It was a tough weekend for the Hopkins women's lacrosse team. Just three days earlier, the #14 Blue Jays dismantled Cincinnati, showing the country what a balanced threat they posed on both sides of the ball. What a difference three days can make, as their trip to Ohio State on Saturday resulted in another offensive display. But this time, the Jays found themselves on the receiving end of a 22-12 thrashing - Ohio State's first win against a ranked opponent in a few years, knocking the Jays out of the top 20 and back to the drawing board.
It was a game of streaks as it played out. And the Buckeyes had it first. They struck three minutes in to break the deadlock and then doubled that lead three minutes later. But two more Buckeye goals before the 21st minute mark caught the Jays by surprise, who suddenly found themselves trailing by four. It was Alyssa Kildare's free position shot that put the Jays on the board at 20:17, but it was met with three more Buckeye goals within the next several minutes.
The six-goal deficit must have stuck to the Jays, as the girls rallied and traded goals with the Buckeyes for the rest of the half, culminating with the first of Candace Rossi's five goals, off a feed from Rachel Ballatori with less than a minute in the half, giving the Jays back some of the momentum going into the locker room. A 9-4 hole was certainly not insurmountable for the tough Jays. While the score board read a different story, the stats seemed to give the Jays an edge. They had out-possessed, out-shot, picked up more ground balls and committed less fouls than their opponents. The only difference came in the saves department, where Buckeye goalie Kristen Gilwee was playing the game of her life, racking up 10 saves in the first half alone.
Unfortunately, few expected the physical contest that the second half turned out to be. Both teams committed a total of 54 fouls, bringing 12 yellow cards. Adding insult to injury, it was the Buckeyes that struck first out of the locker room, 12 seconds into the second half. Not to be outdone, Rossi led another charge, scoring a pair of goals inside two minutes. With an additional unassisted goal from Sam Schrum, the Jays found themselves down by only three goals.
But with the seesaw nature of the games momentum, it soon was the Jays turn to be on the receiving end of a scoring streak. That streak began at the 24-minute mark and lasted the next five minutes, with the Buckeyes raiding the Hopkins goal, snagging a total of six scores and stretching their lead back up to a hefty nine goals. The Jays traded another goal with the Buckeyes and then went on another offensive. Two unassisted goals from Cami Kramer and Brett Bathras and another from Rossi gave the Jays some spark, but it would be the last real inspiration we'd see form the Jays. In the final minutes of the game, the Buckeyes put it out of reach, opening the floodgates, with four different Buckeyes scoring five different goals.
The 22-12 result was certainly disappointing for the Jays. With the surprising route, the Jays look to start their climb back into the top 20 on Sunday, when they travel out west to face Oregon, who they faced last year in San Diego.
