Continuing their dramatic turnaround, the Women's Lacrosse team won their sixth game of the past seven on Saturday as they defeated the Richmond Spiders 14-8 on the road in Virginia. The Blue Jays were aided by the dominating performances of two of their top scorers as senior attacker Jamie Larrimore contributed five goals and added an assist, while sophomore midfielder Heidi Pearce also contributed five goals to lead the Jays to victory.
The recent Hopkins win leaves the Lady Jays with a 6-4 record and marks an astounding rebound for a team that began the season a disappointing 1-3. Surprisingly, the win was not enough, however, to keep the Blue Jays from losing ground in the latest Brine/IWLCA poll released this week. Even despite the Hopkins victory over Richmond and an earlier win against Northwestern on Tuesday, the Blue Jays still dropped one spot to the No. 17 position.
Against Richmond, Hopkins fell behind 2-0, but battled back with three unanswered goals. Larrimore scored her first of the day to put the Jays on the board, but Hopkins still trailed 2-1. Just three minutes later, senior midfielder Christy Peterson tied the game with her only goal of the day, then freshman midfielder Anne Crisafulli scored to give the Blue Jays the lead for the first time.
The Spiders evened the score at 3-3, but Hopkins once again came roaring back, as Pearce scored a free position goal with just 1:53 remaining before halftime. Just under 30 seconds later, Richmond senior attacker Alexis Brandolini scored to tie the game at 4-4 going into the half.
The second half was a much different story, however, as Hopkins began to take control of the game. The Blue Jays established their prowess early and often in the half, outscoring the Spiders 10-4, withstanding a late charge by the Spiders, and then racing away with the lead and the victory late in the game.
The Blue Jays took command early in the second half in the form of a barrage of three free position goals. Senior attacker and co-captain Erin Wellner scored the first of these goals. Larrimore followed less than 3 minutes later with a goal of her own, and attacker junior Meghan Burnett contributed another goal near the halfway point of the second half.
Pearce scored another to give the Jays a 4-0 run in the second half and to increase Hopkins' lead over Richmond to 8-4. But the Spiders came crawling back in the form of an offensive explosion.
With just over 12 minutes remaining, Richmond did their best to close the gap. They scored a free position goal and then following that with a score on two of their next three shots, moving themselves within one goal of the lead.
But then Pearce and Larrimore began to work their magic. Larrimore scored three goals and Pearce added two more, all in the final six minutes of play, to increase the Blue Jays' lead and ultimately give their team the victory.
Junior goalkeeper Jen McDonald was a key component to the team's victory, recording eight saves on the day.
Players hailed the Blue Jays' win as one of the team's greatest triumphs so far this season.
"I felt that our win against Richmond was our best team effort. Everyone contributed to the victory," said Burnett.
The game against Richmond marks the continuation of a dramatic turnaround for the Lady Jays who opened the season amid high expectations, but faltered in their first games of the season.
Now, since their poor start, Hopkins has since turned its stagnant performances into stellar ones, defeating highly-ranked foes and earning the respect they know they deserve.
"We've got our feet under us now. We've come together as a team. We are working together and everything is clicking right now," said Burnett.
But even after clearing their last few hurdles, there remain many obstacles in the path of the team's goal of making the NCAA tournament. One of the most pivotal of their challenges will come this weekend as Hopkins plays host to No. 13 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
Not only are the Buckeyes one of the premier teams in the American Lacrosse Conference, they have also done damage to some of the best teams in Women's Lacrosse, beating the Maryland Terrapins 12-11 last Sunday en route to establishing a nearly spotless record of 7-1.
The game against Ohio State will take place at Homewood Field, at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
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