Over the past two weeks, Hopkins women’s lacrosse has battled three top-flight opponents, going 2-1 in that span. On March 20th, the Lady Jays traveled to Harvard, before playing host to the University of Pennsylvania on the 23rd and George Washington the 26th. They then went north to Drexel on Wednesday. The Jays now stand at 7-3 on the season.
Last Sunday, the Jays faced off with Harvard, expecting to run over the 1-3 Crimson. Harvard jumped out to an early 1-0 lead just 1:14 into the game. Before Harvard could celebrate though, senior attack Brooke Foussadier powered a goal into the net just 32 seconds later, tying the game at 1-1.
The early goals and fast-paced play set the tone for a high scoring thriller. The Blue Jays had a flurry of offense just before the half, three goals with under 11 minutes to play. Hopkins went in to the locker room at the half leading 7-5.
Freshman midfielder Taylor D’Amore compiled a hat trick on the day, her second career three-goal effort. Classmate and fellow midfielder Sarah Taylor also scored multiple goals for the Jays, scoring back-to-back goals to round out Hopkins first half scoring attack.
Harvard came out firing in the second half, determined to make a statement. The Jays seemed complacent with their two-goal lead, letting the Crimson go on an 8-1 tear and control the second half of the game.
Harvard scored three straight goals to start the half to take an 8-7 lead. D’Amore then tied the game for the Jays 8-8, before the Crimson ran away with a 12-8 victory.
The painful loss was a minor setback for the Jays, putting them at 4-3 before winning the two following games.
Sophomore midfielder Courtney Schweizer commented on the loss. “We underestimated them, but we were able to bounce back,” she said. “We used the loss to fuel our fire for the upcoming Penn game.”
Entering the game against the fourth-ranked team in the nation, the Jays were severe underdogs against the Penn Quakers. From the get-go, the Jays’ intensity was second to none, refusing to be denied anything short of a victory.
Senior midfielder Brianna Cronin scored the first goal of the game, putting the Jays up 1-0 early. The Quakers responded quickly to tie the score, but sophomore Katie Duffey and junior Colleen McCaffrey, both attackmen, added goals to put Hopkins up 3-1.
The Quakers cut the deficit to one, where the score remained for over 12 minutes. Then, just before half, McCaffrey ignited one of her best career performances, scoring two goals to extend the lead to 5-2 at halftime.
McCaffrey scored a career high four goals in the game, leading the Hopkins offense. She also reached a great milestone, earning her 100th career point.
Schweizer feels McCaffrey has shown an enormous amount of leadership on the field.
“Colleen has stepped up big time and earned Womenslax.com Player of the Week for her performance against Penn. She leads our team offensively with 23 goals and is a force with ground balls and draw controls,” she said.
Coming out of the break the Quakers could not handle Hopkins offensive attack as the Jays added three goals to jump out to an 8-2 advantage. Penn tried to crawl back, but it was too little too late as the Jays stunned Penn, 8-5.
The win was the first Hopkins win over a top five opponent since 2007, and was recently voted by Lacrosse Magazine as the biggest upset of the NCAA women’s lacrosse season.
The team was ecstatic with the win and proud of their flawless play.
“We were unranked and stunned them with our win,” said Schweizer. “We set the tempo on the offensive side of the field and shut down their options defensively. Defense and goaltending dominated in the first half while the offense secured the win in the second.”
The momentum carried over as Hopkins beat George Washington 11-10 three days later. McCaffrey continued her offensive attack, scoring three goals in the win for her second consecutive hat trick.
D’Amore and junior attack Candace Rossi each added two goals of their own to contribute to the win.
McCaffrey and D’Amore were at it again on Wednesday, combining for six goals en route to a 10-7 Lady Jay win at Drexel.
Despite the team’s impressive win against Penn, the Jays are still not ranked in the nation’s top 20. After escaping unscathed against unranked George Washington, many critics around the country are beginning to refer to the win as a fluke.
“We want to use this as motivation to show everyone they’re wrong,” Schweizer said on not yet being perceived as a top team by the lacrosse community. “We are going to continue beating ranked teams especially those that are in our conference.”
The mentality to continue to work harder and get better will propel the Jays and hopefully earn them a spot in the NCAA tournament come season’s end. The team is currently taking one game at a time, trying to play well against ALC conference opponents.
The Lady Jays attempt to extend their winning streak on Sunday at home against Vanderbilt.
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