Hopkins water polo travelled west this past weekend for the annual Claremont Convergence to compete against a group of the country's best Division III squads. Treading with top-ranked Pomona-Pitzer, fourth-ranked Cal Lutheran, fifth-ranked Redlands, and third-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the Jays flew home with a 1-3 record.
Hopkins then swam against their intra-state rival, 17th-ranked Navy, for the first time this season despite having spent two weekends at tournaments in Annapolis. Despite a sterling performance from junior driver Alex Whittam, who tied a career-high with five goals, the Jays fell at home, 13-11.
In California, Hopkins' record was not indicative of their performance. Although they dropped three contests, two of their losses were by just one goal, including a heart-breaking double-overtime loss to Cal Lutheran, 9-8, in their first game of the weekend.
The Blue Jays lone victory came against the number-one Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer, 10-7, just hours after the loss to Cal Lutheran on Friday. On Saturday, the Jays were sniped by 13-12 and 15-11 by Redlands and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, respectively.
Hopkins' west coast run started on a sour note. Leading 7-4 against the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran late in the third quarter after a goal from freshman driver Johnny Beal, the Jays struggled to maintain their lead, surrendering three unanswered goals to send the game into overtime.
With 40 seconds remaining in the first overtime period, Kingsman senior Brandon Gross gave CLU and 8-7 lead, but the lead would not stick for long. Less than 30 seconds later, junior utilityman Kielan Crow knotted the game at eight apiece to force a second overtime.
Cal Lutheran senior Jordan Meaney scored the only action of the final period, handing the Jays the tough-luck loss.
Crow lead the black and blue scoring attack with three goals, while Whittam and junior utilityman Ross Schofield, The News-Letter's Athlete of the Week, each netted a pair.
Later that night against Pomona-Pitzer, Schofield stole the show, scoring a hat trick to pace the Jays. Hopkins scored in bunches, inching away from the Sagehens with leads of 3-0, 7-3, and 10-4, but had to battle until the final minute to unseat the nation's top-ranked team.
Alongside Schofield, Whittham and Crow each scored two goals.
The next morning, Hopkins was again locked in a dual, this time with Redlands. Thanks in part to the scoring prowess of Schofield and sophomore driver Stephen Kingery, the Blue Jays headed into the intermission tied at six.
The third quarter, however, was dominated by the Bulldogs. Trailing 11-8, Hopkins relied on the arms of Whittam and Crow to make a comeback, but their plan was foiled when Redlands senior Jeff Parsons put the Bulldogs ahead for good, 13-12. Once again, Schofield, Whittam and Crow dominated the score sheet for JHU, as the dynamic trio combined for nine goals scored on three hat tricks.
Later Saturday afternoon, the Blue Jays were handed their most lop-sided defeat of the tournament, but, as always, they put up a good fight against Claremont-Scripps-Mudd. Faced with a 10-5 deficit halfway through the third quarter, Hopkins strung four goals together on the back of Whittam, who recorded his second straight hat trick.
In the fourth quarter, however, CMS took the reigns back, outscoring the Blue Jays 4-2 to hand JHU their third loss of the trip.
Hopkins looked to get back on its feet on Wednesday, swimming in their home pool for just the third time this year against Navy, but the Midshipmen would halt the Jays, 13-11.
The Blue Jays led by a goal late in the fourth quarter, but yielded three unanswered goals in 79 seconds to relinquish their lead. Whittam's five-goal performance captured the game's spotlight for Hopkins, although he did add an assist which gave him 100 for his career. He became the first Blue Jay in program history to record 100 assists in a career.
Schofield also added four assists, a career high for him.
The loss drops Hopkins overall record to 10-8 and 2-2 in the CWPA Southern Division. The Jays will return to action on Saturday when they travel to 15th-ranked Bucknell at noon before driving to 16th-ranked Princeton for a 7 PM match.
