Maryland women’s lacrosse gets its fifth top-ten win, defeating Johns Hopkins 13-8

Photo courtesy of Chris Lyons/Maryland Athletics

Freshman Lauren LaPointe, appearing in her fourth career game, stepped to the eight-meter mark early in the fourth quarter. She calmly buried her shot to score the first hat trick of her career and extend the Terps’ lead to four.

No. 4 Maryland women’s lacrosse (11-3, 4-1) defeated No. 8 Johns Hopkins (11-3, 2-2) 13-8 in an important bounce-back win following the Terps’ disappointing loss to Northwestern. 

A major key to Maryland’s success was controlling the draw. Shaylan Ahearn dominated the faceoffs, allowing the Terps to win 19 of the 25 draws. 

Despite this, Johns Hopkins jumped out to an early three-goal lead. Dynamic attacker Ava Angello scored twice in the first four minutes to grab momentum. Maeve Barker added to the lead as the Terps looked asleep at the wheel.

Maryland’s offense started the game on a scoring drought as the turnovers that plagued it against Northwestern carried over. The Terps committed four first-quarter turnovers, including two in the opening five minutes.

Kori Edmondson finally got the Terps on the board with six minutes left in the first quarter, surging past the defense and slamming her shot past the keeper.

The attack ignited after the goal. Edmondson added another score just 30 seconds later and LaPointe netted her first career goal to tie the game at three.

Libby May put together another strong performance following her two goals against Northwestern. She received a penetrating pass from Hannah Leubecker in the first quarter and slung her shot into the net to put Maryland in the lead.

From here, the Blue Jays offense stalled and endured an over 16-minute scoring drought. Johns Hopkins became sloppy with its passes, recording eight first-half turnovers. Maryland used the drought to go on a 5-0 run and grab the lead.

Ashley Mackin stopped the scoring run and took advantage of a man-up situation in the closing minutes of the second quarter. She added another goal with her defender tight to her to tie the game at halftime.

The Terps wasted no time regaining the lead, scoring on their first possession of the second half. Eloise Clevenger found Chrissy Thomas for a goal followed by LaPointe’s second goal on a well-placed high shot. 

Angello completed her hat trick to keep the Blue Jays within striking distance. The defensive units then tightened up and forced a nine-minute scoreless period for both squads in the third.

Both goalkeepers were excellent, forcing the offenses to work for quality shots to beat them. John Hopkins goaltender Madison Doucette made impressive stops throughout the match, saving a career-high 19 shots. Maryland goalie Emily Sterling also recorded double-digit saves with 13 to limit the high-flying Blue Jays’ attack. 

Angello picked up a yellow card in the fourth quarter, leaving the Blue Jays down a player. Leubecker took advantage, showcasing her dynamic dodging ability to score another goal and extend the Terps’ lead to 9-6. 

Maryland set aside its season struggles to convert free position chances. The Terps scored four goals from the eight-meter mark today. LaPointe earned her first career hat trick by scoring off another free position to push Maryland’s lead to four midway through the fourth. 

Angello added two more late goals for Johns Hopkins but the Terps slammed the door on a comeback. Eloise Clevenger assisted her sister Maisy Clevenger close to the net for a goal and Edmondson scored her third goal of the night to finish the Maryland win.

The Terps return home on Saturday for its final Big Ten regular season match against No. 24 Penn State.