By Isabella Sansanelli
Sports Editor
The Washington College Field Hockey team fell 8-1 to conference opponent Johns Hopkins #9 during home game on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Roy Kirby Jr. Stadium.
The Blue Jays were off to a strong start, scoring five goals in the first half alone while WC remained at zero. Opponent Bryn Rolon made the first goal for the Blue Jays only six minutes into the first quarter, along with opponent Maddie BrownScherer, who, passing WCs goalie, brought the Blue Jays up 2-0.
The second quarter looked somewhat similar, as the Blue Jays’ Brown-Scherer scored once more at 11:45 and Blue Jay Katie McErlean at 20:02, putting JHU up 4-0.
WC did not even take a shot until the third quarter, when junior Kaitlyn Brandt attacked the goal only to be deflected immediately.
In response, the Blue Jays took another three goals on shots by Valerie Henson, Sam Chabot, and Brown-Scherer, her third of the night.
It was not until the fourth quarter that the Shorewomen were able to effectively shut down the Blue Jays’ offense and become more aggressive on goal. Once the Shorewomen came together this way, they were able to create a scoreless quarter for the Blue Jays and pick up what would be their only goal for the match.
The sole goal for the Shorewomen would come from freshman Anna Harrington at 46:39, off of an assist from junior Grace Steele.
Senior Sophie Grabiec shared her thoughts on the match.
“We knew going in that Hopkins in ranked number 9 and would be tough. But we managed to execute some of our goals and play through the whole game like it was 0-0. It would have been really easy for any team to go into a game like that and immediately give up, but we were consistently pushing the pace of play,” she said.
Some of the game leaders for the Shorewomen included freshman Caroline Kral, who accomplished 11 saves with five goals allowed, while her fellow goalie, Zapcic, totaled two saves and three goals allowed.
Freshman Jillian Brejnik lead the team in two shutouts and Steele in assists, totaling one. Lastly, Harrington would lead the team in goals with her sole goal in the fourth quarter. This was her first collegiate goal and earned her the name of Goose Nation TV Player of the Game.
After this match, the Shorewomen fall to 1-7 overall and 0-3 in conference.
The WC Field Hockey team will face off next against conference opponent, McDaniel University at 5:30 p.m. at the home of the Green Terror.