April 30, 2011

Box Score

COLUMBUS, OH - Host and 19th-ranked Ohio State used an 8-2 run midway through the second half that pushed its lead to eight goals and put the game out of reach in a 19-12 win over visiting Johns Hopkins Saturday afternoon in both teams' regular-season finale. The Blue Jays fall to 9-7 overall and 1-4 in the American Lacrosse Conference, while the Buckeyes improve to 9-6 and 2-3 in the ALC.

Trailing 8-3 just 43 seconds into the second half, Hopkins scored three goals in a span of just 50 seconds to trim the deficit to just two with 27:28 to play. Junior Rachel Ballatori got things going with a free position goal, followed by strikes from junior Colleen McCaffrey and freshman Taylor D'Amore. The Buckeyes answered with a three-goal run of their own, this one taking just 73 seconds and made it an 11-6 game at 21:44. Alayna Markwordt sandwiched a pair of goals around a Kirsten Donahue goal to fuel the run.

Sophomore Katie Duffey took a pass from McCaffrey at 18:48 and put it home for her 13th of the season. But Markwordt and Jayme Beard answered with goals just 39 seconds apart and the Buckeyes led 13-7 with 16:52 to play. Freshman Sammy Cermack got one back for the Blue Jays, with another helper from McCaffrey. But Ohio State responded with three straight from three different scorers to push its lead to eight.

Hopkins got back-to-back free position goals from senior Brooke Foussadier and D'Amore to make it a 16-10 game, but once again Ohio State had an answer as the Donahue scored her fifth of the game with 6:11 to play to spark a 3-1 run that saw the Buckeye's take a 19-10 lead. Senior defender Brooke Lipinski closed out the scoring with just her second career goal with 27 seconds on the clock.

The first half saw Ohio State push out to a 5-1 lead over the opening 19 minutes as Brittney Zerhusen and Donahue combined for four of the Buckeye goals. Junior Candace Rossi and McCaffrey scored a pair of quick goals just 43 seconds apart to cut the deficit to two at 5-3 with 7:01 left in the first half. Ohio State retook its four-goal lead behind goals from Maghan Beaudrault and Zerhusen as the Buckeyes led 7-3 at the break.

McCaffrey paced the Blue Jays with three goals and two assists to reach the 50-point mark for the season. D'Amore and Rossi each added a pair of goals, while Cermack had a career-best two points (1g, 1a). Donahue led all scorers with five goals and six points, while Zerhusen had four goals and three assists. Markwordt and Jacqueline Orona also added hat tricks. Hopkins' Cosette Larash finished with eight saves while her counterpart Annie Carruthers had 13.

Hopkins returns to action on Thursday, May 5 in the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament. The sixth-seeded Blue Jays will face the third-seeded Penn State Nittany Lions in the second quarterfinal game. Opening draw is slated for 5:30 pm CST at the Vanderbilt Lacrosse Complex.