Oct. 20, 2013

(10-20) Wash&Jeff Box

(10-20) MIT Box

Photo Gallery

BALTIMORE, MD - Johns Hopkins defeated Washington & Jefferson and MIT en route to winning its 15th Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship Sunday. The Blue Jays opened the day with a 22-14 win over the Presidents, behind a record-setting performance by junior Wes Hopkins, and then defeated the Engineers, 13-8, in the championship match. Sophomore goalie Erik Henrikson was named the championship's MVP while head coach Ted Bresnahanearned Outstanding Coach honors.

Hopkins opened the first match of the day with a quick three-goal run and led 7-2 at the end of the first quarter thanks to a hat trick from senior Thomas de Lyon. The teams swapped goals through the opening four minutes of the second before the Blue Jays put together a four-goal spurt to push out to a 13-5 with 1:21 to go in the quarter. The Presidents got a pair of goals in the final 44 seconds of the stanza to make it a six-goal game at the half.

Coming out of the break, Hopkins sandwiched a pair of goals around a strike from Mike Magdic to make it a 15-8 game. The Presidents responded with back-to-back goals to trim the deficit to five. But that's as close as Washington & Jefferson would get as Hopkins answered with a 5-1 run that spanned the quarter break and saw the Jays storm out to a 20-11 lead. The Presidents kept fighting and outscored the Blue Jays, 3-1, over the final five minutes but the nine-goal deficit was too much to overcome.

Hopkins was impressive in the win, scoring a school single-game record nine goals and added five assists to finish the morning with a career-best 14 points. In addition to his record-setting goal mark, Hopkins also tallied the 100th assist of his career. De Lyon poured in five goals, including the 100th of his career, and drew four ejections, while senior Stephen Kingery and junior Johnny Beal each chipped in hat tricks. Henrikson made 12 saves and also grabbed two steals and handed out two assists. Freshman Matt Fraserhanded out four assists, swiped six steals and drew four ejections.

After a five-hour break, Hopkins then faced off against MIT with the CWPA Division III Championship on the line. The match marked the 15th time the Blue Jays and the Engineers have battled for the title, with Hopkins winning 10 of those. This match started the same was as the semifinal with Hopkins pushing out to a 3-0 lead. MIT scored to open the second quarter but Hopkins came right back with goals from sophomore Langdon Froomer, Fraser and Kingery to take a 6-1 lead in the match. The Engineers answered with a 4-1 run that bridged halftime and made it a 7-5 game with less than two minutes gone in the third quarter.

The Blue Jays pushed their lead back to four with goals by Hopkins and freshman Giovanni Cragnottiexactly one minute apart. But the Engineers were not backing down, with a pair of goals in the final four minutes of the quarter to make it a 9-7 game heading into the fourth. Fraser opened the scoring in the final quarter with a five-meter goal and the Blue Jays would outscore the visitors, 4-1, in the quarter to take home the hardware.

Hopkins and Fraser led the team with three goals apiece as seven different Blue Jays scored in the win. Hopkins and de Lyon finished with four assists each, while Froomer handed out three. Fraser drew five ejections and de Lyon drew four while Henrikson made10 saves in the cage.

Henrikson highlighted the honors for Hopkins as he was named the championship MVP, becoming the first Blue Jay goalie to earn the honor. Bresnahan earned Outstanding Coach honors for the eighth time since 1992. Joining Henrikson on the First Team All-Tournament Team were Fraser and Hopkins. Froomer and de Lyon were named to the Second Team.

Hopkins returns to action on Friday, November 1 as the Blue Jays host the George Washington Colonials in CWPA Southern Division action. The match is slated for a 7:00 pm start at the Newton White Athletic Center. Hopkins then travels to Annapolis on Saturday for matches versus Navy and Mercyhurst to close out the regular season.