The Hopkins men's soccer team suffered their first Centennial Conference loss of the season to Dickinson last Saturday, but bounced back strongly with a 4-0 victory over non-conference foe Neumann on Tuesday evening to improve their overall record to 7-4-3.
Against the Red Devils, the Blue Jays held the game scoreless to halftime. However, their solid play did not carry over to the second half where Dickinson scored three unanswered goals to secure the win, 3-0.
In the first half, the Blue Jays got a couple of good looks at goal, but Dickinson's goal keeper, junior Cody Hickok, perfomed exceptionally well to keep Hopkins scoreless. Halfway through the first half, Hopkins got their first big scoring opportunity when freshman midfielder Kotaro Mitsuhashi managed to get a clear look and rocketed a 20-yard shot.
Hickok, however, was on his toes, leaping high enough to punch the ball over the crossbar. Hickok had no time to relax afterward, making a pair of great saves on the ensuing corner kicks.
The first was a bender from senior forward Sean Coleman. Although it looked to like it a sure goal to spectators, Hickok had other plans, as he punched the ball once again over the crossbar.
Off the second corner kick, senior defenseman Corey Adams headed another no doubter towards the net, but once again Hickok came out of nowhere to deny the Blue Jays a goal. Hickok was awarded Centennial Conference defensive player of the week for his performance against the Jays.
Hopkins' goalie, freshman Nick Cerrone, also had a strong first half between the posts. However, Dickinson would not remain scoreless for long. In the 54th minute, the Red Devils were awarded a penalty kick after a hard tackle in the Blue Jay box. Sophomore Javier Mena put a nice touch on the shot and Cerrone could not get to his lower left side in time to give Dickinson a 1-0 lead.
Hopkins came back quickly in their mission to score. In the 63rd minute, senior defenseman Drew Holland headed a ball past Hickok. This time it was a Dickinson defenseman who stepped up and was able to clear the ball off of the line.
With time slipping away, Coleman took matters into his own hands, but the ball rang off of the crossbar. Just over a minute after the near game-tying miss, Dickinson stormed down the field to increase their lead to two.
Red Devil junior Shepherd Waldenberger pulled Cerrone over to the right end line of the goal, only to pass the ball to sophomore Jamie Martin in the middle, who one-timed the ball into the net for Dickinson's second score.
Three minutes later, Dickinson went down a man when Martin received his second yellow card of the game. The Red Devils were hardly deterred, however, as they scored again minutes later.
This time, Waldenberger took one himself and put one inside the right post. Though Cerrone had a pair of nice saves in the match, Topit was not enough to stave off Dickinson. With the loss, the Blue Jays fell to 4-1-1 in conference play.
On Tuesday night, the Blue Jays took on Neumann in non-conference play at home.
Hopkins wasted no time in getting on the board as Coleman took a pass from junior defenseman Nick White and put it into the lower post. Along with solid defensive play, Hopkins rode the 1-0 lead into the half.
To open the second stanza, junior Brandon Sumpio took a nice feed from Coleman and fired a highlight-reel one-timer into the net for his first goal of the season. This put the Blue Jays up 2-0 at the 47th minute mark.
Neumann had a chance to take the Hopkins lead down to one, but the Knights could not capitalize. Sophomore Dan Chrashewsky was awarded a penalty kick and kicked a nice shot on goal, but Cerrone came up big, extending his whole body to send the ball out.
Moving quickly, Coleman had a hand in yet another goal as he and junior defenseman Matt Dunne had a picture perfect give-and-go from 25 yards out. Dunne was able to slip past a defender and put it right underneath the crossbar.
Nearly minutes later, Coleman kept the Hopkins offense on full throttle. as he took one into the box only to be awarded a penalty kick. Coleman shot right past the Knights' goalie for his second goal of the day and career-high six point game. The goal was also Coleman's team-leading sixth of the season.
Cerrone recorded his sixth shutout of the season with five saves. The Blue Jays return to action on Saturday, October 22nd in a tough matchup at conference opponent, 21st-ranked Swarthmore.
