W. Lax splits against pair of tough squads

The Hopkins women’s lacrosse team split their two games, defeating the University of Michigan Wolverines in a Conference matchup on Saturday, while falling to the fourth-ranked Stony Brook University Seawolves on Tuesday night. The Blue Jays now sit at 9-5 on the season, with a 1-3 record in Big Ten play.

The Wolverines raced to an early lead at Homewood field, scoring the game’s first two goals and giving the visitors a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the game. That was, however, the last lead that they would hold.

The Blue Jays knotted up the score by the 25:31 mark, thanks to a pair of goals by junior attacker CeCe Finney. Junior midfielder Shannon Fitzgerald and sophomore attacker Miranda Ibello recorded the assists. Ibello then assisted her classmate, attacker Nicole DeMase, giving Hopkins the 3-2 lead with 22:35 left to play in the first half.

The Jays would score the game’s next five goals, with strikes coming from Fitzgerald, DeMase, junior midfielder Maggie Friel, Ibello and junior attacker Emily Kenul. Michigan stopped the bleeding before the end of the half when Chandler Kirby scored with less than 25 seconds left in the half.

The Wolverines carried that momentum into the second half, scoring two goals to bring the score to 8-5 just 50 seconds after the teams returned to the field. Freshman attacker Maggie Schneidereith ended Michigan’s three-goal run after faking the Wolverine goalie Alli Kothari in front of the net to make the score 9-5, with Hopkins senior Alexis Maffucci picking up the assist.

After a nine-minute scoring drought for both teams, Michigan scored a pair of goals to bring the deficit to two at the 17:42-mark. From then on out, however, the game belonged to the home team. Fitzgerald and senior midfielder Haley Schweizer each scored two goals, giving the Blue Jays a commanding 13-7 lead with under 10 minutes left to play.

Emily Braun would add a consolation goal for the Wolverines at the 3:52-mark, but the Jays would answer with goals from Fitzgerald and Maffucci to close out the game. After a 0-3 start to Conference play, the commanding 15-8 win was the program’s first ever win in the Big Ten.

The Blue Jays, however, would falter against Stony Brook, who came into the game ranked as one of the top teams in the nation. Although Hopkins would jump to the early 1-0 lead in the game’s first minute, it was the Seawolves that dominated the game early.

By the 17:32 mark, Stony Brook had taken a 5-1 lead, thanks to goals from sisters Kylie and Taryn Ohlmiller and a hat trick from Samantha DiSalvo. The two teams would then trade goals to close out the half, with the Jays’ strikes coming from Schweizer and Fitzgerald. The two teams would head into the locker room with the Seawolves holding an 8-3 lead.

Stony Brook opened the second half with five straight goals, bringing the score to 13-3 and effectively putting the game out of reach for the Blue Jays.

Hopkins would add a pair of consolation goals, courtesy of Schweizer and freshman midfielder Lexi Souder, but the Seawolves would answer with three consecutive goals from DiSalvo and the Ohlmiller sisters to pull ahead 16-5.

Finney added one more goal for the Jays at the 3:55-mark to close out the scoring in a disappointing loss for the home team.

Over the course of April, the Hopkins women’s lacrosse team is collaborating with the non-profit Reading Partners to raise money for the organization in order to promote literacy among Baltimore city school children.

As part of the Coaching for Literacy program, the team is seeking donations for every assist the team records in the month of April. In the games against Michigan and Stony Brook, the team recorded 12 assists and raised a total of $437.

The Blue Jays next take the field in Columbus, Ohio on Saturday morning against the Ohio State Buckeyes. It will be an important Conference matchup to determine seeding for the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.

With just three games left in the regular reason, the Blue Jays will look to solidify their postseason resume so that they do not have to rely on winning the Conference Championship to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in May.