After a difficult stretch in the field hockey schedule, one in which Hopkins dropped five in a row to several nationally ranked programs, the Blue Jays got back on their feet this weekend with a crucial win over Centennial conference rival Haverford, 2-1.
They then dismantled the Red Devils of Dickinson on Wednesday afternoon, 5-1. In the process, head Coach Megan Fraser became the first coach in Centennial Conference history to win 100 games.
The wins improved the Lady Jays to 7-7 overall and 4-3 in the conference.
Even with the wins, however, Hopkins is still part of a five-team gridlock with Haverford, Gettysburg, Swarthmore and McDaniel for the fourth and final conference tournament spot with just three games to play.
"We feel really confident that we'll make the playoffs, but we know we have a lot of work to do first," senior mid-defenseman Ali Bahneman said. "We feel like we're in the playoffs right now because every game counts so much for us. We have to win every game to get in."
Entering Saturday's affair with Haverford, the Lady Jays were below .500 in the Centennial Conference, yet Hopkins was confident.
"Even though we had just lost a few games, we were really confident because we had played really tight games against Ursinus and Franklin and Marshall," Bahneman said. "We knew we could beat Haverford because we knew we had the skills to finish and win the game."
Hopkins turned to its veteran senior class to step up in the must-win contest. Led by Bahneman, goalie Kim Stein and forwards Carly Bianco and Annie Shepard, Hopkins sneaked by the Fords, 2-1.
Hopkins dominated the first half of the game, outshooting Haverford, 13-3, and holding an advantage on corners, 8-5, but scored just one goal, keeping the Fords in the game.
Bianco, who led the Blue Jays in goals scored in 2010 and was an all-Conference selection, fired her third goal of the season just over 20 minutes into the game.
The game would remain at 1-0 in large part because of the stellar defensive play of Bahneman and Stein.
In the second half, Bahneman kept the game even with a swift maneuver to knock a corner shot out of the cage.
"I was behind our goalie, and it was a corner so I was on the right post on a girl," Bahneman said. "The shot came in, and I was lucky to clear it. I was just in the right place at the right time."
Bahneman's defensive assist was just about all the help Stein, The News-Letter's Athlete of the Week, would need. Stein, a 2010 all-Conference selection, made 14 saves in goal, her fourth straight match with double-digit saves.
Hopkins earned some needed insurance in the 63rd minute when Shepard knocked home her fifth of the year.
On the assist was freshman forward Alexa Lantiere who drew the Fords' goalkeeper out from the cage before dishing to the open Shepard.
Haverford did get on the board with under a minute to play, but it was too little too late.
The Lady Jays carried their new found momentum into their soggy contest with Dickinson on Wednesday. The Red Devils entered the game with a 1-6 record in Centennial action, a change of pace for Hopkins who hadn't played a school that was under .500 since Oct. 1st.
The change in competition showed, as the Blue Jays won 5-1. Hopkins executed their game plan to its fullest.
"We finished well and scored a lot," Bahneman said. "Our intensity was also really high, our passing was on, and it was just a true team effort."
Just over a minute into the game, junior forward Meagan Kellett, making just her fifth start of the season, put the Jays on the board. They never looked back.
Ten minutes later, Kellett added her second score of the day, giving her five for the year.
Near the end of the first half, Lantiere scored her first career goal to give Hopkins a three-goal advantage heading into intermission.
Junior midfielder Liane Tellier and sophomore forward Storm Kodde added goals of their own in the second half, part of the 5-1 Blue Jay victory.
In goal, Stein made four saves in the first half before being pulled in favor of junior Elizabeth Peijnenburg who made three saves.
Hopkins' season comes down to its final three games, beginning this weekend at last-place Bryn Mawr.
They will then travel to McDaniel on Wednesday, Oct. 26th, and finish the regular season at home against Gettysburg on Oct. 29th.
With so much on the line, the Lady Jays are taking things one game at a time, something coach Fraser has stressed all year.
"[Coach Fraser] is telling us that every game is a playoff game, basically, and we have to treat the next game as the biggest game of the year."
