Hopkins Women Upset No. 17 Penn State
from press release
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Johns Hopkins
women's lacrosse team held host and 17th-ranked Penn State to just
three second half goals en route to a 12-7 win Sunday afternoon in
American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) action. The Blue Jays move to
9-6 overall and 2-2 in the ALC, while the Nittany Lions fall to 9-7
overall and 1-4 in the league. The win sets up a critical match-up
for Hopkins with Ohio State in the regular season finale on May 2
in a battle for three seed in the ALC Tournament. The win was the
first for Hopkins over a ranked team since March 30, 2008, snapping
a streak of 20 straight losses to ranked opponents.
Penn State took an early 2-1 lead in the game as Theresa Zichelli
sandwiched a pair of goals around a strike from sophomore Colleen
McCaffrey (Mount Sinai, NY/Mount Sinai) 11 minutes in. Hopkins
answered with four straight to take a 5-2 lead with just over five
minutes to play in the half. Senior Paige Ibello (Cockeysville,
MD/Maryvale) got things going with a pair of goals just 73 seconds
apart to give the Blue Jays a lead they would not relinquish.
Senior Angela Hughes (Manchester, MD/North Carroll) and sophomore
Candace Rossi (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale) added unassisted goals
to stake Hopkins to a 5-2 lead. Penn State would cut the deficit to
just one at the half, however, as Laura Lesnick and Theresa Bucci
each scored free position goals in the final five minutes of the
half.
Hopkins came out strong to start the second half, outscoring Penn
State 6-1 in the first 24 minutes to push out to an 11-5 lead.
Senior Sam Schrum (Pasadena, MD/St. Mary's) gave the Blue Jays a
two-goal lead just four minutes into the second half to kick start
the run. Ibello followed with her third of the day off a feed from
McCaffrey. McCaffrey then scored on a free position shot as Hopkins
doubled up Penn State at 8-4. Zichelli halted the run temporarily,
completeing her hat trick with more than 21 minutes to play.
Rossi answered with a natural hat trick, scoring three straight in
a span of just over five minutes, to push the Blue Jays' lead to
six at 11-5. Penn State had one more run left, scoring a pair of
goals just 40 seconds apart to cut the deficit to four with more
than four minutes remaining. That would be it for the Nittany
Lions, however, as junior Brooke Foussadier (Turnersville,
NJ/Washington Township) would tack on one more for Hopkins to
account for the 12-7 final.
Rossi led all scorers with four goals and five points on the
afternoon, while Ibello (3g) and McCaffrey (2g, 2a) also had
multi-point games. Freshman goalie Cosette Larash (Crownsville,
MD/Archbishop Spalding) was solid for the Blue Jays, posting 11
saves, including several on free position, with a career-high 10
ground balls. Zichelli led the Nittany Lions with three goals on
the day while Bucci had two goals and an assist. Stephanie Ellis
had three saves in the net for Penn State.
Hopkins will wrap up the regular season on Sunday, May 2 in a huge
meeting with 18th-ranked Ohio State. The Blue Jays could secure the
number three seed in the ALC Tournament with the win. The game will
be televised live by ESPNU with opening draw slated for 1:00 pm.
