Spring Break
Key scores in 27th straight match as Jays beat UMBC
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With their quest for perfection over, the women's lacrosse team refocused on a task no less honorable: to win an NCAA title. Traveling no farther than to cross-town rival University of Maryland-Baltimore County, the Blue Jays returned to form, defeating UMBC 14-6 last Wednesday.
Despite the victory against the Retrievers and their exceptional record, the Blue Jays continued to stumble from the top of the rankings, checking in this week at No. 7 in the Bounce Entertainment/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. Duke University maintained the No. 1 position after garnering 15 out of a possible 16 first-place votes.
The Blue Jays (9-1) assured any skeptics that they shook off the dust from the recent loss, jumping on the Retrievers (7-6) early in the contest.
"It was really great that were able to [get ahead] that early," junior attacker Mary Key said. "At the same time, we weren't playing our game initially. It was definitely beneficial to set the pace, and we eventually settled into our game."
Senior attacker Meagan Voight opened the scoring no sooner than 30 seconds into the match when she secured a pass on the cut from junior attacker Alex Nolan and slipped the first of a career-high five goals past UMBC freshman goalkeeper Susie Sweeney.
"I didn't do very much differently in the UMBC game than any other game," Voight said. "I think that my teammates did a good job of finding me cutting through the eight meter and fed me the ball, which allowed for me to score the goals. Every goal I had in the game was assisted, so I think that gives a lot of the credit to my teammates who passed me the ball."
Following senior attacker Sarah Walsh's unassisted tally less than a minute later, Voight nabbed her second score off an assist from sophomore midfielder Kirby Houck.
"Kirby carried the ball down the field, creating a two-on-one, and forcing the defender to slide to Kirby," Voight added. "I was open in the eight, which allowed for an easy goal."
Scores by sophomore midfielder Annie Wagner and Key pushed the lead to 5-0. Key's score at the 12:58 mark added another link to the chain of 44 games with a point registered, and 27 straight games with a goal scored. Jamie Larrimore, an attacker who graduated in 2002, holds the school record for consecutive games with a point registered at 46.
Although Key is in the midst of a historical run, she assures that there isn't too much pressure.
"It's definitely something I really don't focus on," Key said. "While it's something you can control to a certain extent, it's not really what's important. I think that as long as we continue winning and I keep working hard, those things will come. But it's also important that I do not let [the streaks] change the way I am approaching anything."
Nolan and Voight continued the Blue Jay assault, securing goals a minute apart to cap a 7-0 run by Hopkins.
UMBC senior midfielder Kelly Fiorani finally stopped the bleeding when she scored with 10:28 left to play in the half. Fiorani, driving from behind the goal, established position in front before slipping a shot by Blue Jay senior goalkeeper Lauren Riddick.
The Blue Jays and Retrievers traded goals to close the period, with goals by Hopkins' Wagner
and UMBC sophomore attacker Ali Levendusky.
Heading into the half, the resurgent Blue Jay offense secured a dominant 27-7 shot advantage on way to an 8-2 lead.
"I think in the first half of the game we were taking too many poor shots that shouldn't have ever been taken," Voight said, "and in the second half we were more careful with the ball, and more selective and smart about which shots should be taken."
After the Jays opened the second half with three more goals to bring the score to 11-2, the imbalance between the two squads continued to grow more apparent.
Key, one of the leading candidates for the Tewaaraton Trophy as the nation's best player, began to seize control of the match. Key's assist to Nolan for the half's first score extended her streak to 14 consecutive games with an assist, which is an active record.
Just over two minutes after Key scored her 36th goal of the season, Nolan returned Key's favor by assisting on another Key goal to finish Hopkins' 3-0 run.
"We started doing a play where I was setting up with a teammate," Key added. "I ended up on the right side of the goal, Alex Nolan actually fed me the ball and I had a `quick-stick.' It was something that was a lot more controlled. We had been forcing a lot during the game and it really got us settled and in the right direction." UMBC, hoping to avoid another Blue Jay 7-0 surge, scored when junior midfielder Kelly Fahey found the back of the net off of an assist from Levendusky.
Goals by Key and Voight continued to expand an already bloated lead, which stood at 11 entering the final minutes of contest.
UMBC's Fahey had an unassisted goal before her teammate senior defender Julie Libertini notched the second goal of her career by running coast-to-coast on a score to cut the deficit to nine. With the game fading to a close, Levendusky tallied the final score of the contest to set the score at 14-6.
Hopkins' Riddick was solid between the pipes, recording five saves for her 30th victory, just two wins shy of record-holder Jen McDonald, who graduated in 2003.
The Blue Jays out-shot the Retrievers by a 40-17 margin in the match, further expressing the dominance of the Blue Jay offense.
The Jays travel to Evanston, Ill. to face off against No. 2-ranked Northwestern University this Sunday at 1 p.m. for an American Lacrosse Conference tilt. The teams last met on April 22, 2005 when Northwestern cruised to a 12-3 victory en route to a 21-0 record and their first NCAA title.
"It's definitely going to be a huge game for us," Key said. "Not only are they one of the best teams in the country, but they are also in our conference. A win against them, [if we win all of our remaining games as well], would mean a conference championship and an automatic bid to the NCAAs. We're definitely going into the game focused and looking for a win."