The Hopkins Blue Jays fell to Navy this past weekend, in what was a rematch of a match earlier in the year in which Hopkins won 14-13.
However, the game at Navy would be a different story this time around. The Jays fell to the Midshipmen 12-5 in their chance to earn the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Southern Division Regular Season title. While they took a loss, the Blue Jays finished with an impressive 22-8 record on the season. The Mids ended with a 21-2 overall record, with one of their two losses coming to the Blue Jays.
Last time the two teams met, Hopkins managed to stay close throughout the game before putting on a late surge to pull away with a win.
This time around, Navy came out of the gates with revenge on their minds as they jumped out to a huge 8-1 lead at the half. The Blue Jays, however, pushed back in the second half and went goal-for-goal with the Mids. The seven-goal discrepancy from the first half was too large a gap to overcome for the Jays and they fell short.
Ross Schofield, senior and co-captain, had three goals, giving him 94 goals for the season, which is the second most in Hopkins history. This was his last season and he describes the accomplishment as “extremely exciting” and “a testament to hard work and a great team.” Senior and co-captain Alex Whittam scored a goal for Hopkins as well, while also getting three steals and a block. Junior Stephen Kingery saw the back of the net once and sophomore goalie Danny Ovelar made five saves in the first half, while freshman Erik Henrikson stopped four shots in the second.
Hopkins is the number three seed at the CWPA Southern Championship. The Jays will go up against six-seeded Mercyhurst on November 2 at Bucknell, seeded fourth, who is serving as this year’s tournament host. Whittam did not let the loss against Navy affect his morale as he reported that he is confident and prepared to take on the next tournament.
