Few Hopkins athletes have ever earned the accolades or garnered the respect from teammates and opponents alike that senior Hannah Kronick, a star forward on the women's soccer team, has. As the all-time Lady Jay and Centennial Conference record-holder by a wide margin in both points and goals, Kronick is one of the best players the conference has ever seen. Kronick’s consistent excellence in her four years here has led opposing defenses to pay fastidious attention to her. And yet, Kronick has still managed to rack up 37 points this year in 20 games for the Lady Jays. Even more impressive, Kronick has shined brightest in the biggest moments for the Lady Jays throughout the season. Though Hopkins fell on penalty kicks to Swarthmore in the Centennial Conference Championship on Sunday, Kronick scored both goals and kept Hopkins in the game until the very end, displaying the flair for the dramatic that has characterized her Hopkins soccer career. Despite the loss on Sunday and the failure to earn an automatic bid, the Lady Jays’ 16-3-1 record for the season was good enough to earn them an at-large bid for the NCAA tournament, keeping Kronick’s legendary career alive. The All-American was gracious enough to answer a few questions for The News-Letter as this edition’s Athlete of the Week.
The News-Letter: You set the Centennial Conference record for career tournament goals yesterday. What has enabled you to have such incredible postseason success? Hannah Kronick: I think what has fueled my post-season success is just my mindset going into big games. It is so important to me to play my best when my best is needed. Thus, personally, I challenge myself to play my best games when my team needs me most because that is when it really counts. So I guess that mindset has allowed for that success.
N-L: Your team has been so unbeatable in conference play all year. What was the difference yesterday? HK: Yesterday, we just couldn’t get lucky. We possessed the ball for the majority of the play, but once it gets to penalty kicks, it’s not really competitive soccer anymore.
N-L: You’ve had such a sterling career here at Hopkins, one that will continue in the playoffs very soon. How has your game evolved in your four years here? HK: My game has evolved immensely in four years. Each year, I have been required to play differently. At first, I used to just use my good first touch to my advantage to make good passes to players around me and keep possession offensively. Now, I have become much more confident in taking players one-on-one and finishing from many different angles as well as holding the ball for us up top.
N-L: What sort of impact do you hope your time here has had on the women’s soccer program? HK: I hope that I have left an impact on the program here as both a player, a leader and a teammate. N-L: Did the physicality and lengthiness of yesterday’s game have anything to do with the outcome? HK: The game was physical from both teams, and we both were battling the entirety of the match. Of course, it is tougher going to overtime due to the length of the game but regardless, both teams knew they had to push it through the entire 110 minutes. Unfortunately, the game was decided in penalty kicks and not in regulation or even overtime.
Kronick and the Lady Jays will host a regional at Homewood Field on Nov. 15-16, marking the seventh straight year the women’s soccer team has hosted a regional. Farmingdale State, SUNY Geneseo and Frostburg State earned the other three spots in the regional, with the Lady Jays set to square off with Skyline Conference Champion Farmingdale State (14-5-3) in the first round.
