Hopkins was bested by both the Fordham University Rams and the Wagner College Seahawks this past Saturday in Bronx, N. Y. and Staten Island, N.Y., respectively. The scores were 13-8 and 17-7.
In the late morning match, Fordham went up 3-1 early, but senior attacker Andreas Katsis and senior utility Giorgio Cico answered back with goals to tie the game up with about six minutes left in the half.
Despite the Blue Jays’ efforts to catch up in goals, Fordham continued to dominate offensively and surged past the Jays. The Rams responded with a 7-0 run from which Hopkins could not recover.
Senior utility Josh Kurtz was able to end the run with a goal of his own with just 23 seconds left in the third quarter. The Jays ended their final quarter against the Rams down 10-4.
With another goal from Katsis and goals each from freshman driver Emerson Sullivan and sophomore attacker John Murphy, Hopkins was able to go on a three-goal run. However, the Blue Jays’ late momentum was not enough to pull out a comeback victory. The Rams took the 13-8 win over the Jays.
This is the second time Hopkins has faced off against the Rams this season, with the first matchup resulting in favor of the Jays. The two teams have one more matchup this season, which will be hosted by Hopkins.
The Blue Jays’ defensive efforts took a visible hit with senior goalkeeper Spencer Witte taking the weekend off due to an injury, as Wagner opened on a 9-1 run in the afternoon game.
Freshman defender Jake Pearson got on the board first for the Blue Jays in the Spiro Sports Center Natatorium, but Wagner still dominated the score, heading into halftime with a 10-2 lead over the Jays. Despite the overwhelming lead, this goal was one of three for Pearson that afternoon. Sullivan, Kurtz and senior attacker Ryan Masi also scored goals.
The Blue Jays had a tough time bouncing back from this slow start and let Wagner on another run to open the second quarter, this time a five-goal run. Following the losses, Cico commented on the team’s struggles and its focus moving forward.
“We are really missing [Witte], but we have to find a way to move past and get some good team wins. We will look to get back to the fundamentals this week at practice,” Cico said.
With Witte recovering from his injury, Cico stepped in and started as the team’s goalkeeper against Wagner. This was especially difficult for the team, since Cico had to play a completely different position with very little training experience, and the team had to adjust their offense after losing Cico, one of their top scorers, to the goal.
Katsis also offered up his thoughts on the team’s ability to persevere through adversity on Saturday.
“I am proud of the guys for battling the way they did this past weekend, I am excited to get another chance at these two very good teams, Fordham and Wagner, next weekend,” Katsis added.
Pearson led the team with his first career hat trick, Masi and Sullivan drew four ejections each, and Kurtz had three steals in the game. Also, despite stepping into a new position, Cico earned five saves and five steals.
With these losses on Saturday, Hopkins falls to a 7-12 overall record and a 2-5 record in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference.
The Blue Jays will look to get back on track on Saturday, Nov. 3 in their own pool in the Newton Aquatic Center, as they will get another shot at both teams who handed them a loss this past weekend. Hopefully by next week, the Jays will have their starting line-up back when facing Fordham at 12 p.m. and Wagner at 5 p.m.
