News-Letter

Media Credit: Conor Kevit Junior midfielder Molly Steele is illegally pulled by the jersey by an Ursinus player.

Media Credit: Conor Kevit

A great day for Hopkins soccer, which began with the men's team capturing their conference championship, quickly became an even better one as the women's soccer team won its third consecutive Centennial Conference title in front of a raucous crowd at Homewood Field.

The team's 2-0 victory over the Ursinus Bears was keyed by a dominating second-half performance and goals by the team's top two offensive threats, senior forward Kim Lane and junior forward Molly Steele.

After tying Ursinus 0-0 in a double-overtime game only a week earlier in the final match of the regular season, Hopkins was ready for the physical play of the Bears. The first half, though, looked much like the game from the previous week as the teams traded possession and headed into their locker rooms in a scoreless tie once again.

"We knew the game would come down to who wanted it more and who was going to play harder," freshman forward Erin Stafford said. "We knew they were a tough team and that they would come out with a lot of heart, so we realized we had to step it up a lot."

"I always start off our halftimes by letting our players talk," Head Coach Leo Weil said. "They knew what they had to do. They knew they needed to play with more intensity, but we didn't change anything or do anything magical."

It might not have been

magic, but a back-and-forth first half immediately gave way to a dominating second-half performance. Lane's goal in the 59th minute off a free kick, which went around the Ursinus wall and under the sprawling goalkeeper, gave Hopkins a 1-0 lead. Lane, fresh off being featured as one of Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd," allowed Hopkins some much-needed breathing room.

In the 85th minute, Steele scored a goal of her own, her ninth of the season, by dribbling around two Ursinus defenders and putting the ball in the left side of the net from just beyond the 18-yard box. If there had been any doubt about the game's outcome before Steele's goal, all doubts about who would emerge as Centennial Conference champion were immediately put to rest.

"We did fairly well in the first half but we knew it wouldn't be enough to win," senior defender Cassandra Vogel said. "We went out in the second half and basically dominated."

With the win, Hopkins became the first team ever to win three straight Centennial Conference championships in women's soccer and brings the program's championship total to six.

"It felt really good," said Weil, who was unsure about the season's prospects at the beginning of the year after losing such a talented senior class. "It was very satisfying. Of the six that we've had, it's up there with being the most satisfying."

"I am really proud of our class, our school and our program," Vogel said.

Vogel has been an instrumental member of a group that went to the conference championship game in all four years. "Three in a row is really solid; it's becoming kind of a dynasty. I can't think of a better way to end our seniors' careers at Homewood Field."

For Allie Zazzali, a freshman midfielder and the team's third-leading scorer off the bench, winning the Centennial Conference was a new experience.

"It's really exciting," she said. "I didn't have the whole 'three-peat' mentality because I wasn't here for the first two, but it was still great."

There is no time for celebrating, however, because an NCAA rematch with Virginia-Wesleyan looms this Saturday at Richard Stockton College in Pomona, N.J. The Marlins, after all, are the team that knocked Hopkins out of last year's NCAA tournament in the second round after two overtimes and penalty kicks.

"They're having a great year as usual," Weil said of Virginia-Wesleyan. "But our team is pretty confident right now and there's no team we play where we can't come out on top."

For a program that has never won a second-round NCAA tournament game, it is clear that they are not losing sight of the significance of their first round opponent.

"I'd love to get revenge against them," Vogel said. "They beat us last year and there'd be nothing better than ending their season just as they did to us."

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools