By GAB RUSSO For The News-Letter
The Hopkins women’s soccer team took on Bowdoin College on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA tournament at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J. This was the end of the road for the Blue Jays, who ended their season with an overall record of 14-5-1. Coming off their Centennial Conference Championship game last weekend, the Blue Jays went into the NCAA tournament with confidence. They stepped onto the field with their hearts set on making it to the final four of the NCAA tournament. Their overconfidence might have been a cause of their tough loss. In the first half, Bowdoin scored in the 20th minute off of a corner kick, but Hopkins managed to get an equalizer in 39th minute when sophomore Thea Harvey-Brown finished a cross from senior Issy Berkey. At just 23 seconds into the second half, Bowdoin took the lead. Hopkins managed to tie the game when junior Meg Van de Loo scored her 17th goal of the season in the 66th minute. The Blue Jays kept the game tied until the final minute when Bowdoin scored the game-winning goal that knocked the Blue Jays out of the NCAA tournament and ended their season. As the score shows, this was a well-fought match on both sides. Hopkins had a clear dominance, and when it came to level of play in the final third they outshot their opponent 20-13. Hopkins goalie Clara Aranguren made five saves for the Blue Jays; It was not enough to get Hopkins into the next round of the tournament. Hopkins played a rough final game, but the team was unable to stop Bowdoin’s aggressive offense and failed to capitalize on many opportunities in their opponent’s defensive third of the field. “We played hard and had most of the possession but it just didn’t fall our way at the end,” junior Adrienne Johnson said. “This weekend was a really rough one and a season no one expected to be over on Saturday night. As a senior I didn’t believe it to be true when I walked off the field for the last time,” Berkey said. “Since our team didn’t expect it to be our last game, we went into the game not playing like it was going to be our last and that is how we were defeated. I wouldn’t trade the last four years for anything.” “We had an incredible season and pushed through numerous obstacles to accomplish what we accomplished,” senior Sarah Benett said. “While our run in the NCAAs was shorter than we all would have liked, it was incredible to win the conference championship and really come together as a team.” The Lady Jays may be done for this season, however, with many returning players, Hopkins is looking forward to more success in the future.
