, the Blue Jays were going to the NCAA Finals. "I'm awful proud of our guys," Pietramala said. "They showed a lot of character and they showed a lot of guts for a team that everybody counted out a couple weeks back, so I'm very, very proud of them."
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