For the first time this season, the men’s soccer team faced a very unfamiliar outcome as they lost against Messiah College.
Last Thursday, the formerly ninth-ranked Blue Jays were handed their first loss of the season by the formerly fifth-ranked Messiah College Falcons in the final minutes of the game.
Even though the Jays outshot the Falcons 10-9, they were unable to capitalize.
“We had our chances, and they had theirs,” senior defender Jonah Muniz said. “We just couldn’t score.”
The loss ended a 15-game winning streak for the Blue Jays, who were up against their first top-10 team since September 2010.
After their disappointing loss, the Blue Jays were back on the field just two days later to take on their Centennial Conference rival: the Swarthmore College Garnet.
This would be a decisive game for the Jays, coming back shortly after their first loss of the regular season.
Hopkins started the match on the attack, forcing the Garnet’s goalie to make four first-half saves. Later, in the 65th minute of play, the Jays had an exciting three-shot streak within 30 seconds but again were not able to capitalize.
First, senior midfielder Drew Collins ripped a shot to the far post, followed by headers from freshman defender Chase Burciaga, both of which the Garnet’s goalie Oliver Steinglass defended. The ball then went right from the goalkeeper’s hands to sophomore forward Achim Younker, who headed the ball just over the crossbar.
With neither team able to score during regulation, the match went into overtime. However, that proved to be just as unexciting, as both teams went scoreless through the second overtime, ending the game in a draw.
Graduate student goalie Bryan See, who leads the Centennial Conference with eight shutouts on the season, explained that at this point in the season most of their opponents know the team’s strengths and weaknesses.
“We need to be able to adapt more to the different tactics our opponents use to defend us, and we certainly need to be more clinical and dynamic in our style of play,” See said.
Though the Jays outshot Swarthmore by a large 22-11 margin and edged them out in corner kicks 10-2, they were unable to convert their advantage into a win. This is the first time in 59 straight games that the Jays have been shut out in back-to-back matches.
After playing four games in just seven days, recovery is going to be key for this team in the coming days.
While the Jays might take a break from conditioning, they will still be looking for ways to improve their performance on the field.
“We will be doing a lot of post-game analysis and work on various tactical and combination plays,” See explained. “We want to be more versatile as a team.”
Although the match ended in a draw, the Blue Jays got their tenth shutout of the season and See’s 22nd career shutout. See is tied for fifth most shutouts by a goalkeeper in school history.
The Blue Jays still sit atop the Centennial Conference with a 4-0-1 record, followed by the Gettysburg Bullets, who hold a 4-1-0 record, their sole loss coming from the Jays. According to See, Hopkins has ambitious goals for this season, and those goals have not changed in the wake of this week’s events.
“To finish first in the regular season, host the Conference Tournament and clinch the title in front of our fans on Homewood Field has been at the back of our minds since day one of preseason, and nothing has changed,” See said.
With three games left in the Jays’ regular season, the Conference is anything but decided. All five of the top teams in the Conference have one or zero losses, and two of the team’s final three games are against teams in that top five.
With this much on the line, it is essential that Hopkins shakes off the loss and the tie and bounces back into their winning ways next week.
The Jays get a week-long break from their busy schedule and do not see competitive play until Oct. 14, when they travel to Lancaster, Pa. for another Centennial Conference matchup, this time against the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats.
