UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The No. 13 Penn State women's lacrosse team found itself in another back-and-forth battle with No. 20 Johns Hopkins, but fell 13-11 on Sunday at Panzer Stadium. A 3-0 run in the second half gave the Blue Jays their first lead of the game with 10:56 to go and they held on for the victory. Penn State fell to 4-8 overall, while Johns Hopkins improved to 5-5.
Freshman Kristin O'Neill led the Nittany Lions with three goals and an assist. Maria Auth recorded three goals. Olivia Dirks added two goals, while Gretchen Gilmore, Mary Muldoon and Quinn Nicolai each had one. Sophia Triandafils added an assist and Sammy Dupcak won six draw controls. Taylor Suplee made two saves in just under 50 minutes of action. Lucy Lowe made one stop over the final 10 minutes.
With three goals, Auth moved into sole possession of sixth all-time at Penn State with 159 career goals. She broke a tie with Madison Cyr (156; 2013-16). Auth now has 223 career points, sitting four behind Katie O'Donnell (2015-18) for sixth all-time at Penn State.
Maeve Barker paced the Blue Jays with three goals and an assist. Aurora Cordingley contributed three goals, while Maggie Schneidereith collected two goals and two assists. Shelby Harrison scored twice and Mackenzie Heldberg recorded a goal and three assists. Kathleen Garvey made 10 saves to earn the win.
Penn State got on the board first as Dirks found the net on a free-position look at the 29:13 mark. Johns Hopkins tied the game a minute later on a tally by Keegan Barger.
The Nittany Lions re-took the lead on a goal by Muldoon, who found the net off a feed from Triandafils. However, JHU answered with a goal by Heldberg. The contest was tied 2-2 with 25:05 left in the half.
Penn State then went on a 4-0 run, ignited by a goal by Dirks. Auth added a free-position goal to capitalize on a man-up opportunity. O'Neill then found the net on back-to-back goals to give Penn State a 6-2 lead with 16:12 to go in the period.
Johns Hopkins responded with a 3-0 run. Barker started the stretch with a man-up goal. Eliza Bowman added a free-position tally before Cordingley found the net on a man-up opportunity. Penn State led 6-5 with 8:50 remaining in the half.
Auth sniped one into the net, off a feed from O'Neill, at the six-minute mark. Harrison answered with a man-up goal for Hopkins. Penn State responded with another goal by Auth to take an 8-6 lead into the break.
The Blue Jays opened the half with a pair of goals to tie the game at 8-8 with 25:01 remaining. Cordingley scored her second of the game, while Schneidereith found the net for the first time in the contest.
Nicolai scored on a free-position change to put Penn State back in front, 9-8, with 21:24 to go. However, JHU answered with a 3-0 run with a goal each from Harrison, Schneidereith and Barker. Penn State trailed 11-9 with 10:08 remaining.
Gilmore came from behind the net to score and cut the deficit to one, 11-10, with 6:23 remaining. Cordingley answered three minutes later with a free-position goal.
Penn State again cut the Hopkins lead to one on a tally by O'Neill with 2:04 remaining. Penn State trailed 12-11 at that point. With 42 seconds left, Barker found the net again to give the Blue Jays a two-goal advantage.
The Nittany Lions are set to host the Big Ten Tournament, starting on Thursday, April 29. The tournament will feature three quarterfinal games on Thursday, April 29, two semifinal games on Friday, April 30, and the Big Ten Championship game on Sunday, May 2.
Follow along with the team on our social media pages on Facebook (PennStateWomensLacrosse) and Twitter/Instagram (@pennstatewlax).
