The Hopkins women’s soccer team will enter the NCAA D-III Tournament with momentum on their side after emerging triumphant this weekend in the Centennial Conference Championship. On Saturday, they toppled the Swarthmore Garnet 3-1, and the following day they avenged their loss from earlier this season against the McDaniel College Green Terror with another 3-1 win.
Entering competition this past weekend, the Blue Jays stood second in the Conference. Their match against third-seeded Swarthmore was scoreless for much of the first half until freshman midfielder Emily Maheras was given the ball. She was able to capitalize on an opportunity in the 38th minute of the game when senior midfielder Ana Bengoechea sent a corner kick in her direction. Hopkins would take the 1-0 lead thanks largely to senior goalkeeper Clara Aranguren, who turned away a Garnet shot as the half came to a close.
In start of the second half, the Jays quickly doubled their score with a 49th-minute goal from junior Bailey Monaco. The score remained at 2-0 until the 75th minute, when junior Katie Dougherty put Swarthmore on the board with a breakaway goal, pulling the Garnet within one goal of tying up the game.
The Jays, however, would soon put an end to any of the Garnet comeback hopes. In the 84th minute, senior forward Meg Van de Loo continued her sensational season, finding the net for the 13th straight game and notching her 19th season goal. The goal sealed the game for Hopkins at 3-1. The Jays limited their opponent to just four shots the entire duration of the game.
The Jays triumph over the Garnet, however, came just two weeks after the McDaniel Green Terror brought an end to Hopkins’ 11-game win streak, handing Hopkins their lone conference loss on the season. As the Jays advanced in the tournament, they faced the Green Terror for a second time. This time around, the script was flipped.
The Jays toppled the number one seed and 13th-ranked team in the country on the road in Westminster, 3-1. While both teams failed to score in the first half, the Jays would come out of the locker room strong, with freshman midfielder Maggie Coulson scoring from 25 yards out two minutes in. Van de Loo, once again, continued her play and doubled the Hopkins lead with her 20th goal of the season just minutes later.
Coulson would tally her second goal of the game in the 60th minute, capitalizing on a deflected shot from her teammate, sophomore forward Kristen Hori. Also key to the Jays’ victory was a strong performance from Aranguren, who stymied McDaniel’s offense, notching four saves and allowing just one goal.
After her multi-goal effort, Coulson was named tournament MVP. She attributed the victory against the Green Terror to an improved defensive performance from the regular season.
“By playing the ball more quickly and dropping back when we had to, we fixed a lot of the defensive errors we had in the last game,” said Coulson. “Additionally, everyone was working extremely hard off the ball to make sure that we had everything covered after we lost possession.”
The wins against Swarthmore and McDaniel are a continuation of the Jays’ strong play since a slow 1-1-2 start this season. The team now sits 15-2-2 entering the NCAA tournament and won 14 of their last 15 games. Coulson attributes this to strong teamwork and effort in practice.
“I think we have really come together as a team and clicked well as a unit. Everyone has been working really hard in practice throughout the year and it has definitely carried over to our games, which is why our passing and shape have improved a lot since the beginning of the season,” Coulson said.
The Blue Jays will play host to Western Connecticut State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament set for 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 12. The winner will take on the victor of the 7:30 p.m. matchup between the Rowan University Profs and the Christopher Newport University Captains on Sunday night at 5 p.m. The second round will also be played at Homewood Field a day later, regardless of whether or not Hopkins advances.
This year marks the 12th straight season in which the Jays have appeared in the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Hopkins disappointingly fell in the first round to Bowdoin College. The year before, they made a riveting run to the final four, but fell in the semifinals.
