Women’s lacrosse defeats Michigan in regular season finale

The women’s lacrosse team faced off against the 23rd-ranked University of Michigan Wolverines in their regular season finale. Hopkins entered the game ranked 15th in the nation and continued their winning streak, extending it to three games. Graduate student attackman Maggie Schneidereith scored a career-high seven goals and nine points to lead Hopkins to a 20-13 victory.

Michigan attacked quickly, going up by two early in the game. Hopkins countered with back-to-back goals by freshman midfielder Megan Kielbasa and sophomore attackman Maeve Barker to tie the game at two with 19:56 remaining in the first half. The Wolverines responded with three consecutive goals in under two minutes. 

However, for every Wolverines run, Hopkins had a response. A 6-1 Blue Jays run gave them a two-goal advantage with 9:34 left in the first half. Five different players scored during the run, including an unassisted goal by freshman midfielder Abbey Hurlbrink.

The back-and-forth match continued when Michigan responded with three consecutive goals again, this time with just under four minutes remaining in the half. Schneidereith answered by recording her third goal of the half. Graduate student attackman Mackenzie Heldberg also scored just before the buzzer to give the Blue Jays a 10-9 halftime lead.

Schneidereith continued dominating in the second half, scoring off an assist from senior attackman Aurora Cordingley less than two minutes into the period. Michigan once again responded with two consecutive goals to tie the game at 11 with 23:55 remaining. Hopkins then embarked on a nine-goal run that would give them the decisive edge. The 16-minute run saw five different players score. Schneidereith notched her seventh goal of the game off an assist from freshman attackman Eliza Bowman to cap off an impressive seven-goal victory for the Blue Jays.

Schneidereith’s seven goals are only one shy of the school record. She now ranks fifth in school Division-I history with 149 career goals and only needs five assists to reach 100 for her career.

Women’s lacrosse swept all of the Big Ten weekly awards, the second time since 2017 that Hopkins has swept the weekly awards. Schneidereith was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) National Offensive Player of the Week. Senior defender Trinity McPherson was awarded Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week, sophomore midfielder Madison McPherson was selected Midfielder of the Week and freshman midfielder Abbey Hurlbrink was named Freshman of the Week. 

The 20 goals on Saturday were the most Hopkins scored in a game since March 2019. The Blue Jays improved to 7-5 on the season and finished the season tied for second in the Big Ten Conference. The Blue Jays will be the third seed entering next week’s Big Ten Tournament, the highest ranking for Hopkins since joining the conference in 2017. The Blue Jays are now 5-1 all-time against Michigan.

Hopkins will travel to State College, Pa. for the 2021 Big Ten Tournament from April 29-May 2. The Blue Jays will face the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions in the quarterfinals.