The goalies combined for 32 stops in a defense-oriented contest.
BALTIMORE — Facing a dangerous Johns Hopkins offense, No. 4 Maryland women’s lacrosse couldn’t afford many defensive mistakes.
In the second half, it made only three.
Maryland turned a 5-5 halftime tie into an eventual 13-8 victory over the No. 8 Blue Jays (10-4, 2-2 Big Ten for its fifth top-10 victory of the season.
“I thought our defense played great,” Maryland head coach Cathy Reese said, “[Hopkins] is very well balanced and I thought our team defended it well.”
The Blue Jays struck first in the opening minute when attacker Ava Angello scored the first of her four goals. They then scored an additional two goals before the Terps (11-3, 4-1 Big Ten) woke up.
Maryland won 19 of the game’s 25 draw controls, allowing it to overcome a slow start. Shannon Smith stepped up for the Terps, collecting a career-high 11 draw controls.
“I feel like our whole draw team, we kinda trust each other enough where [midfielder Shaylan Ahearn] does it and we all just click.” Smith said. “Our team was focusing on taking it play by play.”
Kori Edmonson netted two goals in 40 seconds before Lauren LaPointe scored the first goal of her career to tie the game at three. After five minutes of sloppy play, Libby May scored the Terps’ fourth goal in a row, giving them the lead with less than a minute to go in the opening quarter.
After a chaotic first quarter, both defenses settled in — specifically Hopkins goalie Madison Doucette. She made five saves in the second quarter, keeping the Terps to a sole Libby May goal despite them firing 11 shots.
Hopkins ended Maryland’s five-goal run with two goals by Ashley Mackin to tie the game up at five before the half ended.
But once the second half got going, both goalies shined.
Doucette continued to stuff the Maryland offense with another eight saves in the third quarter. Doucette, who finished with 19 stops, impressively kept attackers Hannah Leubecker and Eloise Clevenger scoreless through three quarters.
Maryland’s Emily Sterling also held her own, tallying four saves in the third, holding the Blue Jays to only a single goal. The graduate goalie stopped a total of 13 shots.
With their starting attack struggling, the Terps’ depth pieces stepped up. Chrissy Thomas scored twice in the third and LaPointe scored the second of her unlikely three goals to give the Terps an 8-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
“At any point, anyone can step up and put that ball in the back of the net, and anyone can step up and be a leader,” Edmonson said.
Maryland finally turned its possession advantage into a flurry of goals in the final frame, netting five of the game’s last seven goals. Leubecker managed one before Lapointe and Edmonson completed their hat tricks. Eloise and Maisy Clevenger also found the back of the net to seal the result.
Three things to know
1. Maryland’s bench stepped up. Thomas netted two goals for just the second time this season, and LaPointe, a freshman, managed the first goals of her collegiate career.
2. Both goalies were excellent. Sterling and Doucette combined for 32 saves. Doucette’s 19 stops were the most by a Blue Jays goalie since 1999.
3. The Terps were aggressive on offense. In its last two games against Northwestern and Michigan, Maryland failed to break 30 shots. But on Wednesday, it fired 44 shots.