The Blue Jays came away from the week of Sept. 10 with a win and loss against the York College Spartans and the Haverford College Fords on Wednesday and Saturday, respectively. They defeated York 2-0 and fell to Haverford 1-0.
Late in the first half against York, Hopkins pushed it offensively and had three great chances before they eventually scored in the 41st minute. The goal came off a long pass from junior forward Liam Moylan to sophomore forward Jonathon Brown, who crossed the ball in to sophomore midfielder Alejandro Maclean who easily put it past the York goalkeeper.
Early in the second half, York College looked as if they would even the score, but sophomore goalie Xander LeFevre came up clutch with a one-handed save. He finished the game with three saves and preserved the shutout, his third this season.
After that, Moylan picked up his second assist on a goal that junior defender Connor Jacobs finished to give the Blue Jays an insurance goal.
“We did a good job of getting in behind [York’s] high defensive line at the end of the second half in terms of moving the ball and trying to combine with each other in front of the goal, which helped create chances for our wingers and attacking midfielders,” sophomore forward Pablo Martinez said.
Hopkins outshot York, 18-10, but the real disparity was in shots on goal, which the Blue Jays dominated by a tally of 12-3.
“We were able to find a good mix of dangerous balls beating their back line, as well as establish good possession from the back,” Moylan said after the game.
Hopkins then opened up Centennial Conference play with their match against Haverford this past Saturday afternoon.
Although Hopkins controlled the pace of play throughout most of the game, it was Haverford who scored the game’s only goal and came out with the win thanks to a goal only three minutes into the game.
The Blue Jays had a chance to respond less than a minute after Haverford’s goal, but Brown’s shot was saved by Ford goalkeeper Michael Iacono.
The next big scoring opportunity for either team would not come until the second half when, in the 50th minute, senior forward Gerrit Church got a shot on goal. However, Iacono again rejected the Jays’ attempt.
Hopkins had two more chances to get shots on goal to potentially tie the game, but both were saved, and the Blue Jays fell to the Fords 1-0. Hopkins had not lost a Centennial Conference match since October 2016.
LeFevre held his own after surrendering the quick opening goal, posting four saves in the game, the same number as Iacono saved for Haverford. The Jays were outshot by the Fords nine to seven and five to four in terms of shots on goal.
The game was very chippy between the two teams, as there were 33 total fouls called and two yellow cards handed out.
The Blue Jays came into their York match ranked No. 21, and after they split the York and Haverford games, they remain in the 21st spot. Hopkins sits at seventh in Centennial Conference standings.
“[We] are excited to get ourselves back on track in the Conference after a tough opening loss this past weekend,” Moylan said.
“Offensively, we are going to have to get width high up the field and establish possession better in the final third, as well as put more crosses in dangerous areas,” Martinez added.
The Blue Jays will look to move up in both the national and Centennial standings when they host the No. 4 team in the Centennial Conference, the Gettysburg College Bullets, on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Homewood Field.
