W. Lacrosse outplays both Boston and Hofstra

The women’s lacrosse team took care of business this past week with two strong showings on Homewood Field. The friendly confines of the home field proved to be too much for visiting programs, as the Jays were able to beat the Boston University Terriers 18-11 last Wednesday and the Hofstra University Pride 15-6 last Saturday afternoon.

The Jays started off against the Terriers in a dead heat at 2-2 within the first 10 minutes, trading goals until freshman attacker Shelby Harrison was able to break the deadlock with her second goal around the 13-minute mark. Harrison’s goal ignited a firestorm as the Blue Jay offense broke into a 6-1 run with the first goals coming from sophomore attacker Maggie Schneidereith and freshman attacker Aurora Cordingley. The run was sustained by senior attacker CeCe Finney and junior midfielder Nicole DeMase and was finally capped off by Schneidereith’s second goal of the game.

This run afforded the squad a comfortable lead to the tune of eight goals to Boston University’s three. The Terriers were able to scratch one back right before the end of the first half on a loose-ball goal from attacker Avery Donahoe.

The Blue Jays looked to continue the momentum that they had in the first half by staying strong in the second. 

“The past couple of games, our team has been focused on being organized and communicative for the full 60 minutes,” senior attacker Emily Kenul said. 

Hopkins did just that, as Harrison fired the opening shot of the half from an assist by senior midfielder Shannon Fitzgerald. This goal marked the first career hat trick for Harrison, which pushed the lead to 9-4. Harrison, in fact, was recently named Big 10 Freshman of the Week.

Schneidereith backed Harrison up with another goal assisted by Fitzgerald, giving the Jays a double-digit scoring total, further cementing their advantage over the Terriers. After the opponents grabbed another goal from free position, Kenul put the game out of reach with back-to-back goals, giving Hopkins a seven-goal advantage. The Jays never looked back, winning by a score of 18-11 and improving their record to 5-2.

This offensive outpouring marked the second straight game in which Hopkins had scored 18 goals or more. Kenul points to their focus and comfort with each other as a reason for the recent offensive success. 

“Offensively, we wanted to continue to grow our chemistry and play to each other’s strengths,” Kenul said. 

This mindset worked, as they outshot the Terriers 39-30. Early in the game, Kenul notched her 100th career goal, making her the 24th lacrosse player in school history to reach that milestone. Schneidereith also recorded a career-high four goals in the matchup.

Hopkins looked to ride their offensive success into the next game against Hofstra on Saturday. They started off strong, with goals from Fitzgerald and Schneidereith granting them an early 2-0 lead. Hofstra would not go down without a fight, as midfielder Alexa Mattera put up a pair of goals in a span of seven minutes to tie up the score. But almost immediately, sophomore midfielder Mackenzie Heldberg fed fellow classmate midfielder Lexi Souder to put the Jays up 3-2 for a swift response to Hofstra’s attack.

Hofstra was determined to not let the game slip away and rattled off three straight goals to bring the score to 5-3 in favor of the Pride. The run was highlighted by back-to-back goals by midfielder Alyssa Parrella.

The deep Hopkins lineup exhibited a distinct resilience the rest of the way, which will hopefully serve them well throughout their entire season. After Hofstra went up by two, the Blue Jays fired back with nine unanswered goals, started off by another goal by Schneidereith with four minutes left in the first half.

In the midst of this electric run, six different Jays got onto the scorecard, with Cordingley recording her second straight hat-trick for the Jays, junior midfielder Miranda Ibello notching a goal and Finney, Heldberg, Kenul and Fitzgerald all finding the net at least once. With junior goalkeeper Haley Crosson recording a career-best 13 saves, Hofstra afforded only an additional goal the rest of the way. Hopkins finished up a commanding win by the margin of 15-6.

Kenul was encouraged by the team’s hard work, as they pushed their modest win streak to three games. 

“We want to keep working hard, taking the season one game at a time to continue to get better,” Kenul said.

Hopkins will look to continue their solid play against the University of Maryland on Saturday, March 17.