The Blue Jays dominated the Muhlenberg Mules 2-0 in their first Centennial Conference shutout of the season. Saturday’s victory is the Blue Jays’ fourth straight win, as they defeated St. Mary’s, Washington College and Rutgers University-Camden prior to the Mules.
Prior to the contest, Senior Midfielders Meg Van de Loo and Ana Bengoechea earned spots on the Hopkins Women’s Soccer 25th Anniversary Team, which is a collection of the program’s most valuable 22 players throughout the last 25 years. Along with being honored on the Anniversary Team, the two All-Americans tallied a goal each against the Mules during Saturday’s Centennial Conference victory.
Van de Loo would score first for the Blue Jays in the ninth minute by taking advantage of a penalty kick and putting it past the Mules’ freshman goalkeeper Libby Juliano.
Five minutes later, junior goalkeeper Bess Kitzmiller saved a penalty kick attempt by the Mules’ junior midfielder Carly DeNigris. Kitzmiller’s save marks her fifth victory in goal for the Blue Jays.
“A play that really stood out was when a penalty kick was called on us, and Bess made an amazing save to keep it a shutout,” sophomore forward Kristen Hori said. “In the beginning of the season, we were having some trouble maintaining defense, but getting the shutout was a big step forward.”
In the 20th minute of the game, Bengoechea wasted no time in the box as she one-timed the cross from Hori, giving the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead within the first quarter, which would remain for the rest of the game. After leading the Blue Jays with nine assists during her freshman season, Hori racked up her first assist of the year on Saturday.
Although no goals were scored on either side during the second half, the Blue Jays continued to be aggressive, tallying 15 shots to the Mules’ two after halftime.
Keeping the Mules from converting any of their shots, the Blue Jays consistently put the Mules under pressure throughout the entirety of the game. The Blue Jays finished with a total of 28 shots and six corner kicks, while the Mules finished with five shots and no corner kick opportunities.
Hori revealed that the Blue Jays’ approach and mindset in the game has been pivotal to their fast start at the beginning of the season.
“Going into the game, we knew that we couldn’t take this or any team lightly, and we had to come out hard,” Hori said. “The team’s goal is to focus more on the process rather than the outcome when it comes to the different aspects of the game, whether on or off the field. Of course, we strive to win the conference and the NCAA tournament, but in order for us to grow as a team, we need to focus on the things we can control such as communication and movement.”
Coming off a campaign in which they won the Centennial Conference and snagged a bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Blue Jays have high expectations for the remainder of their season.
“The rest of our season has so much potential, and I just see it going up from here. We got over the initial barrier of playing with a new team going into a new season, and we now know what we need to do to reach our goals,” Hori said.
The Blue Jays return to Homewood Field on Wednesday, Oct. 5 for a Centennial Conference matchup against Franklin & Marshall. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m.
