Teeters Keeps Towson from the Brink of Upset
from press release
BALTIMORE, Md. – Led by a season-high 12
saves from sophomore goalkeeper Mary Teeters, the 12th-ranked
Tigers (3-0) celebrated their highest national ranking in school
history by rallying from a four-goal second half deficit to edge
Johns Hopkins University (3-3) at the Blue Jays' Homewood Field on
Wednesday afternoon.
The Tigers, who defeated the Blue Jays for the second straight
season, overcame a 9-5 deficit in the second half by scoring six
straight goals, including five free-position goals, over a
13-minute span to earn the victory.
“Mary (Teeters) has been huge for us all season, especially
in the last two games,” Towson Coach Missy Doherty said.
“Our turnovers in the offensive end were a little out of
character and when things don’t go well, you want to see how
your team reacts. I thought the way that we responded shows our
character.”
After battling to a 5-5 draw after the first half, the Blue Jays
opened the second half by scoring four unanswered goals in the
first nine minutes to take a 9-5 advantage. Senior attacker Paige
Ibello scored two of her three goals during the run.
But, the Tigers responded by scoring five consecutive
free-position goals to regain the lead at 10-9 with 6:54 left in
regulation. After senior midfielder Hillary Fratzke tallied
back-to-back free-position goals, senior midfielder Steph Taylor
converted a pair of free-position goals in a two-minute span to tie
the score.
With 6:54 remaining, sophomore midfielder Jackie LaMonica gave the
Tigers a 10-9 lead when she scored her second goal of the game,
another free-position shot with 6:54 remaining.
Fratzke upped the advantage to 11-9 with her third goal of the
half. Senior attacker Sam Schrum of Hopkins answered to end a
nearly 16-minute drought for the Blue Jays and narrow the margin to
11-10.
After a Tiger turnover, the Blue Jays took possession with 2:30
remaining. However, they struggled to find an open shot against a
stingy Tiger defense.
The Blue Jays had one final opportunity to tie the game, but a
close shot by sophomore attacker Candace Rossi was stopped by
Teeters with two seconds remaining to preserve the Tigers’
victory.
“I knew that I had to make the save or else, we were going
into overtime,” Teeters said. “It was a good shot, but
I don’t like overtime so I had to step up. Our defense was
awesome today, especially in the last two minutes.”
After a slow start, the Tigers grabbed a 3-0 lead with 18:39
remaining in the first half by scoring three times in a 57-second
span. LaMonica opened the scoring off an assist from Taylor before
junior attacker Jess Dunn upped the advantage to 2-0.
Freshman midfielder Kelly Custer extended the Tiger lead to 3-0
when she scored the first goal of her college career, an unassisted
marker past freshman goalkeeper Cosette Larash.
After the teams exchanged goals to give Towson a 4-1 cushion, the
Blue Jays went on a three-goal spurt to tie the game at 4-4 with
8:10 left in the first half. Schrum started the run by scoring off
an assist from Ibello.
Junior midfielder Brianna Cronin narrowed the deficit to 4-3 with
an unassisted goal before senior midfielder Angela Hughes tied the
game with 4:55 remaining in the period.
Senior midfielder Nikki Marcinik regained the Tiger lead at 5-4
just 19 seconds later with an unassisted goal before Cronin tallied
her second goal of the game to even the score at 5-5.
Fratzke scored three goals for her third “hat trick”
of the season, extending her scoring streak to 51 straight games.
Taylor added two goals with an assist as the Tigers improved to 3-0
for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.
Schrum and Ibello each contributed three goals with an assist for
the Blue Jays while Cronin added three goals. Larash made six saves
in a losing effort for Johns Hopkins, which outshot Towson by a
33-23 margin.
The Tigers will return home on Saturday afternoon to host George
Washington University at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays will open
their American Lacrosse Conference schedule by hosting the
University of Florida at Homewood Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.
College Women’s Lacrosse: #12 Towson University 11, Johns
Hopkins University 10
Towson (3-0) 5-6 / 11
Johns Hopkins (3-3) 5-5 / 10
Goals: TOW – Hillary Fratzke 3, Steph Taylor 2, Jackie
LaMonica 2, Nikki Marcinik 1, Kelly Custer 1, Jess Dunn 1, Ali
Lathroum 1; JHU – Sam Schrum 3, Paige Ibello 3, Brianna
Cronin 3, Angela Hughes 1. Assists: TOW – Nikki Marcinik 1,
Steph Taylor 1; JHU – Angela Hughes 1, Paige Ibello 1, Sam
Schrum 1. Saves: TOW – Mary Teeters 12 (60:00, 10 goals
allowed); JHU – Cosette Larash 6 (60:00, 11 goals allowed).
Shots: TOW – 23; JHU – 33. Free-Position Opportunities:
TOW – 6 for 9; JHU – 1 for 4. Attendance: 250.
Post-Game Notes:
• Wednesday’s game between the Tigers and the Blue Jays
was the 16th all-time meeting in a series which Johns Hopkins leads
by a 9-7 margin … After losing eight straight times to the
Blue Jays, the Tigers have now won back-to-back games against their
Charles Street rivals.
• The Tigers also snapped a four-game losing streak against
the Blue Jays at Homewood Field … Prior to Wednesday, the
Tigers’ last win over Hopkins at Homewood Field was on April
26, 2000.
• The win enabled the Tigers to earn a season sweep over
Loyola and Johns Hopkins for the first time in the program’s
history … The Tigers had earned a split against the two
teams in each of the last two years.
• The Tigers were held to a season-low 11 goals against Johns
Hopkins on Wednesday … The Tigers had averaged 14.50 goals
in their first two games … However, the Tigers have now won
their last 11 games when scoring 10 or more goals.
• Fratzke has also scored at least two goals in 35 straight
games, dating back to the 2007 season … The last time she
was held to a single goal was on March 3, 2007 at Penn.
• Fratzke also continued her streak of recording a point in
every game of her career, a string of 57 games … It is the
second-longest active streak in the country behind a 59-game streak
by Denver’s Ali Flury.
• Fratzke also recorded the 35th “hat trick” of
her college career against the Blue Jays … Dating back to
last season, she has tallied a “hat trick” in five of
her last six outings.
• Taylor recorded the tenth multi-goal game of her college
career … She had been limited to one goal in each of the
Tigers’ first two games.
• With a goal and an assist against the Blue Jays on
Wednesday, Marcinik extended her streak of consecutive games with a
point to 24 games.
• LaMonica tallied the fourth multi-goal game of her career
… She has scored at least two goals in each of the
Tigers’ first three games.
