Box Score

The Basics
? Score: #16 Northwestern-10, Johns Hopkins-9 (OT)
? Records: JHU (8-4, 0-3 B1G) ? NU (6-5, 2-0 B1G)
? Location: Evanston, IL ? Martin Stadium
? The Short Story: The Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team nearly pulled off an amazing come-from-behind win, but host Northwestern grabbed a 10-9 overtime win in Big Ten action Thursday night. The Wildcats scored as time expired to force overtime and then scored the game-winner 59 seconds into overtime to take the win.

How it Happened
? Northwestern raced out to a 7-1 lead with 4:38 to play in the first half with Christina Esposito and Catie Ingrilli combining for four of the `Cats goals. Junior Shannon Fitzgerald scored the Blue Jays' first goal of the game, on free position, at the 12:44-mark, making it a 4-1 game at the time.
? Hopkins would outscore Northwestern 7-1 over the ensuing 28:41 to take a 9-8 lead. Fitzgerald got things going when she dodged from behind the cage and beat Mallory Weisse five-hole from in-tight at 2:19. With time winding down in the first half, junior Emily Kenul dodged to the cage, spun on her defender and fired a shot top shelf with 20.9 ticks on the clock. Northwestern would take a 7-3 lead into the half.
? The Blue Jays picked up where they left off just 88 seconds into the half. Kenul slipped a pass to junior CeCe Finney, who was curling from behind the cage. Finney took the pass, turned and fired a shot past Weisse. A little less than five minutes later, senior Haley Schweizer blew a shot home on the run in the middle of the fan to make it a two-goal game.
? Nell Copeland scored for the Wildcats off the dodge to make it an 8-5 game with 19:08 to play. Copeland's goal ended a scoreless drought of 16:30 for the home team.
? Schweizer answered when she took a pass from freshman Maggie Schneidereith and buried a shot inside the left post at 16:17. Three minutes later, freshman Lexi Souder converted a free position shot to cut Northwestern's lead to 8-7.
? Fitzgerald then scored back-to-back goals at 5:56 and 3:19 to give the Blue Jays' their first lead of the game at 9-8. Weisse and senior Caroline Federico traded saves and the Blue Jays had the ball with 1:03 to play and the one-goal lead. A series of turnovers on the Hopkins' offensive zone, ended with a Northwestern possession and 23 seconds remaining. The `Cats cleared the ball and Sheila Nesselbush drew a foul with 0.2 seconds remaining and more than eight meters from goal. Nesselbush shot the ball and was credited with the game-tying goal.
? Northwestern won the draw to start overtime and a free position goal by Esposito 59 seconds into the extra period ended the game.

What it Means
? Hopkins is now 4-12 all-time against Northwestern in the first meeting between the two as Big Ten opponents. The last two meetings have been decided in overtime.
? Kenul now ranks 16th in school Division I history in career points (110) and tied for 12th in career assists (38). Schweizer is tied for 15th with 89 career goals while Fitzgerald is tied for 20th with 73 career goals. Fitzgerald also tallied her 12th career hat trick and fifth of the season.

Johns Hopkins Leaders
? Points: Fitzgerald (4)
? Goals: Fitzgerald (4)
? Assists: Kenul (2)
? Draw Controls: Verica (2), Boyle (2)
? Ground Balls: Schneidereith (3), Flister (3), Federico (3)
? Caused Turnovers: Fitzgerald (3)
? Saves: Federico (8)

Opponent Leaders
? Points: Esposito (4)
? Goals: Esposito (3)
? Assists: Esposito (1), Nesselbush (1), Fredericks (1)
? Draw Controls: Fredericks (6)
? Ground Balls: Ingrilli (3), Quinn (3)
? Caused Turnovers: Quinn (6)
? Saves: Weisse (9)

Up Next
? Johns Hopkins returns to Homewood Field to take on Michigan on Saturday, April 8. Opening draw for the Big Ten contest is set for 1:00 pm.