On Saturday, Oct. 26, the Hopkins men’s soccer team suffered a tough loss away against the Washington College (WC) Shoremen. The game was WC’s first home win over the Jays since 1981 and dropped Hopkins to 7-7-2 on the season with a Centennial Conference record of 4-3-1. It also snapped Hopkins’ six game unbeaten streak and essentially made the season finale against the Haverford Fords a must win to secure a playoff berth.
The game had a rather auspicious beginning, as it was delayed for six hours due to a lack of officials, but once play was underway Hopkins jumped to an early lead. In the 21st minute, junior midfielder Rob Hueler completed a long pass to fellow junior midfielder Kotaro Mitsuhashi who then tapped the ball forward to sophomore defender Kenny DeStefano who drove home his fourth goal of the season putting Hopkins up 1-0.
Hopkins maintained the lead until the start of the second half, when, in the 51st minute, the Jays were charged with a handball in the penalty box, leading to a penalty kick opportunity for Washington College. Matt Wilfong converted on the kick for the Shoremen, driving a strike just to the right of a diving Freshman Goalkeeper Matt Paris, tying up the game at one apiece. The Shoremen would take the lead for good when in the 70th minute, Jack Butler capitalized on the rebound following a shot by Dmitri Kaliakin. Butler drove the ball in just under the top crossbar and gave Washington College the 2-1 lead with just 20 minutes left to play.
Although Paris and the Blue Jays defense held the Shoremen at bay following Kaliakin’s 70th minute strike, the WC defense held Hopkins scoreless as well with Goalkeeper Lin Robinson making four saves to secure the victory for the Shoremen despite being outshot 17-10 over the course of the game.
Hueler found the loss to be a bit of a shock. Both Hueler and Senior Midfielder Birin Padam believed that the team took the game for granted and were thus not fully prepared for the game. Hueler also attributes the team’s early lead to its struggles. “We scored early on in the first half and after that we just dropped our level of play and expected to win the game easily from there out,” Hueler said.
“These results do happen in any season,” Padam added.
Both Padam and Hueler acknowledge the need for better preparation over the week. “I think the entire team is feeling the pressure and obviously we are going to do our best to get a win,” Padam said, also adding that the team needs to work on its defensive tactics. Hueler emphasized the need for staying focused over the next week making and putting in the effort during training. “We can't focus on the playoffs just yet, especially with our most recent loss,” Padam said.
Although the loss against Washington College made the path to the playoffs more difficult, the team is still in a strong position to clinch a playoff berth with a win against Haverford this weekend. The team is currently in a three-way tie for third with Franklin & Marshall and Dickinson headed into the season finale. The team will hope to defeat the Fords, the reigning Centennial Conference Champions, on senior night this Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Homewood Field.
