Photo courtesy of Ashley Ray/Maryland Terrapins
No. 7 Maryland women’s lacrosse (12-4, 7-1 Big Ten) earned its final regular-season victory and the No. 2 seed for the Big Ten Tournament with a 13-11 win over No. 8 Johns Hopkins (11-5, 5-3) on Saturday in College Park.
The win marks Maryland’s 27th straight over the Blue Jays, who have never beaten the Terrapins since their first meeting in 1979. With the victory, Maryland secures a first-round bye in the tournament.
In the first period, the Terps and Blue Jays traded goals in a back-and-forth start. Johns Hopkins struck early with two goals off turnovers, but senior Jordyn Lipkin answered with three straight to tie it.
Maryland added two more and held Johns Hopkins to three goals in the period, turning the game around by taking a 5-3 lead after the Blue Jays’ early start.
Maryland maintained its lead before halftime, scoring two back-to-back goals early in the second quarter. Johns Hopkins responded with two of its own but still couldn’t close the gap.
The Terps entered the break with a three-point advantage.
Junior Kori Edmondson and Lipkin played key roles in helping Maryland stay in front. Lipkin scored four goals, while Edmondson added two in a row.
Head coach Cathy Reese highlighted Lipkin’s performance at the end of the first half.
“She’s finishing her shot,” Reese said. “We’ve talked a lot about shooting the last couple of weeks, and she’s taking that extra second against a really tough Hopkins defense and putting it around the keeper.”
In the third quarter, both teams scored twice. Maryland struck first with goals from Edmondson and freshman Devin Livingston. Johns Hopkins followed with two of its own, but the Terps held on to a three-point lead heading into the final quarter.
The fourth quarter mirrored the first, with both teams trading goals. Chrissy Thomas scored two of Maryland’s three in the period, including one in the final two minutes that helped secure the win for the Terps.
As the No. 2 seed, Maryland will host and play in the semifinals on April 23 against No. 7 seed Rutgers.
