The Rowan University field hockey team dropped their first game of the season in a 3-2 loss against Johns Hopkins University on Saturday.

Johns Hopkins opened up the scoring with a goal 8 minutes into the game. After some back and forth play, the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays went up by two in the third period. The game’s fate could have been decided by the Johns Hopkins penalty shot that was saved by goalie Aida Ingram.

The Profs took some time to find their rhythm offensively and got on the board with a goal from forward Krystyna Hovell to put the Profs within one point. 

Head Coach Michelle Andre recognized the team’s struggle early on offense.

“I think, offensively, we had our chances,” Andre said. “We had misses that kind of went wide. I would have liked a couple more chances, but, again, we were having trouble getting the ball up to the forwards in the beginning of the game. But then, once we made that adjustment, we were fine.”

Around 7 minutes after Rowan’s first goal, Johns Hopkins scored what would be the game winning goal to go up 3-1.

The Profs did not let up and came back within one point again with a goal from freshman midfielder Julia Cavicchio — her first of the season and her career.

“I kind of just locked down,” Cavicchio said. “My captain was like, ‘Look me in the eyes,’ and said ‘Julia, this is gonna be your first goal today.’ I shot it, and it just went in.”

However, Rowan was unable to get the tying goal before the clock ran out. They are now 2-1 for the season.

After the loss, Cavicchio still felt proud of the way that her team fought against Johns Hopkins.

“I think that we definitely could have connected a little bit more,” Cavicchio said. “But, overall, I think we did really well considering we did play a very competitive team.” 

Before the next game on Wednesday against Stevens Institute of Technology, Coach Andre said they will focus on working out some issues, but overall is not worried about the team. 

“We got to tweak some things. We got some defensive things that I’d like to get us to do,” Andre said. “I’d like us to do some stuff coming out of the midfield. . . We have the pieces, we have the depth. I’m not overly concerned about where we’re going to be. I don’t think that this is a step back at all. So, I’m optimistic. I know we’re gonna be fine.”

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