No. 10 Maryland women’s lacrosse narrowly defeats Johns Hopkins, 13-12

Shaylan Ahearn scored midway through the fourth quarter to tie Wednesday’s matchup with Johns Hopkins, putting an end to a 7-1 Blue Jay scoring run.

Two minutes later, she fed Libby May for the senior attacker’s third goal of the evening.

But a one-goal lead wasn’t safe against a Johns Hopkins offense that dominated the majority of the second half. 

The Terps won the subsequent draw, and Kori Edmondson was set up from left of the goal on the fan. She charged forward stick-cocked, and fighting through contact, tiptoed her way around the crease and shot falling to her left. 

“We see her in big moments like that, not shying away from contact, not shying away from the physicality of the game,” coach Cathy Reese said.

It got past the goalie, setting up No. 10 Maryland women’s lacrosse (11-3, 3-0 Big Ten) to kill the clock and solidify its 13-12 win over Johns Hopkins (5-7, 2-2 Big Ten). The win was the Terps’ eighth in a row.

The Terps came into the evening as clear favorites. They’d never lost to the Blue Jays, and longtime Blue Jays coach Janine Tucker no longer roamed the sideline. In her place stood first-year coach Tim McCormack.

“Their team has a different look. They play a different style, very different on defense and on offense,” Reese said “I’ve competed against Janine for years…Tim’s got his own look now.”

McCormack had Reese on the ropes all game, as it was a two-score game or closer for over three quarters of game time. But the Terps pulled away when it mattered most in the final frame.

Junior attacker Chrissy Thomas made her first career start in replacement of another junior attacker, Eloise Clevenger. She missed Wednesday’s contest with a family emergency, according to a team spokesperson.

Thomas excelled in her new role, finishing with four assists alongside a goal.

“Chrissy had to step up and make those decisions and be a leader behind the cage,” Reese said. “We talk about growth and how proud I am of her and where she’s coming this season…tonight’s another step up.”

Six Terps scored on the Blue Jays — another team effort by a unit that’s increasingly difficult to gameplan for as more capable scorers emerge.

Johns Hopkins came out swinging from the jump. The Blue Jays scored the first goal more than seven minutes into the game, after they gave the Terps fits offensively. A brief absence by senior attacker Hannah Leubecker early in the first quarter didn’t help either, especially with Clevenger already out.

Then Thomas got to work early. She fed Ahearn and junior attacker Victoria Hensh for the Terps’ first two goals of the game.

The Blue Jays responded swiftly, scoring twice in 40 seconds to regain the lead. But Thomas, Ahearn and junior midfielder Shannon Smith built a 3-0 scoring run that brought the Terps back ahead 5-3.

Johns Hopkins junior midfielder Jordan Carr broke that streak. She finished with a hat trick, delivering momentum-shifting plays when the Blue Jays needed them most. 

The Terps’ defense went to work for the final 10 minutes of the half. Johns Hopkins took just two shots in that period — although its offense didn’t have the ball much. Ahearn helped Maryland go 7-for-8 on draw controls in the quarter.

And its offense found a groove to end the half as well. Maryland scored four times in the final 4:45, including Thomas-assisted goals by freshman midfielder Kori Edmondson and Hensh — the latter with 11 seconds remaining.

“We were throwing the ball to girls that were open, and we weren’t second-guessing ourselves,” Ahearn said.

The Terps rode a dominant 9-4 lead into the half.

But Maryland’s offense went into hiding in the third quarter. It got off just two shots on-goal — neither of which found the net — and committed five turnovers to boot.

“John Hopkins did a good job of adjusting to us,” Thomas said.

Meanwhile, the Blue Jays took over, controlling pace-of-play for most of the quarter. Their defense played lights-out, and Carr kickstarted the offense with two goals. 

Those two goals snowballed into Johns Hopkins storming all the way back to tie the score by the end of the frame.

May finally broke the ice in the fourth quarter, taking an Ahearn feed in front of the net to regain the lead. But the Blue Jays didn’t stay down long, quickly responding with two goals in 26 seconds.

Ahearn, May and Edmondson delivered the dagger, and after one more Blue Jay goal, the Terps narrowly escaped with the win.

“[I’m] proud of how we really just gutted that out… when they had all the momentum for a while, and we found some answers,” Reese said.