Facing the nation’s best scorer this past weekend, the Hopkins women’s lacrosse team fell in a tough 10-9 loss to the Florida Gators. Florida’s Shannon Gilroy is leading the nation in scoring, and held her title as she scored seven second-half points to give fourth ranked Florida the win over the 13th ranked Lady Jays.
Hopkins dominated the first half, thanks in part to a patient offense and a 5-2 advantage at the draw. As the half came to a close, the Lady Jays had a 4-2 lead over the Gators.
Florida’s Gilroy gave the Gators a strong push as the second half began, scoring just 59 seconds into the second half. Hopkins answered quickly when, one minute later, senior Taylor D’Amore faked a pass at the top of the arc and dodged down the left alley before beating the Gator goalkeeper high-to-low from seven yards out. The Lady Jays once again led with a score of 5-3. Just 45 seconds went off the clock following D’Amore’s goal before Florida’s Sam Darcangelo scored on an off-shoulder shot on free position.
The offense slowed down after that three goal stretch when Lady Jay junior Jen Cook pushed Hopkins’ lead back to two with a quick-stick goal from teammate D’Amore. Florida’s Gilroy quickly tied the game up at 6-6 after two back-to-back goals within two minutes of each other.
Hopkins senior Sammy Cermack scored a little under three minutes later, once again putting Hopkins in the lead. Gator’s Gilroy quickly responded, scoring three staight goals, including a pair on free position, pushing Florida ahead to a 9-7 lead with 5:21 left to play.
Hopkins won the ensuing draw; sophomore Dene DiMartino, from the top of the arc, passed to Cermack in the right alley. Cermack faded right before blowing a shot past Wilcox, bringing the score within one.
The Lady Jays once again won the ensuing draw and had the opportunity to score. However, after a misread from Cook leading to a turnover, Florida once again had possession. The Gators ran three minutes off the clock before Gilroy scored again, this time off of an empty net with 1:10 left in the game. Thanks to Gilroy’s final goal of the game, the Gators now held a comfortable 2-point lead as the clock was winding down.
Winning the draw once again, the Lady Jays scored within 11 seconds off a goal from sophomore Maddy Aldave. Assisting on the goal was D’Amore, bringing her assist total to three on the game. Florida won the following draw and was looking to run out the clock before Hopkins junior Octavia Williams checked the ball from Darcagelo and freshman Haley Schweizer picked up the ground ball as Hopkins called timeout with just 4.2 seconds left in regulation. With the ball in the midfield, there wasn’t enough time to get the game-tying goal, and the Lady Jays lost to the Gators 10-9.
D’Amore finished with seven points (four goals, three assists) as she moved into third place on the program’s all-time (Division I and III) points list with 265. She also extended her point streak to 50 games and her school-record assist streak to 20 games. Cermack totaled three points (two goals, one assist), to extend her point streak to 11 games, while also controlling four draws and causing one turnover. Gilroy was the only Gator with more than one point with her game-high of seven goals.
The Lady Jays are now 10-2 for the season, with each of their two losses being only 1-point losses.
“I think our two one-goal losses are very motivating for our team,” Cermack said. “Both games came down to the wire, which allowed us to learn a lot about who we all are in high-pressure situations. We are a team filled with a ton of heart, and in both games we never gave up. The losses have brought to our attention the little things that need fixing in order to peak in May come tournament time. We are trying to take one game at a time and learn from our mistakes.”
With such high success early on in a long season, it can be hard for a team to stay focused and motivated however, the Lady Jays are led by a very experienced coaching staff that has provided Hopkins with the tools for great success.
“Coach Tucker, Coach Tara and Coach Stanwick do a great job of keeping us grounded during our success and motivated after a loss,” Cermack said. “We have a lot of tough games left on our schedule and we are taking the approach of taking it one day at a time and getting better every day.”
The Blue Jays are back on the road Sunday, April 13, as they face the sixth ranked Northwestern Wildcats.
