May 26, 2009

2009 Season Review Notebook in PDF Format

The 2009 season was one of growing pains for the Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team as the Blue Jays fielded a team with just five seniors on the roster and just two of those five saw significant playing time. Hopkins top two leading scorers were in their rookie seasons, Candace Rossi and Colleen McCaffrey, as the pair combined to score 57 goals. The future is bright for the Blue Jays as 16 of the 18 players that scored a goal this season will return in 2010 and seven of those scored 10 or more goals. Additionally, 12 of the 16 who scored have atleast two years of eligibility remaining.

Hopkins got the year off on a strong note, beating George Mason 15-10 in the opener. Eight different Blue Jays got in on the scoring, led by sophomore Brooke Foussadier who scored a career-high four goals. Hopkins never trailed in the game as its goals came in bunches. The biggest bunch came late in the second half after the Patriots scored three unanswered in just 66 seconds to turn a five-goal game into just a two-goal game. The Blue Jays answered with a 5-0 run, bookended by Foussadier, as they pushed back out to a seven-goal lead. Mason would tack on two more before the Hopkins defense held the Patriots scoreless over the final five minutes. In addition to Foussadier's four-goal outing, McCaffrey, Rossi and classmate Rachel Serio all scored their first career collegiate goals.

Just four days later, Hopkins hosted seventh-ranked Georgetown on ESPNU in the Blue Jays first of nine games this season against ranked opponents. JHU got on the board first as freshman Alyssa Kildare needed just 21 seconds to score her first career goal, but the Georgetown answered with a methodical five-goal run that spanned nearly 15 minutes. The teams traded goals to end the half as the visitors took a 6-3 lead into the lockerroom. The Hoyas came out firing to start the second, scoring four unanswered over a 20-minute span to take control of the game. The Blue Jays closed out the game on a 3-1 run to account for the 11-6 final. Sophomore Brianna Cronin and freshman Cami Kramer led JHU with a pair of goals each.

Hopkins then hit the road to take on eighth-ranked Princeton in the Blue Jays first road game of the year. Hopkins led 2-1 early, but Princeton outscored JHU 6-2 over the final 23 minutes of the first half to take a 7-4 lead at the break. The Blue Jays did not go away easily as Cronin scored back-to-back goals coming out of the half to cut the deficit to one. The Tigers answered with a pair before the Blue Jays got three straight to tie the game at nine apiece with 13:33 to play. That would be all the scoring for Hopkins as Princeton put four on the board in the final 11 minutes to win 13-9. Cronin paced the Blue Jays for the second game, scoring a career-high five goals, including four in 14 minutes in the second half.

JHU returned home and evened its record with an 18-9 win over visiting Cincinnati. It was a tight game early, but the Blue Jays broke it open late in the first half with a 7-1 run that spanned halftime as JHU took an 11-4 lead. The Bearcats clawed their way back into the game with a 4-1 run to cut the deficit to four with over 19 minutes to play. But Hopkins held Cincinnati to just one goal for the remainder of the game, while putting six on the board. Rossi scored a game-high five goals, becoming the first freshman to do so since April 14, 2004.

Three days later, Rossi would turn the same trick, scoring five goals in a 22-12 loss at Ohio State, Hopkins conference opener. The Buckeyes took control early, opening the game on a 7-1 run and leading 9-4 at the half. After an early goal from Ohio State to open the second, Hopkins strung together three straight to cut the deficit to 10-7 with more than 25 minutes to play. OSU responded with six unanswered in just over four minutes, pushing out to a nine-goal lead. The Blue Jays had one more run left, cutting the deficit back to six with a 4-1 run. But Ohio State would outscore Hopkins 5-1 over the final 10 minutes.

Hopkins hit the West Coast to take on Oregon in a non-conference match-up over spring break. Trailing by just one at the half, 5-4, Hopkins came out firing in the second, scoring five straight goals to take a 9-5 lead with just over 17 minutes left on the clock. The Ducks defense clamped down from there, allowing just one Blue Jay goal as Oregon rallied for a 12-10 win. It was the Ducks first ever win over the Blue Jays, snapping a three-game losing streak.

The Blue Jays got back in the win column as Hopkins hosted George Washington at Homewood Field. Hopkins rallied from a five-goal deficit midway through the second half and got two overtime goals to defeat GW 13-12. The Blue Jays trailed 9-4 after a six-goal spurt by the Colonials that spanned halftime. Hopkins answered with a six-goal run of its own, fueled by three goals from Cronin to take an 11-9 lead. Megan Seidman scored a pair for GW in the final eight minutes to knot the score and force overtime. Hopkins got goals from juniors Sam Schrum and Angela Hughes in the first overtime period. Taylor Donohue answered for the Colonials in the second period and the visitors won the ensuing draw. But a GW turnover in front of the Hopkins cage gave possession back to the Blue Jays. Hopkins was able to run out the remainder of the clock and earn its first overtime win since March 23, 2001.

Hopkins made it two in a row, picking up an 8-6 win over cross-town rival UMBC the following week. With the game knotted a three aside, junior Brett Bathras scored off a feed from Schrum to ignite a 5-1 Hopkins run that spanned more then 31 minutes. Trailing by four with under five minutes to play, the Retrievers got a pair of goals to cut the deficit in half with 3:27 to play. Nursing a two-goal lead, Hopkins won the draw and was able to run out the clock to secure its second straight win. Cronin and Foussadier each scored a pair as six different Blue Jays combined to score the eight goals.

The Blue Jays took on an unfamiliar opponent in its next outing, facing the 14th-ranked Cardinal of Stanford, in the first meeting between the two since 2000. The Blue Jays got a 15-save performance from sophomore Julianne Wisner between the pipes, but the offense could only put up seven goals in a 10-7 loss. Stanford opened the game on a 5-1 run and Hopkins was never able to get closer then three for the remainder of the game. Junior Paige Ibello and Bathras paced the Blue Jays with a pair of goals each.

Hopkins saw another series winning streak come to an end when the Blue Jays traveled up Charles Street to take on Towson. The Tigers saw four different players notch hat tricks as they snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Blue Jays with a 16-7 win. Hopkins looked to be in control early, leading 3-1 with 12:36 to play after goals by Serio, Cronin and Rossi. But a Jacie Kendall-goal in transition ignited a five-goal Tiger run to end the half as Towson led 7-3 at the half. The Tigers then extended their lead to five, scoring just 22 seconds into the second. McCaffrey got Hopkins back on the board and ending a scoreless streak of 15:57 to make it an 8-4 game. Towson answered with four goals in less than four minutes, pushing out to an eight-goal lead with more than 21 minutes to play. That run pushed the game out of reach for the Blue Jays, as they could get no closer than seven.

Hopkins ran into a tough Penn team just four days later, falling 11-3 to the third-ranked Quakers. The Penn offense was methodical, scoring seven unanswered in a run that spanned the first 34 minutes of the game. The defense was even more impressive, holding Hopkins to just seven shots and no goals in the first half. McCaffrey ended Penn's run, putting Hopkins on the board with just over 23 minutes left in the game. But her goal was answered by three from the Quakers, as Penn pushed out to a 10-1 lead. Bathras and senior Gina Maranto looked to get the Blue Jays' offense going, scoring back-to-back goals in just 66 seconds, cutting the deficit to seven with over 11 minutes to play. But that would be it as the nation's stingiest defense kept Hopkins from getting any closer.

The Blue Jays got back into ALC play on April 4 with a trip to Nashville to take on the 11th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores. Hopkins fell behind early as Vanderbilt put up seven unanswered to start the game and couldn't recover in an 18-8 loss. Freshman Rachel Ballatori scored a career-high two goals as the only multi-goal scorer for the Blue Jays.

The following week, Hopkins snapped its four-game losing skid in a big way. JHU held visiting Fresno State to just one shot en route to a 19-0 win. It was the Blue Jays third shutout since 1999 and first since 2005. Thirteen different players scored in the win for Hopkins, led by Kramer with her first career hat trick.

Just days after facing a winless team in Fresno State, Hopkins was faced with the task of taking on undefeated and second-ranked Maryland in College Park. Despite the rain and chilly weather, the Blue Jays came out fired up, using a 3-0 run late in the first half and looked to take a 5-3 lead into the break. But a late goal by the Terps made it just a one-goal game at the half. Hopkins pushed its lead back to two with a quick goal from Maranto to start the second. But that seemed to awaken Maryland as the Terps exploded for five goals to turn a two-goal deficit into a three-goal lead. It was all Maryland from then on out as every Hopkins goal was answered by a Maryland run. Bathras notched a career-high four assists and five points to lead the Blue Jays on the day.

Hopkins faced another undefeated opponent in top-ranked Northwestern three days later under the lights of Homewood. The Wildcats looked to be cruising to their 20th straight win, leading 12-2 with just over 14 minutes to play in the game. But Hopkins wasn't going away. McCaffrey scored four goals to fuel a 5-0 Blue Jay run as JHU made it a 12-7 game with 3:49 remaining. Northwestern then pulled its reserved and put its starters back in and the Wildcats punched up four goals in the final 81 seconds to win 16-7.

The following week, Hopkins joined in the fight against breast cancer, sporting pink jerseys as JHU hosted Penn State in its final regular season game. Trailing by three at 11-8 with 13:45 remaining in the game, the Blue Jays appeared to have some magic in those pink jerseys as they put together a late 3-1 run to make it a 12-11 game with just 2:56 to play. Hopkins won the draw after cutting it to one, but a Blue Jay turnover gave the ball to the Nittany Lions as they looked to run out the clock. Hopkins got it back though with 36 ticks on the clock, calling timeout with 20 seconds remaining to set up one final play. Hughes ended up with the ball, cutting across the arc with time winding down, but the ball was checked from her stick before she could get a shot off and Penn State escaped with the win.

JHU headed to State College, PA the next week for the third annual ALC Tournament. The fifth seed in the tournament, Hopkins squared off against fourth-seeded and 11th-ranked Vanderbilt. With the game tied at 1-1 just five minutes in, the Commodores put four on the board in four minutes to push out to a 5-1 lead. Hopkins answered with a 3-1 run that spanned more then 11 minutes to make it a 6-4 game. Vanderbilt would tack on two more before the break to take an 8-4 lead into the lockerroom. Hopkins came out of the break with goals from Hughes and McCaffrey and the deficit was once again down to just two. The `Dores won the ensuing draw and went straight to the cage, scoring to push the lead back to three. Schrum answered for Hopkins off a feed from Hughes and it was a 9-7 game with over 23 minutes to play. Vanderbilt controlled the action from there, holding Hopkins to just one goal for the remainder of the game, to win 14-8 and advance to the ALC Semifinals.

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