Last week, the sixth ranked Hopkins Blue Jays faced off against the Williams Ephs and the Middlebury Panthers in NCAA tournament action. The Lady Jays triumphed 2-1 in a double overtime clash against #7 Williams in the Sweet Sixteen, but fell to #13 Middlebury in heartbreaking fashion, with the Panthers knocking Hopkins out of tournament play with a last minute goal to win 1-0.
The Lady Jays travelled to Middlebury, Vt. on Nov. 23 for their Sweet Sixteen matchup against Williams. Hopkins jumped to an early lead after freshman defender Adrienne Johnson completed a long pass to junior forward Hannah Kronick who was 40 yards away from goal. She then beat a defender and drove a ball past Williams’ charging goalie for her 22nd goal of the 2013 campaign, putting Hopkins up 1-0 at the 29th minute.
The game remained tied until the waning moments of the match despite ample opportunities for both teams, in large part due to strong performances by Lady Jays goalie Kelly Leddy and her Williams’ counterpart Hannah Van Wetter. Still, with just over two minutes left to play, the Ephs equalized the score at one, ending Leddy’s shutout streak at 11 games. The game remained tied through two periods of overtime, until with 22 seconds remaining in the second overtime period, senior forward Kelly Baker converted on a cross from senior midfielder Christina Convey to give Hopkins the lead with little time left to play.
Following Williams’ late equalizer, Johnson said the team “just came together and knew what we had to do. . .We had to put everything on the line and give 100% effort in order to win. They had high energy coming into the first overtime however, once we took control of the game and held the majority of the possession and created numerous opportunities, we put the pressure on them to keep us out of their net and the energy they had went away.”
The following day, the Lady Jays faced off against the Middlebury Panthers in a tightly contested battle in frigid conditions at Middlebury with the temperature of 25 degrees and 25 MPH wind making it feel close to zero. Hopkins held the Panthers without a shot in the first half while generating a good number of scoring chances. The Lady Jays were able to win five corners and had a number of scoring opportunities thwarted by defenders at the last moment. Still, Hopkins failed to capitalize on these opportunities, and the score was tied at zero going into the half.
With the wind against their back, the Panthers turned the tables in the second half, generating 10 shots, while forcing Leddy to make seven saves. Hopkins, on the other hand, was held to only five shots and was shutout for the first time this season. The team’s tournament run and 12-game unbeaten streak ended when Scarlett Kirk converted on a scoring opportunity with just 17 seconds left on the clock leaving the Lady Jays with no time to equalize.
Johnson commented that, despite losing, she felt that the Jays were the better team. “We had the majority of the possession, more chances, and better play overall than our opponents,” she said. She continued on to say that luck was not on the side of the Lady Jays. “Sometimes the best team doesn’t always win,” she said.
Still, Johnson said that she was extremely proud of the team’s effort, saying that it was “the best team I’ve ever played on.” She said that the team hopes to build off the incredibly successful campaign this year. “We all want to win a national championship; that is something no one on our team needs motivation for, so next year we just have to get it done which I am confident we will.”
The Lady Jays ended the season at 21-2-1, which tied the highest win total in team history. The Panthers move on to the Final Four to face off against the Trinity University Tigers (Texas) for the chance to move on to the championship game. Despite the disappointing end to the season, the Lady Jays had an incredibly successful season and made Hopkins proud. Several individual and program records were set, and the Jays proved that they are a force to be reckoned with. Hopefully the team will be able to further their success in the 2014 campaign and look towards claiming an NCAA National Championship.
