Defense prevailed in the Battle of Charles Street on Saturday.
For the third straight year and fifth time in seven years, Johns Hopkins downed a potent Loyola side, which was ranked 12th in the Nike/US Lacrosse rankings coming into the game. For coach Janine Tucker and company, it was a balanced mix of stingy defense, efficient offense and ball possession that turned a 5-2 deficit into a two-goal victory.
“What was clicking was our defense getting tremendous stops and putting the ball away offensively,” Tucker said. “I think we always have very spirited games against Loyola. We love to play them. They’re well coached and very talented. It was a classic game of plugging away. They jumped on us early and we had to grind it out.”
An 8-2 run to end the first half did the trick for the newly ranked No. 16 Blue Jays (2-0). Igniting that run was sophomore Shelby Harrison, who became an offensive revelation by scoring three of her career-high four goals in that stretch.
“What was cool about her is although she played a lot last year as a freshman,” Tucker noted. “She didn’t find herself offensively until this fall. She’s been growing and maturing. Her goals came at times when we really needed them and she was excited to spark our offense.”
Harrison was aided by senior Maggie Schneidereith who brings a unique look to the field while tossing in three goals and an assist.
“She’s absolutely outstanding,” Tucker beamed. “She’s a strong lefty. She has grown into a multidimensional player. She has a complete game. Her leadership and experience has really helped her come into her own…She’s a player that’s worked very hard on her game and gives us something dangerous as a lefty.”
While Johns Hopkins owned a 10-7 advantage at the break, Tucker knew a shootout with the Greyhounds was a dangerous game to play. The Blue Jays employed a face guard on Loyola star Livy Rosenzweig (1g, 1a) in attempt to slow the ‘Hounds down.
“Haley Reitz was face guarding to make it difficult for her,” Tucker said. “Our goal was to try and disrupt her and their offense. I think that we knew that Hannah Powers and Taylor VanThof were going to try and step up, so we tried to stick with our matchups to keep them off base.”
Tucker credited her transition defense in stifling Loyola’s comeback. The Greyhounds went on a 3-1 burst to open the second half to pull within a goal, but Hopkins held firm, allowing only one goal over the last 25:45.
“Coach Tara Singleton was putting different defensive sets together,” Tucker noted. “We were able to get the ball turned over and cleared. Our ride really helped.”
This was especially crucial given that VanThof, who Tucker called “outstanding,” and the Greyhounds owned the draw control battle, 18-8. VanThof pulled down nine controls of her own, while Powers nabbed five.
It was one of the few glaring weaknesses for a Blue Jay program that has found the success in the series against Loyola. Under Tucker, Johns Hopkins is 5-3 in the series. Last season’s victory over Loyola was the driving force behind a trip to the NCAA tournament.
Now, the Blue Jays are increasingly focused on turning last year’s one-goal losses into victories so as to avoid the bubble discussion again.
“We lost five games by one goal last year and we really needed to learn from that,” Tucker said. “That win last year was the difference maker for us, no doubt, but it’s still not good enough. To be honest, it fuels us more to capture some of these big games coming up.”
Before a difficult Big Ten schedule ratchets up in March, the Blue Jays must contend with one of those five one-goal losses from last year: No. 6 Penn on Saturday.
“Loyola is behind us, now it’s back to doing us,” said Tucker. “To have a week to prepare for teams like Loyola and Penn and breaking down film helps. Penn was one of those tight games last year, so we take some confidence from that. In the end, it’s focusing on us and what we do.”