By GABRIELLA RUSSO For The News-Letter
The Hopkins women’s soccer team took on Swarthmore College this past Saturday in their 10th game of the season. Hopkins walked away with their first loss of the season to Swarthmore, who remain undefeated in the Conference and in their overall record.
The Blue Jays were on the board within the first five minutes of the game when senior Alaina Arthur scored off of an assist from freshman Kristen Hori, one-touching inside the right post past Swarthmore’s keeper. Arthur’s goal was the team’s first goal of the season, ending their shutout streak.
Hopkins kept the lead until just before the end of the first half when Swarthmore’s sophomore midfielder Sarah Hancock scored the equalizer off of junior forward Hannah Lichtenstein’s cross in the 44th minute.
Within the first 10 minutes of the second half, Swarthmore took the lead when junior striker Katherine Zavez controlled a cross from freshman forward Marin McCoy at the top of the box and shot it past keeper Clara Aranguren in the 53rd minute.
Hopkins continued to put pressure on Swarthmore, spending a majority of the rest of the game in Swarthmore’s half of the field.
Hopkins’ midfielders and forwards kept the Swarthmore defense on their toes, with dangerous crosses and plays in the final third, but were unable to capitalize on any of the opportunities.
The Jays’ defense stayed composed throughout the entire game, making key plays in the second half to keep possession and as well as anattacking position on the field.
The Jays missed many great opportunities during the second half, taking nine shots but not managing to capitalize on any of them.
Both Swarthmore and Hopkins scored goals in the most scoring-heavy times of the game — periods of transition. This was a great match-up since both teams fought hard until the very end.
Aranguren had a total of seven saves this game, and senior forward Issy Berkey had the leading number of shots for the Blue Jays, with a total of four shots.
Following close behind Berkey was junior forward Meg Van de Loo, who had three shots. Hopkins outshot Swarthmore in both halves with an overall shot comparison of 15-12, demonstrating the Lady Jays’ inability to finish but also their dominance on the field in the second half when they led shots taken with a comparison of 9-5.
Despite the 2-1 loss, Hopkins truly outplayed Swarthmore, at least in the eyes of the Lady Jays.
“The score doesn’t matter. It was very well played,” junior forward Alexa Rangecroft said. “Our defense dominated, and we had some very dangerous plays in their final third. We look forward to playing Swarthmore again in the Conference tournament.”
The next meeting of these two teams will come in the Conference tournament, where the Blue Jays will seek revenge after this loss.
Hopkins is now 2-1 in the Centennial Conference, with an overall record of 6-3-1. They are now ranked fifth in the conference and are looking to come out strong in their next game against the Franklin & Marshall College Diplomats, who are ranked seventh in the Conference, with a Conference record of 1-2.
Senior midfielder Maryalice McKenna was disappointed with the loss.
“I think it was a great team effort. We all fought really hard,” McKenna said. “It was just unfortunate that the outcome wasn’t in our favor.”
The Lady Jays are keeping their heads up as they go into their next game. Senior Hope Lundberg seemed optimistic at the end of the game.
“There are times when the outcome of the game is out of our hands, but we did everything we could with it,” Lundberg said.
On Wednesday Oct. 7, the Jays will travel to Lancaster, Pa. to take on Franklin & Marshall at 7 p.m.
