On Feb. 22, a new queen of Charles Street was crowned. Johns Hopkins lacrosse put forth a pivotal second half effort for a 12-8 victory, continuing their current three-game winning streak and dethroning Loyola for the first time since 2014.
The tumultuous first half was a pingpong match filled with hat tricks and sweet goals. Loyola forwards Frankie Kamely ’18 and Cami Whiteford ’17 each contributed three goals. Hopkins’ attacker Emily Kenul ’18 concluded first-half scoring with a behind-the-back goal off a feed by attacker Maggie Schneidereith ’20, a shot worthy of highlight reel coverage.
“We ended the first half with a sick goal from Kenul, which definitely gave us momentum going into halftime,” Hopkins midfielder Haley Schweizer ’17 said. “We talked about energy and poise, and I definitely think we increased those in the second half.”
At halftime, the score was even at 6-6, but an explosive five-goal run set the Blue Jays’ victory in stone. Kenul contributed yet another goal to reach her 100th career point, assisted by Schneidereith.
Schneidereith tallied a career-best three points and three assists. Attacker Miranda Ibello ’19 also posted a career-high five points with her two goals and three assists.
“Our first half was a really bright spark,” Loyola coach Jen Adams said. “It was the tale of two teams tonight. You saw a first-half team that could compete with anyone in the nation, [but then] you saw a second-half team that made a lot of errors, that couldn’t finish their shots, that really let Hopkins run away with it.”
Loyola’s disparity showed in the goal deficit. The Blue Jays and Greyhounds both tallied 13 shots in the second half, but Loyola only converted two of those against a buckled-down Hopkins defensive unit.
“I don’t think you win a game of lacrosse at this level with [that] same amount of shots in the second half,” Adams said. “The difference was that Hopkins finished, we did not.”
Kamely agrees with Adams’ assessment of the Hounds’ performance. “Our lack of any kind of momentum swing in the second half put us under,” she said.
Goalkeeper Taylor Caldwell ’17, who is currently playing through an ankle injury, played the entirety of the contest in place of injured Kady Glynn ’19, who was anticipated to be the Greyhounds’ starting goalie this season.
“I thought [Caldwell] did a phenomenal job with her defense,” Adams said. “It’s disappointing when we come away with a loss when I actually thought she did a great job and played competitively and a comparative game to the Hopkins keeper.”
Both cages were accompanied by outstanding goalkeepers. Caldwell and Hopkins’ Caroline Federico ’17 put up a five and six saves this game, respectively.
“‘Fed’ is a gamer,” Johns Hopkins coach Janine Tucker said of her goalkeeper. “I thought it was a little bit of a slow start for her in the first half, then she was like, ‘I’ve had enough.’ She made some really incredible saves when we really needed them and made some outstanding decisions on the clear.”
The rivalry between the schools is further rooted in history after the game. Tucker beamed as she celebrated her 400th career game with a victory over her alma mater, accompanied by her associate head coach Tara Singleton and Manager of Lacrosse Operations Jeff Chase, who are also both former Greyhound lacrosse players.
“Every other game but this one, I root for Loyola because I’m a Greyhound at heart,” Tucker said. “It’s a very special rivalry – it’s one where there’s a tremendous amount of respect between both programs. My team is friends with their team. There’s a lot of stuff flying back and forth leading up to this game. The gloves are on when it’s game day, then you hug it out at the end.”
But the odds were stacked against unranked Loyola, hosting No. 18 Blue Jays who will return to Homewood undefeated on their season-opening away tour.
“[It’s] a great rivalry game – a very emotional one for us to start with,” Adams said. “When we haven’t had a chance to get our feet wet and we start our season with a game like Hopkins, we’re always up for a challenge.”
Adams continued to say “There’s no better game than a Hopkins game to test you. While we [did] lose this game and it goes down on paper, there’s so much we take away from it. They exposed some bits and pieces of our game that we’re not seeing in practice.”
Kamely expressed the sentiment of the rivalry in a far more typical way: “Next year’s gap will not be four goals, I can already tell you that,” she said.
