The women's lacrosse team renewed acquaintances with the Northwestern University Wildcats under the lights of Homewood Field Friday night in one of the most highly anticipated match-ups of the 2007 season.
Regrettably, the Lady Jays found out first hand why their visitors are currently the No. 1 team in the nation, as the Wildcats pounced on the poised Hopkins squad, handing them a 5-12 defeat.
"I think Northwestern always brings their best game to the field," head coach Janine Tucker said. "We know we can hang with them. We were very prepared and ready to play [the Wildcats]."
The statistics, on the other hand, paint a different picture. Chalk it up to a case of the jitters, but the Jays have not fared well against their formidable American Lacrosse Conference rival.
Players on the Hopkins roster had compiled a total of just 10 career goals against Northwestern prior to Friday. In six consecutive meetings of the two teams, including the most recent outcome, the Jays have only twice come out victoriously.
The game started evenly, as is the habit with the Lady Jays this season. Northwestern took a two-goal lead, and the Lady Jays answered within minutes with two goals from standout attacks freshman Samantha Schrum and senior Mary Key.
The same scheme continued until halftime, with the Hopkins trailing the Wildcats 4-6.
A two-goal deficit seemed manageable for the Jays, but when they hit the field for the second period, the tone of the game changed drastically. To put it into words, the Hopkins offense was almost completely silenced.
"It was pretty messy on both sides, but [the Wildcats] were able to capitalize off our mistakes more than we were theirs," said senior defender Meghan Crisafulli.
"That is what Northwestern does well to teams - makes them make mistakes," Coach Tucker added.
Though Northwestern had more turnovers, the Lady Jays were unable to take advantage of a number of them, shooting below .200 for the second time this season - finding the back of the net a less-than-stellar 17 percent in the game.
The Wildcats ran circles around Hopkins in the second half, entrenching two sets of three goals around the lone goal for the Jays in the period by senior attack Alex Nolan.[the Wildcats]."
The statistics, on the other hand, paint a different picture. Chalk it up to a case of the jitters, but the Jays have not fared well against their formidable American Lacrosse Conference rival.
Players on the Hopkins roster had compiled a total of just 10 career goals against Northwestern prior to Friday. In six consecutive meetings of the two teams, including the most recent outcome, the Jays have only twice come out victoriously.
The game started evenly, as is the habit with the Lady Jays this season. Northwestern took a two-goal lead and the Lady Jays answered within minutes with two goals from standout attacks freshman Samantha Schrum and senior Mary Key.
The same scheme continued until halftime, with the Hopkins trailing the Wildcats 4-6.
A two-goal deficit seemed manageable for the Jays, but when they hit the field for the second period, the tone of the game changed drastically. To put it into words, the Hopkins offense was almost completely silenced.
"It was pretty messy on both sides, but [the Wildcats] were able to capitalize off our mistakes more than we were theirs," said senior defender Meghan Crisafulli.
"That is what Northwestern does well to teams - makes them make mistakes," Coach Tucker added.
Though Northwestern had more turnovers, the Lady Jays were unable to take advantage of a number of them, shooting below .200 for the second time this season - finding the back of the net a less-than-stellar 17 percent in the game.
The Wildcats ran circles around Hopkins in the second half, entrenching two sets of three goals around the lone goal for the Jays in the period by senior attack Alex Nolan.
"[Northwestern was] maintaining possession of the ball for 6 to 7 minutes at a time in order to give their defense a break," Crisafulli said.
The Blue Jay offense was not the only scapegoat for Friday's loss. Hopkins' defense failing in the clutch has been another trend that has brought detrimental results for a handful of games in 2007.
"We made some mistakes - simple throwing and catching [errors] - that resulted in goals for Northwestern. We needed to clean some things up," said Tucker. "It would have been a different second half."
Despite a disappointing performance this week, there is a bright spot for at least one member of the team.
Remaining on the watch list of candidates since the beginning of the year, Mary Key was officially named as one for the 17 semi-finalists for the women's Tewaaraton Trophy - comparable to the Heisman Trophy in NCAA football. This is her third nomination for the award.
Key is no stranger to accolades, as she has shattered nearly every Blue Jay women's lacrosse record, including career goals and assists. She is currently leading the Division in points per game and now sits in the second spot on the list of all-time NCAA Assists Leaders. Not to mention, of course, her three-time title of News-Letter Athlete of the Week.
Fourteen-year veteran coach Tucker is also reaching a milestone of her own, three wins shy of nailing her 100th Division-I managerial victory. But with only two games left in the season, it looks like she'll have to wait until next year.
Regardless, her concentration is devoted to helping the rest of the Lady Jays put their unsatisfactory 8-6 record behind them in order to finish the season strong this week.
The mantra for the team this season is - and appears as if it will continue to be - to learn from their mistakes and fix them accordingly.
"Executing the little things will be the focus down the line," Tucker said.
The girls will take on Penn State in another Friday evening game, followed by a short trip up the road to Towson to take on the Tigers this Monday in the team's last game of the regular season.
