When two of the top three teams in the country face off, you know everyone on the field is looking to elevate their game to the next level. That’s what happened when the No. 2 ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays came into Glassboro on a hot and muggy Saturday, Sept. 9, to take on the No. 3 ranked Rowan Profs.
The Blue Jays got on the board early after their point leader, Sienna Urbanski, got the ball past goalkeeper Aida Ingram and into the back of the net from five yards out. Ingram didn’t let the early goal phase her though, as the senior goalie would go on to finish with a career-high 20 saves on the day.
Even with Johns Hopkins peppering shots against Ingram, her stone-cold reaction never changed, standing tall and unfazed all day long.
“Honestly, I have no idea (how I stayed calm). I was just kind of like ‘alright, focus on the next shot, focus on the next ball,'” Ingram said. “Their ball was moving fast, so there was no time for me to even harp on those two goals. I was like ‘Oh shit,’ gotta get that ball out. That’s what I was thinking.”
After that first-quarter goal, Ingram settled in and didn’t allow another goal until Johns Hopkins set up for a corner midway through the third quarter. Out of the corner, Grace Waldeck got just enough on her shot to get it past the outstretched Ingram and make it a 2-0 game, which proved to be the ultimate outcome.
Rowan’s corner defense was tested all game, with Johns Hopkins getting 14 corners compared to just five for the Profs, Ingram and the rest of the Profs’ defense held strong however, allowing just the two goals off corners.
“Our corner defense is solid, we’re a unit. Two balls let out, that’s gonna happen. You win some, you lose some, but our defensive corner system; communicating, we’re there for each other, we pick each other up,” Ingram said. “Whoever’s on my left post always has my left foot so if I can’t make a save, they’re there. Right post I have Vanessa [DiDonato] on it, she was pushing people out and I was able to make a save left and right.”
While the Blue Jays’ offense was firing away at the Profs’ defense, it was the complete opposite for Rowan. Scoring chances were few and far between for the Profs, as they only got 11 shots off, with six of them being on goal.
After being shut out for the first time this season, DiDonato believes that this game could actually help propel the Profs’ offense in the future.
“I think what caused us to struggle offensively was moving as a unit, there was a little bit of a gap, but that’s an easy fix that we’ve learned and gotten exposed to early on which is going to help us with the future games,” DiDonato said. “I’m glad that we got exposed with that because that’s an easy fix and once we get that unlocked, we’ll be scoring.”
Even after the loss, the Profs know that they have a lot of opportunities to right the ship, starting Wednesday, Sept. 13 when the 3-0 Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks come to Glassboro.
“Just a little hiccup. I’d rather lose in the beginning, just so we can all find our grounding,” Ingram said. “We are a young team, we’re all trying to figure out our spots, our strengths and weaknesses, how to play together, how to push and pull against each other. So, I mean we’re 2-2, and that’s better than 0-4.”
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