Box Score BALTIMORE, Md. – It was a tough battle all the way until the end but the UMBC women's lacrosse team was unable to defeat 18th-ranked Johns Hopkins, as the Retrievers fell to the Blue Jays, 12-8, on Wednesday afternoon at Homewood Field. The Blue Jays move to 6-1 on the season, while the Retrievers fall to 4-3.
Sophomore Lauren McDonald (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) led the team with a hat trick while adding two draw controls. Classmate Sara Moeller (Phoenix, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) netted two goals and added an assist and Brittany Levine (Middletown, Md./Middletown) scooped up a team-high five ground balls.
Between the pipes, sophomore Carly Tolino (Middletown, Md./Middletown) played the majority of the time for the Retrievers, making four saves in 30:39 played. Senior Ashley Peacock (Crofton, Md./Elizabeth Seton/Louisville) started in the goal and played the other 29:21.
UMBC struck first, scoring three straight goals to start the contest. Moeller netted her ninth of the season off a helper from senior Caroline Haggerty (Bel Air, Md./John Carroll School) at the 27:42 mark. After a forced turnover by sophomore Kayla Renehan (Glenelg, Md./Glenelg), Levine would pick up a ground ball and feed it to sophomore Payton Van Kirk (Ocean City, Md./Stephen Decatur) for the 2-0 lead.
McDonald would score her first of the day at the 20:33 point to give the Retrievers a 3-0 lead, but the Blue Jays would score four straight to take a 4-3 lead.
Right before the half, junior Caitlin Miller (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) took a free position shot that went to the left of the net. Senior Jennie Milligan (Crofton, Md./South River) was there to scoop up the ground ball and feed it to senior Sam Nolan (Fallston, Md./Fallston) for the goal. The Retrievers and the Blue Jays would go into the intermission tied up at 4-4.
Early into the second half, Miller scored her fourth of the season off a feed from Nolan to take the 5-4 lead. Johns Hopkins would score twice to go up, 6-5, before Moeller notched another goal to knot things up at six-all.
However, the Blue Jays would use a five-goal run to take an 11-6 lead.
McDonald would score two more times for UMBC, surrounding Hopkins' final goal to give the Blue Jays the 12-8 win.
UP NEXT FOR THE RETRIEVERS: UMBC will take a week off before returning to UMBC Stadium to host Longwood on Wednesday, March 15. The opening draw is set for 4 p.m.
