Penn State women’s lacrosse (4-8) lost to Johns Hopkins (5-5) 13-11 in its last game before the Big Ten Tournament Sunday afternoon at Panzer Stadium.

The Nittany Lions battled hard throughout the entire game, but couldn’t hold the lead in the second half, despite forcing multiple turnovers and hat-tricks for both Maria Auth and Kristin O’Neill.

How It Happened

Goalie Taylor Suplee started in the net today for the Nittany Lions after senior goalie Lucy Lowe was the pick for the last two games.

Olivia Dirks scored the first goal of the game. She had her career-best in points (nine) and assists (four) against Rutgers on Thursday. She also tied her career-best of goals (five) and won 10 draw controls, her fourth time this year with double-digits. The Nittany Lions led 1-0 with 29:13 left in the first.

Johns Hopkins Keegan Barger scored less than a minute later to tie the game up early 1-1.

Mary Muldoon scored on a breakaway for Penn State assisted by Sophia Triandafils. The Nittany Lions led 2-1 with that goal with 26:13 left in the first.

Dirks responded to Mackenzie Heldberg’s goal for Johns Hopkins 45 seconds later to get her 28th goal of the season. The Nittany Lions were in a back-and-forth goal-scoring battle with the Blue Jays, and Penn State led 3-2 with 24:23 left in the first.

Kristin O’Neill, the five-time winning Big Ten Freshman of The Week, scored her second goal of the game. The Nittany Lions led 6-2 with 16:12 left to go in the first.

O'Neill again!!! Her 2nd of the day gives Penn State a 6-2 lead with 16:12 left in the half. #WeAre pic.twitter.com/eNMfYdf8lB

— Penn State Women’s Lacrosse (@PennStateWLAX) April 18, 2021

Johns Hopkins suddenly scored three goals in a row, however, and trailed the Nittany Lions 6-5 with 8:50 to go in the first half. Aurora Cordingley scored the third for Johns Hopkins.

Maria Auth scored her second of the game, as she was coming off her career-high in goals (seven) against Rutgers on Thursday. She now has over 220 career points, sitting at seventh of all-time at Penn State. The Nittany Lions led 7-5 with six minutes left in the first half.

Penn State ended the first half up 8-6 against the Blue Jays, with Auth heading into the second with a hat-trick.

Cordingley for John Hopkins was first to score in the second. The Blue Jays trailed the Nittany Lions 8-7 with 26:25 to go in the game.

Nine minutes into the second, Quinn Nicolai scored for Penn State on a free position shot to break the 8-8 tie. The Nittany Lions led 9-8 with 21 minutes to go in the half.

Johns Hopkins scored to take its first lead of the game. The Nittany Lions trailed 10-9 with 10:56 left to go in the game and plenty of time to retake the lead.

The Blue Jays scored again and led by two. Coach Missy Doherty put in Lucy Lowe to replace Suplee with 10 minutes left in the half.

Gretchen Gilmore then scored for Penn State after the Nittany Lions went over 12 minutes without a goal. The Nittany Lions trailed 11-10 with 6:23 left in the game.

Gilmore comes from around the net to score! Her 5th of the year. Penn State trails 11-10 with 6:23 remaining. #WeAre pic.twitter.com/gq6YfFFYs3

— Penn State Women’s Lacrosse (@PennStateWLAX) April 18, 2021

O’Neill scored her third of the game and Penn State trailed by just one goal with two minutes to go in the game. Johns Hopkins won the draw and scored with 42 seconds left in the game.

The Nittany Lions fell to Johns Hopkins 13-11 in their regular-season finale.

Takeaways

• Maria Auth and Kristin O’Neill both scored hat-tricks in today’s game and continue to be key threats for the Nittany Lions. They’ll need to stay hot if Penn State wants to make any sort of run in the conference tournament.
• Penn State couldn’t connect on offense in the second half. The Nittany Lions only scored once in the first 23 minutes of the half and then twice more in the last seven minutes of the game.
• Johns Hopkins had 17 turnovers, and seven of them were forced by the Penn State defense. Unfortunately, it was not enough for Penn State to keep the lead at the end of the game, as the Blue Jays’ own defensive performance was too much to overcome for the Nittany Lions.

What’s Next?

The Nittany Lions are hosting the Big Ten Tournament at Panzer Stadium starting on Thursday, April 29. There will be three quarterfinal games on Thursday, April 29, two semifinal games on Friday, April 30, and the Big Ten Championship on Sunday, May 2.