Title hopes abound this spring

On the heels of our men's
lacrosse season preview
last week, here
is what else and
who else Blue
Jay nation can
look forward
to this spring.
This feature
will be continued
next week
with previews
of the men's
and women's
tennis seasons.
W o m e n ' s
Lacrosse
Lady Jay lacrosse
has yet to become
the National powerhouse
that the men's program
has built through decades
of a winning tradition, but
the girls may be on their
way as soon as this spring.
A year removed from a
9-8 season that included
upset wins over then
fourth-ranked Penn and
second-ranked and eventual
National Champions
Northwestern, Hopkins
returns nine starters from
the 2011 campaign.
The experience certainly
showed in their first two
games this past week when
the Jays crushed George
Mason, 19-6, and Mt. St.
Mary's, 18-8.
Hopkins, brimming
with confidence heading
into their home-opener
this Friday at 4 PM against
Denver College, expects to
not only improve upon last
year's record but also compete
at a national level.
"We have extremely
high expectations for
this year," Head coach Janine
Tucker recently told
Hopkinssports.com. "It
should be a culmination
of the last couple of years
of experience."
Leading the way for
the Jays this spring will be
the dynamic scoring duo
of Colleen McCaffrey and
Candace Rossi. The two senior
attackmen have both
posted over 100 points
during their illustrious careers
and were each named
IWLCA All-Region selections
a year ago.
Joining McCaffrey and
Rossi up top will be fellow
All-Region selection sophomore
Taylor D'Amore.
A season ago, D'Amore
led the Jays in assists and
draws, with 19 and 38, respectively,
and broke the
school record for points
scored by a freshman. On
Wednesday against Mount
St. Mary's, D'Amore scored
a career-high seven points
-
four goals and three assists
- indicative of her aggressive
style of play.
In the middle of the field
for Hopkins will be senior
Rachel Serio, junior Courtney
Schweizer and sophomores
Sammy Cermack
and Sarah Taylor.
Serio, a graduate of nearby
is a veteran who already
has 50 starts in black and
blue. Schweizer is coming
off a 2011 season that saw
her start six of the team's
last seven games after she
struggled with nagging injuries
in the beginning of
the year. In two games this
year, she has already scored
three goals compared with
four all of last year.
Defensively, Hopkins
will be led by Tewaarton
watch list nominee senior
Alyssa
K i l d a r e .
She had 38
ground balls
and 26 forced
t u r n o v e r s
in 2011. Juniors
Sophia
Sherry and
Sammi Arbitman
should
also see significant
time
in the backfield.
In goal,
the Jays will
turn to junior
Cosette
Larash who
played every minute in goal
last season while allowing
9.94 goals per game.
Baseball
Hopkins baseball will
open its season against
10th-ranked Alvernia on
Monday, Feb. 27th, the first
of its four consecutive and
only home games for an
entire month.
Following their first
four games, the team
will travel for five games
and then leave for Phoenix,
AZ, where the team
will spend a large part of
their time between now
and their opening home
conference match on Mar.
27th against Dickinson.
There, they will spend
their spring training alternating
between the facilities
of the Chicago Cubs
and Cincinnati Reds.
As the excitement of the
season builds, the team
looks forward to strong
results from an impressive
roster. Seniors Sam Eagleson
and Alex Eliopoulos,
two right-handed pitchers
and key starters for the
team in the past,
look to repeat their
combined 22-1 record
of their sophomore
years, which
included an impressive
150 strikeouts.
Senior co-captain
and catcher/ thirdbaseman
Aaron Borenstein
is extremely
confident in the
team's rotation aces
as well as the rest of
the staff.
"Our pitching
staff is the best it
has been in my four years
here," the six-foot-one,
205-pounder said. "Our
ability to shorten games by
using a very strong bullpen
will allow us to win a lot of
close games this season."
In addition to the pitching
staff, junior shortstop
Kyle Neverman is expected
to have a strong season after
hitting .297 with a teamleading
11 stolen bases last
season.
Borenstein is confident
that Neverman's style of
play will be indicative of the
team's direction this season.
"Our offense this season
will be unlike any of the
past three Hopkins teams
I have played on," Borenstein
said. "We will not
rely solely on power this
season and will instead use
small ball and our team
speed to steal extra runs.
Our offense will display a
great combination of speed
and power."
In addition to Neverman,
the offense
will
feature firstbaseman
Jeff
Lynch, who
boasted a
.348 batting
average with
three home
runs last season.
He was
named the
Centennial
Conference
tournament
co-MVP in
2011. Borenstein
and
junior Ryan
Zakszeski, both catchers,
will split time between the
field and behind the plate to
keep their potent bats in the
lineup as well. Borenstein
hit .318 last year while "Z"
hit .300.
Despite such quality,
though, Borenstein is convinced
that the team's "biggest
strength this season is
our unity. This team really
loves playing the game together,
and that, combined
with our depth and experience,
will make us a very
tough team to beat. This
is a team of best friends,
and playing the game with
people you love is vital for
success."
These words will be
tested as the Blue Jays hope
to win their sixth consecutive
Centennial Conference
tournament and head to
the College World Series in
Appleton, Wisconsin after
a year hiatus.