This past weekend, the Hopkins field hockey team played two non-conference games, one home matchup and the other away.
They started on Friday night with a 3-1 victory over the Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets, and they ended their weekend on Sunday night with a 2-1 loss to the No. 16 ranked Christopher Newport Captains.
The Blue Jays have been historically great against Randolph Macon having never once lost to their program. Friday was no different. After 24 minutes of scoreless play, they scored two goals in 27 seconds.
Sophomore midfielder Maddie Brown-Scherer scored both goals, assisted by fellow sophomore midfielder Abby Birk.
Later in the third quarter, freshman forward Siena Urbanski added another goal (assisted by senior midfielder Katie McErlean) to push the lead to three. In the waning seconds of the game, Randolph Macon scored on a penalty shot, which was just their second shot of the game.
Throughout the game, the defense shut down Randolph-Macon. They were limited to three corners.
The stats further show the Jays’ dominant performance.
They had 31 shots to Randolph Macon’s two. Not only did they limit them to two shots, but both shots also came in the fourth quarter when the Jays began to rest many of their starters.
In other words, Brown-Scherer had as many goals as Randolph Macon had shots. Hopkins was aggressive and effective on both the offensive and defensive end.
With this victory, the Blue Jays managed to push their win total to three on the young season.
Continuing her success from her last game, Brown-Scherer scored the first goal on Sunday as well. The Jays scored early, but failed to find the net the rest of the game.
After the Hopkins goal four minutes and 37 seconds into the game, they failed to score again.
Christopher Newport tied the game up just 37 seconds later.
The score stayed the same until the fourth quarter, with a number of shots and opportunities still there for both sides throughout the game.
Brown-Scherer was still proud of how the team played despite the lack of goals.
“We had great persistence and energy throughout the entirety of the game,” she said.
But the numbers show the fourth quarter was a problem for the Jays.
They had no corners and no shots the entire final quarter of the game. On the other hand, Christopher Newport had four shots, all on goal.
With less than six minutes left in the game, the Captains broke the stalemate.
Off a corner, they got a shot on goal that was initially saved.
However, they got the rebound and scored.
Even with the loss, senior goalie Jodie Baris was a star in this game.
She had 10 saves and helped the game stay close until the very end.
Much like the Friday game, this fit the all-time record, 3-6 against Christopher Newport.
Overall, the box score reflected a fairly well-contested game.
Although the Jays were out shot 21 to 13, an anomaly for this season, the game was always within reach for both sides. This was the first loss for the Jays this season, leaving their record at 3-1 after this weekend.
With this being the only ranked team the Jays have played, the squad is now 0-1 against ranked opponents.
Brown-Scherer gave the assurance that the team was not discouraged by the loss.
“This weekend gave us great insight on areas we need to focus on,“ she said. “We saw where we excel and will continue to develop in gameplay.”
It is still just the beginning of the season, but this team has shown the ability to play to their own expectations.
The next game for the squad is a non-conference matchup with the unranked Catholic University Cardinals Saturday at 5 p.m.
It will be the only game this weekend.
