In continuation of what has been an up and down season, the Hopkins women’s field hockey team suffered a 2-0 loss to Ursinus this past Saturday at Homewood Field. The loss lowers the team’s record to 5-7 overall and 2-3 in conference. The Lady Jays have been inconsistent as they have yet to string together a streak of more than two wins in a row.
While the Bears notched their third shutout and improved to 11-1 overall, the Lady Jays were able to hold them to their second lowest scoring mark of the season. Additionally, the Bears maintained a perfect record in Centennial Conference play as Ursinus appears to be the favorite to take home the CC championship this season.
Coming into the game ranked third overall in scoring with almost six goals per game, Ursinus came out strong at the start of the game. After 27 minutes, they were on the board with two quick goals, taking a 2-0 lead. For the Bears, sophomore Danielle Stong drove a corner pass to teammate Kelsey Reed, who then shortly scored past Hopkins junior goaltender Zoey Atabek.
The Lady Jays prioritized defense coming into the game. Atabek led the way with 16 saves in goal, just one shy of her career mark. Senior Danielle Thompson had two defensive saves and contributed to the team’s success in the game by shutting down the Bear’s offense after the initial two goals. Meanwhile at the other end of the field, Ursinus goaltender Danielle DeSpirito did not face much pressure as she notched just one save throughout the entire game.
After solving the Lady Jay’s defense for the first time, Bears forward Megan Keenan collected a pass from her teammate and drove a beautiful shot for the second goal past Atabek. While the Lady Jays were unable to get on the board, they had their work cut out for them, as Ursinus is currently ranked fifth overall in the NCAA D-III standings. Additionally, Hopkins held the Bears to their lowest scoring game since September 10th.
One factor that proved to have an effect on the Lady Jays’ performance was the fact that they had just played two games earlier that week, including one against the Swarthmore Garnet and another against a top-ranked opponent in Franklin and Marshall. The fatigue began to show towards the end of the second half as the Lady Jay defense was pushed to the max.
In the Swarthmore game, the Lady Jays came out firing, with senior Lucy Woodrow scoring a goal in just twelve minutes. After receiving a pass from sophomore Austin Davis, Woodrow then scored another, notching her third of the season. At 68:17, sophomore Liz Stillman fired a shot into the bottom left corner, capping the 7-0 victory for Hopkins.
Sophomore Shannon Cosgrove commented about the mentality heading into the game against the Bears.
“Ursinus is always a tough game and it took a lot of focus, especially on defense, to hold them to only two goals,” Cosgrove said.
Both Cosgrove and Atabek noted that maintaining good offensive possession might significantly help performance.
“I think we need to capitalize on scoring opportunities,” Atabek said. “I think we’re learning from each game and we’re really excited for our final five games that are all against conference teams.”
The Lady Jays are back in action on Friday, Oct. 17 against Haverford at 7 p.m. at Homewood Field. The Lady Jays have only five games remaining against predominantly conference opponents, including tough matchups against Dickinson, Bryn Mawr, McDaniel, and Gettysburg. While Ursinus is likely the toughest test the Lady Jays will face all season, in order to have a chance of making the playoffs, the team will look to find a way to put together its first winning streak of the season. Haverford currently holds a record of 5-7 overall on the season while capturing only one victory in five games in conference play. This matchup is a favorable one for the Lady Jays as they hope to put the tough loss against the Bears behind them.
