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Media Credit: Eileen Huang Freshman Cami Kramer avoids the tough Penn State defense during the Jays' nailbiting 12-11 loss at Homewood.

As Spring Fair kicked into full gear, the Lady Jays lacrosse team was unable to end their two game skid on Saturday as they dropped their third in a row to Penn State. Saturday was senior day at Homewood Field as it not only marked the last home game, but also the last game of the regular season. Despite the special occasion, the Jays came up short in the loss to the Nittany Lions, who are ranked 15th in the nation.

"Our main focus entering the Penn State game was to get a win for our seniors," head coach Janine Tucker said. "We fought hard to the end, but came up short."

The Jays opened up the scoring with freshman Colleen McCaffrey's free position shot 3:35 into play. After back-to-back goals by Penn State, freshman Candace Rossi and junior Angela Hughes retaliated with back-to-back goals in just 75 seconds to take a 3-2 lead.

However, the Lions came right back with three consecutive goals to build up a 5-3 lead. Hopkins soon after went on a two-goal run to tie the game at 5-5 as McCaffrey and Hughes found the net with 7:19 left in the half. The two goals would be the last scored by the Jays for the remainder of the half. Penn State was able to capitalize on the drought, scoring two goals to secure the lead into halftime.

Coming out of the half, Penn State picked up right where they left off, scoring three straight to amass a 10-5 advantage. Halfway through the second, the Jays found themselves down by only two as Hughes added another goal and junior Paige Ibello contributed two more. After giving up another goal, Hopkins senior Gina Maranto scored off a feed from freshman Rachel Ballatori, making it 11-9 with 9:55 remaining. Trailing 12-9 with 8:51 to play, Hopkins began to rally back. Junior Sam Schrum and Hughes made it a 12-11 game with two unanswered goals. After a Blue Jay turnover, and with just 36 seconds left in the game, Penn State lost the ball out of bounds. With time winding down, Hughes made a final surge for the net, but the ball was checked out of her stick before she could get a shot off, ending the near comeback.

Hughes led the Jays with a career-high four goals, while Ballatori added a career-high three assists. McCaffrey and Ibello each scored a pair for Hopkins. Additionally, the Jays used four different goalies who totaled nine saves.

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