April 27, 2003

Box Score

Baltimore, MD - Johns Hopkins junior midfielder Heidi Pearce (Chestertown, MD/St. Andrew's) scored four goals and added two assists to lead the No. 19 Blue Jay women's lacrosse team to an impressive 12-2 victory over No. 14 North Carolina Sunday afternoon at Homewood Field.

Hopkins won its fourth straight game to improve to 10-4 this season to reach the double-digit win plateau for the 11th straight year, including all 10 under head coach Janine Tucker. The Tar Heels fell to 6-9 on the season.

Carolina took the early lead as Nicki Barnes scored a free position goal just 40 seconds into the game, but Hopkins answered with 25:35 remaining in the half as Pearce scored an unassisted goal. The Blue Jays took the lead for good at the 23:03 mark as freshman midfielder Kelley Putnam (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) found freshman attacker Meagan Voight (Sykesville, MD/Liberty) for a goal.

Two minutes later senior attacker Liz Holland (Catonsville, MD/Mount de Sales) scored off a feed from junior midfielder Kate Barcomb (Middlebury, VT/Middlebury) to give Hopkins a 3-1 lead, but the Tar Heels cut the lead to one when Brooke Young scored off an assist from Rachel Szakmary with 10:56 left in the half.

However, the Blue Jays would score the last nine goals of the game to post their first victory over Carolina in seven tries. Senior attacker Meghan Burnett (Auburn, NY/Auburn) made it a 4-2 game by scoring off a feed from Pearce at the 6:28 mark, and Barcomb scored off a pass from freshman attacker Sarah Walsh (Port Washington, NY/P.D. Schreiber) with 5:14 to play to give Hopkins a 5-2 lead at the half.

Pearce opened the second half with an unassisted goal just 56 seconds into the period, and she found Holland for a goal at the 27:24 mark to make it a 7-2 game. Senior midfielder Erinn Dennis (Wilton, NY/Saratoga Springs) scored an unassisted goal with 25:40 remaining, and Pearce added an unassisted goal 1:21 later to give the Blue Jays a 9-2 advantage.

After Burnett and Pearce each scored unassisted goals, Burnett found Holland for a goal at the 12:10 mark to close the scoring.

The Hopkins defense would do the rest, as starters Rachel Krom (Summit, NJ/Summit), Kate Gilland (Medford, NJ/Shawnee), Lacey-Leigh Hentz (Hampstead, MD/South Carroll), and Kristen Miller (Towson, MD/Notre Dame Prep) held the Tar Heels to just seven shots on goal. JHU senior goalkeeper Jen McDonald (Garden City, NY/Garden City) made five saves in her final home game at Hopkins. The two goals allowed by the Blue Jays were the fewest since a 20-1 win over Mount St. Mary's on March 14, 2001.

Katelyn Hoffman made two saves while Margaret Garofalo added three in goal for Carolina.

The Blue Jays will look to win their fifth straight Wednesday when they travel to local rival Towson at 3 p.m.

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