The Hopkins water polo team took two of three on the weekend to return to .500 on the season, beating Mercyhurst 13-6 on Saturday afternoon and shutting out Penn State Behrend 16-0 on Sunday morning, but losing to Bucknell 9-7 on Saturday evening.
Against Mercyhurst, Hopkins jumped out to an early 5-0 lead on the back of a pair of goals by freshman Jono Gillette. The Lakers finally responded midway through the second period with a goal from Alex Strong and would tack on two more goals to leave the game 5-3 at the half. Senior co-captain Johnny Beal scored twice in the beginning of the third, once before and once after another score from Strong, leaving the Blue Jays with a 7-4 lead.
It appeared as though as the Lakers were on track for a comeback when Mercyhurst answered with back-to-back goals in a 34 second span to bring the game to within one towards the end of the quarter, but sophomore Camden Schraeder snuffed out the Lakers hopes, scoring with 25 seconds remaining in the third. Schraeder’s goal sparked a rally which saw five unanswered Blue Jay goals to finish out the game in the fourth quarter.
Schraeder led the way for Hopkins, scoring three goals and tallying two assists for a career-high five points. Beal also notched a hat trick while grabbing four steals, and junior Kevin Yee snagged a team-high five steals. Junior goalie Erik Henrikson finished the game with 11 saves and was excellent between the pipes.
In the second game of the day, both Hopkins and Bucknell scored in the opening minutes, but neither team was able to convert for the rest of the period until the Bison took a 2-1 lead with 1:16 to go in the first. Bucknell extended its lead to two, less than three minutes into the second. Junior Garrett Davidson responded for Hopkins just over a minute later before the teams traded goals over the next 10 minutes, leaving the game 6-4 in favor of Bucknell with three minutes to go in the third quarter.
Junior Langdon Froomer ripped a shot past the Bucknell goaltender to bring the Jays within one before Beal tied the game at 6-6 with a goal to open the fourth quarter. Sophomore center defender RJ Moore gave the Bison back the lead, but sophomore Matt Fraser answered to tie the game at seven. In the last 24 seconds of the fourth quarter, however, Bucknell scored twice to ice the game. Gillette was the only multi-scorer for Hopkins, finishing the game with two goals. Despite a very even game overall, the boys were unable to keep the game knotted for overtime as the Bison offense gelled during the final minute of the game.
Despite the heartbreaking loss, the boys were forced to put the game behind them as they re-entered the pool on Sunday morning to play against Penn State Behrend (PSB). Needless to say, the Jays looked incredibly focused as they went out and smacked PSB 16-0. 12 different players scored for Hopkins as the Jays recorded the fourth shutout in program history in a thorough dismantlement of the Lions.
Hopkins went out there and dominated the Lions, scoring five unanswered goals in the first quarter behind the strength of two goals from Yee. The Jays only continued the onslaught in the second quarter, finishing the first half up 13-0. In the second half, the Jays added three goals to complete the crushing as the game ended 16-0.
Freshman Surya Ram and Fraser led the day for Hopkins with two goals and two assists apiece. Ram also recorded two steals, and his four points in the game marked a career high. Other goals were scored by freshman Dimitri Harr and Davidson, who allotted for two goals apiece. Henrikson made a brief appearance in the game as he made three saves and generated two assists in the first quarter. Once the game was comfortably in hand, freshman John Wilson played the last three quarters, recording four shots while dishing out two assists.
Of the team effort required to defeat Penn State so thoroughly, Henrikson said, “Our defense was... more physical and stronger than Penn State; we were able to shut them down more thoroughly. I think our conditioning really showed when our fast-break players like Pete Fisher were countering up and down the pool and still able to play strong defense.”
The boys will continue their season against two teams they've already faced off against this year, Princeton and Bucknell, this upcoming weekend. The boys are looking to move above .500 for the first time this season.
Henrikson set out new goals for the team's upcoming games. "We'll be looking to capitalize on the extra advantage of playing at home. We would love to get the support of Hopkins and pack the stands, as these are our biggest games of the season. We are going to work on how to best attack their cage based off of the defense we know that Princeton and Bucknell will run... we’re hoping to convert on more six-on-five opportunities to come out on top.”
Despite their current record, the Jays are eager to take down both teams during their only back-to-back home games of the season.
