Towson Women’s Lacrosse loses lead late, falls to No. 20 Johns Hopkins

By: Courtney Ott, Deputy Sports Editor

The Towson Women’s Lacrosse team (10-4) fell short in overtime to Johns Hopkins University (7-7) 13-12 after the Tigers held onto the lead for the majority of regulation play. Towson goalkeeper Jo Torres helped the Tigers stay in the game with a season-high 13 saves.

“There were a lot of bright spots for us and that was one of them. How she continued to stay in such a great mental headspace allowed her to move freely, make great saves, make great plays and she just did an awesome job,” said Head Coach Sonia LaMonica.

Both teams started the game with multiple opportunities to obtain the lead. Still, Torres and Johns Hopkins’ goalie Maggie Tydings held their ground for the first six minutes before midfielder Blair Pearre scored in the lower left corner to put Towson up by one.

To end the first quarter, midfielder Jordan Carr trickled the ball into the net in front of a swarm of Tigers inside the arch to give the Blue Jays a 4-2 lead.

Defender Blair Goodrich was able to carry the ball upfield through a scramble of Blue Jay defenders to start the second quarter. Pearre was given a free position shot but it went just wide to the right and the Tigers recovered the ball giving it back to Pearre. She was able to give Towson the point, and dove inside the eight just as the shot clock ran out. 

“We came into this game knowing it would be physical and I think we were mentally prepared for that. We just have to hang tough and work through it one play at a time. We just have to stick to it,” LaMonica said.

With 6:35 in the second quarter, Towson tied the game at four when attackman Lindsey Clarke was given a free position shot. It bounced off the crossbar, but midfielder Valerie Thompson grabbed the rebound and fired the ball into the top right corner. 

With just over three minutes left in the second quarter, midfielder Lindsey Marshall gave the Tigers their lead back as she crossed in front of the crease. Attack Gabby Garrett followed with an underhanded goal of her own, and Towson held a 6-4 lead. 

After a three-second violation on the Blue Jays, Pearre scored her third goal of the game as she crossed over the crease to capitalize on the free position. Johns Hopkins cut Towson’s lead down to two when posted up in the arch on a Towson turnover to end the first half.

Towson scored to make the game 9-5 with 10:27 in the third as Clarke went diving to goal but goalkeeper Morgan Giardina saved it and tried to clear. Midfielder Milana Zizakovic intercepted the ball and responded with a goal, squeezing it past Giardina’s left side. 

With 2:42 to go in the third quarter, Johns Hopkins cut Towson’s lead to one as midfielder Georgie Gorelick scored off of a patient Blue Jay offense. 

To start the fourth quarter, Pearre was able to beat the shot clock when she got a rebound behind the net and rolled the crease to put Towson back up by two. At 12:04, Towson worked the ball around the arch and eventually found Marshall inside to give the Tigers an 11-8 lead.

Midfielder Ava Angello cut the lead to 11-9 after an assist from attackman Campbell Case from behind the net and faked out Torres to put the ball low and center. At the seven-minute mark, Towson took advantage of the man advantage from a Blue Jays’ yellow card as midfielder Katie McCormick soared the ball into the back of the net.

On the next possession, Johns Hopkins had a clear open shot in the center of the goal but Torres dropped to her knees and rejected the shot with two minutes remaining in regulation. Just over one minute remained in the game, and Johns Hopkins caused a turnover with a check at midfield and capitalized, tying the game at 12. 

Towson had possession with 20 seconds left and both teams were down a man due to yellow cards. Towson held the ball for the remainder of regulation time and sent the game into overtime. The game ended when Johns Hopkins scored at the top of the eight meters.

“It was a great battle, two great teams,” said LaMonica. “It was an exciting game and it’s tough to come out on the losing side of it but Hopkins had some great plays down the stretch. We needed to be stronger in some moments but I thought we battled really hard so despite the outcome, we’ll bounce back.”

Towson’s next matchup is at home on Saturday, April 22 at 12 p.m. as they host Stony Brook.