The Hopkins water polo team kept their winning record going as they hit the water in Princeton, New Jersey this past weekend. After coming off a 4-0 sweep at the Navy Invitational, the Blue Jays had a target on their backs entering the Princeton Invitational. This extra pressure only added to the Jays intensity and dedication to come out strong and prove their standing in the tournament.
Hopkins opened the tournament with a strong 9-3 win over Iona before hitting a minor setback with a 12-10 loss to Santa Clara. Freshman Matt Fraser, who was named CWPA co-rookie of the week last week, stayed dominant as he finished Saturday with five goals and 3 assists. Junior Danny Ovelar faced the difficult task of protecting the goal Saturday evening from 16th-ranked Santa Clara. Grabbing an impressive 10 saves, Ovelar’s efforts just weren’t enough to defeat the Broncos.
The team did not have long to rebound as they faced off early Sunday morning against Harvard. The Blue Jays got off to a rough start falling behind the Crimson 6-4 going into the half. As the team headed back out for the second half, they appeared to have a revived energy, and it showed through their excellent play as the Jays rallied to an even 8-8 score heading into the fourth. Hopkins was able to score three more goals while sophomore goalie Erik Henrikson provided 13 saves keeping Harvard at 9 total goals, propelling Hopkins to an 11-9 victory.
Later that evening, the Jays faced an easier match against Penn. Hopkins led 5-1 at halftime and continued to roll into the second half. Outscoring Penn 8-3 in the second, the Jays handed a crushing 13-4 defeat to the Quakers. Fraser once again dominated offensively with the help of Senior Thomas de Lyon, as they each tallied hat tricks in the rout. De Lyon’s presence was felt throughout the entirety of the game as he also added two assists and drew two ejections. Ovelar was a force to be reckoned with in the goal as he stopped 14 of the 18 shots thrown at him and was still able to grasp a steal and provide an assist in the Jays victory.
The Blue Jays finished the Princeton Invitational 3-1 and finished the weekend with an impressive season record of 7-1. This has been a historic couple of weekends for the team and has been the best start the team has experienced over the past few seasons. With the new format for the Eastern Championship, the Blue Jays have already provided a dominant start and look to continue this winning record all the way to the playoffs. “This is not a warm-up. All games count now,” Coach Bresnahan said regarding the early tournament wins leading into the season.
These early wins have set the pace and the standard for the Jays especially having defeated two of the top teams in the Northern Division in Harvard and Iona. These wins are quite admirable, especially considering the make up of this year’s team. The water polo team is almost completely dominated by underclassmen, outnumbering the upperclassman by a 3:1 ratio. The team has 15 underclassmen and five upperclassman making there 7-1 record against all division I opponents quite impressive. “This is as good as any freshman class we have had,” Coach Bresnahan said, who has been the head of the program for 23 out of 26 years.
Bresnahan has lead this program without reprieve and has become the winningest coach in the program’s history with a remarkable 328 wins and has led the Blue Jays to 14 Division III Eastern Championships. With the strong influence of Bresnahan, the water polo team has become one of the premier Division III teams in the nation. Although the team is young this year, Coach Bresnahan has the ability to mold young talent into All-Americans, having coached 40 All-Americans in the past. Bresnahan has confidence in his younger players, keeping at least three freshmen in the water at all times. “Not many teams are doing that,” Bresnahan said in regards to the young talent of the team. He clearly has all of the confidence in the world in his group as they have represented Hopkins tremendously so far this season. The team is adamantly working to improve on their notable 25-9 record from last season and make it to yet another Division III Eastern Championship. The Jays play next at home on September 21st at 12:00pm against Princeton, hungry for more victories.
