The future was uncertain for Johns Hopkins? men?s soccer team. At the beginning of the season, the Blue Jays were fielding a team that had lost seven starters from its 2005 squad that won a fourth ECAC title and went 14-2-5 overall.
The uncertainty of starting a slew of freshmen and sophomores is long gone, though, as the Blue Jays stormed their way to a 16-1-1 record, finished in first in the Centennial Conference (8-0-1) and will host the conference tournament at Homewood Field Saturday at 5 p.m.
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“We were very frustrated with our performance last year,” Hopkins coach Matt Smith said.
This year?s returning players felt like there were too many games last season that they could have won but didn?t.
“We understood this was going to be a rebuilding year, and we gave some quality time to younger players and let them grow,” Smith said.
The youth has not disappointed, as three of the Blue Jays? top five scorers are freshmen. The team has started freshmen and sophomores at nearly every position except for junior midfielder Ben McAbee and senior goalie Dan Coble. McAbee is academically a senior, but because of two stress fractures in his left leg in the past two seasons, he has a junior?s eligibility.
“Having him back created more dominance in that position, and he helped inspire his younger players,” Smith said.
McAbee leads the team in scoring and total points with nine goals and six assists. The midfielder believes that this year?s team is technically better than the more experienced team from last year.
“We are not a big team,” he said. “We stick to our strengths and try to knock it around and dribble. We are more comfortable on the ball.”
McAbee feels that Hopkins has a distinct advantage in hosting the tournament this year because of the comfort the team has playing at home on turf. Hopkins? only senior starter this season, Coble, feels the same way but is pretty much comfortable wherever he plays. This season, he set a school and conference record for shutout minutes with 1,010:37.
“I had this feeling that I was going to have a streak like that before the season started,” Coble said. “Then I got scored on in the first 15 minutes of the first game and thought I was going to have a terrible year. I think that actually helped.”
Though his shutout streak is over, the 6-foot-2 goalie knows that Hopkins has a distinct advantage hosting the tournament.
“We played almost all of [the opposing teams] at home, and there is that comfort level,” Coble said. “But we beat them all by one or two goals, so they also have complete confidence that they can come in here and win.”
