The Georgetown University women’s lacrosse team showed perseverance but ultimately fell to Johns Hopkins University 19-10 on Feb. 25 at Cooper Field, failing to overcome their early deficit against the dynamic Blue Jays offense.
No. 9 Johns Hopkins (3-2) immediately set the tone against Georgetown (2-3) , scoring just 25 seconds into the first half. Georgetown senior attacker Emma Gebhardt responded a minute later with help from sophomore attacker Anne McGovern, to make it a tied game. However, the Blue Jays swiftly established the upper hand, taking advantage of forced turnovers and missed passes, securing quick attacking transitions and goals.
Despite a crucial save by senior goalie Leah Warehime at the six-minute mark, the Hoyas struggled to convert quick defensive transitions into offensive opportunities. The first quarter ended with 4 consecutive goals from Johns Hopkins, creating a 5-1 deficit for the Hoyas.
The Hoyas revitalized in the second quarter, completing passes and maintaining possessions. Despite McGovern’s valiant efforts to propel Georgetown’s offense, turnovers — both offensively and defensively — doomed the Hoyas. Johns Hopkins capitalized with nine and a half minutes left in the second quarter to increase their lead to 6-1.
The Hoyas responded with a goal from sophomore attacker Lauren Steer with the help of junior attacker Molly Byrne at the 8:03 mark. Georgetown held onto this newfound intensity, forcing a Blue Jay turnover followed by a spectacular behind-the-back goal from junior attacker Gracie Driggs to decrease the deficit to 6-3.
Following a strong offensive effort, Johns Hopkins secured a late goal after a string of passes, putting the score at 7-3. However, McGovern answered with a goal and the Hoyas ended the half trailing 7-4.
Byrne set the tone early in the third quarter with a fast-break goal assisted by Driggs. Georgetown showed intensity and fluid ball movement, but Johns Hopkins continually created offensive opportunities, extending their advantage to 9-4 with 2 goals in two minutes.
Steer scored her second goal in the traffic of Blue Jay defenders in the crease at the 10:18 mark, narrowing the score to 9-6. The Blue Jays responded with 3 unanswered goals as they worked around the crease and took advantage of open defensive pockets.
Georgetown Head Coach Caitlyn Phipps called a timeout with four minutes remaining in the third quarter to reset the Hoya’s composure. Graduate attacker Hanna Bishop scored an individual goal right off the timeout, effortlessly spinning around a Blue Jay defender to bring up the score to 12-7 with 3:30 to go in the third. To end the third quarter, the Blue Jays bunkered down on defense, forcing turnovers and leveraging defensive opportunities to boost their lead to 15-7.
Despite the double-digit deficit, the Hoyas fought until the final whistle. At the 10:43 mark, Driggs scored a goal with the help of sophomore midfielder Reagan Ziegler, though the Blue Jays responded and kept up the pressure to extend their lead to 19-9 with less than five minutes to play.
With less than three minutes remaining and the clock running, Steer completed a hat-trick, scoring and drawing a foul, stopping the clock in the process. The momentum fizzled as the game neared its end, resulting in a 19-10 loss to the Blue Jays.
Despite the loss, the Hoya’s resilience never faltered and particularly shined through in the second and third quarters, proving they can contend with top-ranked teams.
Sophomore attacker Anne McGovern said the loss did not reflect the Hoyas’ true abilities.
“Our loss to Hopkins was disappointing and a score that I don’t think reflects the true capabilities of this team but it was a game that we will learn from moving forwards,” McGovern told The Hoya. “Despite fighting back in the second quarter after going down early, we were unable to gain momentum late in the game.”
Steer spearheaded the attack for Georgetown with three goals, followed by two apiece from junior attacker Gracie Driggs and sophomore attacker Anne McGovern. Junior attacker Molly Byrne and graduate attacker Hanna Bishop each posted two assists and one goal. Senior defender Lily Athanas led the defense with three caused turnovers, and goalie Leah Warehime recorded 11 saves.
The Hoyas will remain at home to host Lehigh (1-2) Saturday, Mar. 1 at Cooper Field, where they will look to bounce back and prepare for conference play.
