Over the weekend, the Hopkins water polo team traveled to California to compete in the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament, in which the Jays played four of the nation’s top 10 teams in all of D-III. Although Hopkins dropped three of four, they beat the fourth-ranked team in the country, the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 15-10 before falling to Whittier in the final game of the weekend.
While the Jays have fallen to 6-6 on the season, they have shown their talent by defeating a top 10-ranked team in both D-I and D-III.
In these big wins, senior captain Johnny Beal has had a huge impact. The Upland, Calif. native finished this past weekend with five goals, two assists and two ejections in the Jays’ only win as they beat the Stags 15-10. Additionally, Beal notched at least two points in all three of the other games throughout the weekend. Beal is now ranked sixth in school history for points (222), fourth in assists (113) and 10th in steals (78) as of Oct. 7, 2014.
Apart from being one of the team’s top players in all offensive statistics, Beal was awarded The Collegiate Water Polo Association’s Southern Division Offensive Player of the Week this past week due to his impact on the team’s set of conference wins against Princeton and Bucknell. The win over Princeton, who was ranked eighth in D-I at the time, was the first ever victory by a D-III team over that of a top-ten ranked D-I opponent in any sport.
Beal was instrumental in the Blue Jay victory against Princeton as he scored three goals while adding a steal and a block. Beal’s final goal turned out to be the game-winner with 48 seconds left in regulation. Then, against Bucknell, Beal accumulated two goals, three assists and two steals against the conference rival.
As a result of his individual accomplishments, his honor of Offensive Player of the Week by the Southern Division and for his tremendous leadership of the Jays this season, Beal has been named the Athlete of the Week by The News-Letter.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Beal and fellow teammates Langdon Froomer and Erik Henrikson, both juniors and integral components of the team, to chat about the weekend and Beal’s success so far this season.
News-Letter (N-L): “Langdon, how instrumental has Beal been for the team so far this season?”
Langdon Froomer (LM): “Johnny [Beal] has not only played well for us all season but has been a great leader. He has helped me advance my game. Johnny is an extremely unselfish player who has come up big for us many times this year. He’s been crucial in so many of our big victories this year, especially in the upset game against Princeton when he scored the game-winner.”
N-L: “Erik, what has Beal done this season to inspire confidence in the team heading into each match?”
Erik Henrikson (EH): “The things that Johnny does for the team are amazing. In the final minutes against Princeton, there was no one else we would have wanted to have the ball. We have excellent confidence in his ability to lead our team as he’s done numerous times so far this season. He inspires us through his individual effort and his commitment to the team on the whole as one of our captains.”
N-L: “Johnny, what would you say have been the high and low points of the season so far?”
Johnny Beal (JB): “So far, we’ve had some big wins as well as close losses. It is essential for us to keep up our training and play for success moving forward. We have to go into every game believing we can win no matter who we are playing. We know our potential as a team and as long as we play our game and not worry about the name on the other teams caps, we have and will continue to be successful.”
N-L: What do you expect from the George Washington Colonials in your upcoming division matchup this weekend? Will they be one of the toughest tests so far this season?
JB: “This Saturday, we plan to beat GW in their own pool and continue to battle for the top spot in the Southern Division. We continue to approach the postseason very quickly and as a D-III team in a primarily D-I league, we have nothing to lose and can surprise those who underestimate us. They will be a tough test, but one that we know we can handle if we continue to play our brand of water polo.”
While the Jays look to rebound from last weekend’s disappointing losses, they will rely heavily on Beal, Henrickson and Froomer. Their game against George Washington has the potential to be a turning point in what could be a very exciting season, both for the Jays and for Beal, who looks to end his water polo career at Hopkins with a Southern Championship victory.
