W. Lax silenced by national leading Wildcats
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Regrettably, the Lady Jays found out first hand why their visitors are currently the No. 1 team in the nation, as the Wildcats pounced on the poised Hopkins squad, handing them a 5-12 defeat.
"I think Northwestern always brings their best game to the field," head coach Janine Tucker said. "We know we can hang with them. We were very prepared and ready to play [the Wildcats]."
The statistics, on the other hand, paint a different picture. Chalk it up to a case of the jitters, but the Jays have not fared well against their formidable American Lacrosse Conference rival.
Players on the Hopkins roster had compiled a total of just 10 career goals against Northwestern prior to Friday. In six consecutive meetings of the two teams, including the most recent outcome, the Jays have only twice come out victoriously.
The game started evenly, as is the habit with the Lady Jays this season. Northwestern took a two-goal lead, and the Lady Jays answered within minutes with two goals from standout attacks freshman Samantha Schrum and senior Mary Key.
The same scheme continued until halftime, with the Hopkins trailing the Wildcats 4-6.
A two-goal deficit seemed manageable for the Jays, but when they hit the field for the second period, the tone of the game changed drastically. To put it into words, the Hopkins offense was almost completely silenced.
"It was pretty messy on both sides, but [the Wildcats] were able to capitalize off our mistakes more than we were theirs," said senior defender Meghan Crisafulli.
"That is what Northwestern does well to teams - makes them make mistakes," Coach Tucker added.
Though Northwestern had more turnovers, the Lady Jays were unable to take advantage of a number of them, shooting below .200 for the second time this season - finding the back of the net a less-than-stellar 17 percent in the game.
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