After a disappointing 0-3 start, the Johns Hopkins Women Lacrosse team played a solid game at both ends, defeating No. 14 William & Mary, 11-9, Saturday for its first victory of the season. Sophomore midfielder Heidi Pearce led the Blue Jays with three goals, two of which came late in the second half to seal the victory.
Along with posting a victory, Johns Hopkins (1-3) also moved up two spots from No. 20 to No. 18 in the Brine/IWLCA Poll.
The Lady Jays came out excited and ready to play. For the first time this season Hopkins scored the game's first goal, as senior attacker Jamie Larrimore found the back of the net with 23:04 left in the first half. Two minutes later, Pearce scored unassisted to give the Blue Jays an early two-goal lead.
"We played with a lot of energy and enthusiasm," said Head Lacrosse Coach Janine Tucker. "The strong effort on the offensive and defensive ends proved to be a catalyst for the entire game."
The Tribe would comeback, scoring three unanswered goals to take a 3-2 lead with 14 minutes left in the half. Johns Hopkins kept playing its own game, going on a 4-1 to finish the half with a 7-4 lead. During the run, sophomore midfielder Kate Barcomb led the Blue Jays, scoring twice in two minutes, while Larrimore and freshman Leah Onda each added a goal.
"In our previous losses, we made too many careless mistakes that our opponents were able to capitalize on," Tucker said. "But in this game, we played a tight defense and we finally developed an offensive rhythm."
In the second half, it was more offensive production for Johns Hopkins. An early Larrimore goal and a goal by junior attacker Meghan Burnett put the Blue Jays ahead 9-5 with 18:48 to play.
But the game was not over as the Tribe scored four unanswered goals late in three minutes to tie the game at nine with 15:36 left.
However, Pearce sealed the game with the tie-breaking goal with 14:15 left and an insurance goal in the final minutes to put the game away. Junior goalkeeper Jen McDonald contributed 13 saves in the victory.
"Throughout the season, our de fense has been our cornerstone," Tucker said. "But against William & Mary, we were able to establish ourselves offensively and to begin shooting with more confidence and accuracy."
According to Tucker, this appears to be a polishing year for the Blue Jays. Despite having many returning starters, the team is still young, with freshmen and sophomores seeing considerable playing time.
"We have a lot of talented freshmen this year," Tucker said. "What we want to do is show the players that if they stick to the system, we will improve as a team."
Johns Hopkins played host to American University Wednesday, but scores were unavailable at press time.
The Blue Jays wanted to focus on shutting down the speed of American University as well as force turnovers. Johns Hopkins will look to finish shots effectively on the offensive end and improve its communication on the defensive end.
The game against American University is the first of three games that the Blue Jays will play host in the next five days. The Blue Jays will next face Davidson Friday and Ohio University Sunday in American Lacrosse Conference play.
With the victory against William & Mary, Tucker can see that the team is coming together and becoming more comfortable with the style of play.
"We had a rough start this season," Tucker said. "But this win is an exhilarating accomplishment and momentum that we can feed off of.
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