April 27, 2007

Box Score

BALTIMORE, MD - Senior Mary Key (Stevensville, MD/St. Mary's) and junior Lauren Schwarzmann (Sykesville, MD/Century) both scored four goals and the 13th-ranked Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team used a 6-1 run to break open a close game as the Blue Jays knocked off visiting 15th-ranked Penn State 17-10 at Homewood Field Friday afternoon. The win is the third in the last four games for the Blue Jays, who improve to 9-6 overall and 2-2 in the American Lacrosse Conference. Penn State, which had won all five previous meetings against Johns Hopkins, dropped its fourth straight and falls to 8-7 overall and 0-4 in the ALC.

The win secures the number three seed in the upcoming ALC Tournament for Johns Hopkins, which will meet second-seeded Vanderbilt in the semifinals next Friday night. Penn State will play Ohio State in the first round of the ALC Tournament next Thursday afternoon with the winner advancing to face top-seeded Northwestern next Friday in the other semifinal. The entire ALC Tournament will take place at Homewood Field.

Penn State trailed by three goals twice in the first 20 minutes, but Karen Long's (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron) fourth goal of the game and an Erica Mihm (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis) tally less than 45 seconds later pulled the Nittany Lions even at 8-8 with 4:34 remaining in the first half. From there, it was all Johns Hopkins as Schwarzmann jump-started the game-turning run with a free position goal with 2:58 remaining and Key punched home her third goal of the first half with 1:44 to go to give the Blue Jays a 10-8 halftime lead.

Maria Valderas (Catonsville, MD/Seton Keough) drew the Lions within one with an unassisted goal just over five minutes into the second half, but Hopkins needed just 16 seconds to answer as senior Sarah Walsh (Port Washington, NY/P.D. Schreiber) one-timed a nifty pass from Key just inside the far post and junior Kadie Stamper (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) and sophomore Gina Maranto (Bel Air, MD/C. Milton Wright) both added goals in the next two minutes to give the Blue Jays their first four-goal lead of the game at 13-9.

Johns Hopkins senior midfielder Steph Janice (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) polished off a lengthy possession with a beautiful give-and-go with Key at the 16:49 mark before Long finally ended the run with her fifth goal of the game 42 seconds later. Key added her 56th goal of the season three minutes later and Schwarzmann and Stamper closed out the scoring with unassisted goals down the stretch to provide the final scoring margin.

In a game of runs, it was the Blue Jays who jumped out first as Key sandwiched her first two goals of the game around a Walsh tally before the game was six minutes old to give Hopkins a quick 3-0 lead, but Long scored on back-to-back free position shots in a three-minute span and Kim Kontson (Davidsonville, MD/South River) dodged from behind the goal and bounced a shot past Hopkins goalie Lizzie O'Ferrall (Baltimore, MD/Mount De Sales) to tie the game at 3-3.

Schwarzmann got her four-goal game going by bookending a 4-1 run that lasted just under eight minutes and also included Blue Jay goals by Janice and freshman Sam Schrum (Pasadena, MD/St. Mary's). Only Kontson's second goal of the game kept the Lions close as the 4-1 spree lifted the Blue Jays to a 7-4 lead.

Penn State answered with a 4-1 run of its own as Long and Kerry Shea (Baltimore, MD/Seton Keough) drew the Lions to within one at 7-6 before Schrum gave the Blue Jays a two-goal cushion with an unassisted goal at the 7:33 mark. That set the stage for Long and Mihm's goals, which were followed quickly by Schwarzmann and Key's goals late in the first half that ignited the decisive rally for the Blue Jays.

Key's four-goal, three-assist effort ran her season totals to 56 goals and 45 assists for 101 points. Her 101 points and 45 assists are both tied for the best single-season marks in school history. Schwarzmann tied her career high with the four goals and Walsh and Schrum both added the two goals and one assist to lead a balanced scoring attack for the Blue Jays. Amelia Harris (Clifton, VA/J.W. Robinson) replaced O'Ferrall in goal for the Blue Jays with three minutes remaining in the first half and posted five saves while allowing just two goals over the final 33 minutes.

Long scored a game-high five goals for the Nittany Lions, while Kontson added two goals and one assist. Cammie Jurkowsky (Annapolis, MD/Annapolis) posted 13 saves in goal for Penn State, which was outshot 37-21.

Johns Hopkins will close out the regular season at Towson on Monday, April 30 at 7:00 pm.

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