The Hopkins women’s soccer team captured the first jewel in what they hope will become a national championship crown this past weekend by winning the 2013 Centennial Conference Title. They defeated the Muhlenberg Mules 8-0 on Friday night and defeated Haverford Fords 2-0 on Saturday to win their ninth Centennial Championship in program history.
The Jays started their championship quest on Friday night against the 7-11-1 Mules of Muhlenberg College. Hopkins put on a scoring clinic in the first half, due in no small part to senior forward Kelly Baker. Baker ignited the scoring run for the Blue Jays early on, scoring a goal in the 11th minute of the game off a pass from fellow senior midfielder Christina Convey. Baker was just getting started as she scored her second goal less than three minutes later off a cross from sophomore midfielder Maryalice McKenna. In the 18th minute, Baker was involved yet again, this time setting up junior forward Hannah Kronick in the center of the box on a breakaway. Kronick took care of the rest, scoring her first goal of the match to give the Jays a 3-0 lead.
Baker continued her magical game by making Centennial Conference Tournament history. In the 23rd minute, Kronick returned the favor to Baker on a superb back heel pass that gave Baker a wide-open shot on the left side of the goal. After dribbling past the last defender, Baker ripped a shot into the back of the goal to secure the hat trick. Baker’s seventh point in the game broke the Centennial Conference Tournament record for points in a game and her three first half goals tied the tournament record for goals in a game. Baker commented on her success. “It was a great team effort all around. The defense and midfield did a great job winning balls and distributing them to the forwards. My teammates set me up really well so all that I had to do was finish,” she said.
The first half also saw an offensive burst from junior midfielder Sydney Teng. In less than two minutes after Baker's third goal, Teng scored Hopkins' fifth and sixth goals of the first half. Her first goal came in the 36th minute on a pass from senior midfielder Amanda Yaccarino. Before the Mules could even blink, Teng headed in her second goal off a beautiful long cross from freshman midfielder Alyssa Morgan to give the Jays a 6-0 lead.
The second half was more of the same for Hopkins, as they continued to keep their foot on the offensive gas. In the 60th minute, Kronick notched her second goal of the game (her fourth multi-goal game of the season). In the 82nd minute, junior midfielder Kaitlin Brooks finished the scoring run for the Blue Jays by scoring her second goal of the season. She booted a powerful shot on a direct kick opportunity right outside the Muhlenberg box to give Hopkins an 8-0 lead, which was still the score when the final whistle blew.
The team’s eight goals set the Centennial Conference Tournament record for goals in a single game and for a tournament as a whole. The 8-0 final score was the largest margin of victory in tournament history and with the win the Blue Jays advanced to the Conference Championship for the 10th straight season to face the 10-2-6 Haverford Fords.
In the championship game of the tournament, the two fought for the advantage early on. Both the Fords and the Blue Jays challenged each other with shots in the opening minutes, including a near miss by Baker in the 13th minute. Things remained tense until the 26th minute when Teng finally connected on the eventual game-winning goal off a rebound played by the ever-active Baker.
In the waning minutes of the first half, Hopkins charged the offensive end once more. Sophomore Hope Lundberg crossed a ball into the box, where Teng connected with a header, hoping to put away her second of the game. The ball was deflected to the ever-dangerous Kronick on the left side, and the star forward ripped a left-footed shot over the outstretched keeper’s head to put the Jays up 2-0 before halftime.
Haverford didn’t give up, and their best chance to score came in the 67th minute. Senior forward Sophie Eiger found an opening on the left side of the field and ripped a shot that was blocked by a diving save from Hopkins senior goaltender Kelly Leddy (who made five saves total in the shutout). For the remainder of the match the Blue Jay defense limited the Fords to zero shot attempts, securing the 2013 Centennial Conference Championship.
Senior forward Kelly Baker was named the 2013 Centennial Conference Tournament MVP after finishing with three goals and two assists in the tournament. The senior from Ridgefield, Conn. put on a record-breaking offensive performance en route to her Tournament MVP selection.
With their Centennial Conference Title, Hopkins earned an automatic bid to the 2013 NCAA Division III Tournament. Currently ranked sixth in the nation, the Blue Jays will attempt a run at the 2013 National Championship in the coming weeks.
