Johns Hopkins beats No. 17 Penn State, 13-11, for Janine Tucker’s 300th career win | WOMEN’S LACROSSE ROUNDUP

The Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse team rallied from a four-goal first-half deficit to defeat No. 17 Penn State, 13-11, on Sunday, giving coach Janine Tucker her 300th career win.

Tucker becomes the ninth coach in NCAA Division I history to reach 300 career wins. She is the seventh coach in Johns Hopkins history, and the second woman, to reach the milestone.

“This win, this game, this day, this battle that I just watched my team wage against a really good team, has taken my breath away,” Tucker said. “This is a day, a game, a win that I’m never going to forget. In this most incredible of years, for these kids to get me something so special with all they’ve had to go through and all we’ve been through as a team, I am forever grateful for their fight and their hustle and their heart. This win is also a testament to all the women who came before them. I wouldn’t be here without them and I am so thankful.”

Mackenzie Heldberg (one goal, three assists), Maggie Schneidereith (two goals, two assists) and Maeve Barker (three goals, one assist) led the visiting Blue Jays with four points apiece. Aurora Cordingley added her sixth hat trick of the season and Shelby Harrison had a pair of goals.

Trailing 9-8 with 21:24 to play, the Blue Jays scored three unanswered to take a two-goal lead with 10:08 to play. Harrison sparked the run with a goal on a free position to tie the score at 9 with 17:43 left. Schneidereith gave Hopkins its first lead of the game at the 10:56 mark, scooping up a loose ball, ducking inside her defender and scoring from in tight. Just 49 seconds later, Schneidereith found a cutting Barker for a one-timer to put Hopkins up 11-9.

Penn State answered with a Gretchen Gilmore goal off the dodge to snap a 15-minute scoreless drought with 6:23 to play. Cordingley cashed in on a free-position shot at 3:51 to push Hopkins’ lead back to two.

Kristin O’Neill responded for the Nittany Lions when she rung a shot off the post and in to pull the home team back within one with 2:04 to play. Sophomore Madison McPherson won the ensuing draw, and after running the shot clock down, Heldberg slipped a pass to Barker, who scored with 46 seconds left. Harrison came up with the draw and Hopkins was able to run out the remaining time to secure the win.

Hopkins will wrap up the regular season with a pair of games at No. 18 Michigan, starting Thursday at 3 p.m.

Rutgers 16, No. 14 Maryland 14: Brindi Griffin had a season-high six points (four goals, two assists) and Hannah Leubecker netted five goals, but two Terps comeback attempts fell short in loss to the host Scarlet Knights on Sunday afternoon.

Down 8-4 at halftime, Maryland made two rallies, first scoring five of six goals to tie the game at 9 with 24:14 left and then scoring five goals in three minutes to make it a two-goal game with a minute left. Maryland took a 4-2 lead early in the contest off an early hat-trick by Brindi Griffin before Rutgers scored the last six goals of the half to lead 8-4 at the break. The Terps then went on a 5-1 run to tie the game at 9, led by two goals by Grace Griffin and two goals by Leubecker.

Rutgers would then score seven straight to take a 16-9 advantage before Leubecker scored three more and Shaylan Ahearn scored two to cut the deficit to 16-14. The Terps missed a free-position look to make it a one-goal game, and Rutgers held on to win.

Maryland will have a week to reset before the Big Ten tournament at Penn State from April 29 to May 2. Maryland will be the No. 2 seed and face the No. 7 seed in the first round on April 29.

James Madison 14, No. 16 Towson 12: The Tigers outscored the host Dukes 9-3 in the second half Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to overcome an eight-goal halftime deficit at Sentara Park.

It was the second straight loss for the Tigers, who were defeated by No. 12 Drexel earlier in the week.

“It felt like déj 1/4 u00e0 vu. Unfortunately, it was a similar tale, we are struggling in the first half,” Towson coach Sonia LaMonica said. “We are lacking intensity and fire when we are stepping out on the field. It is very evident. We have to come out hungrier. I have to challenge this squad to step up and play a full 60 minutes.”

Trailing 12-3 less than four minutes into the second half, Towson scored nine of the final 11 goals of the game, including four from Blair Pearre. The sophomore added five groundballs and a team-best five draw controls.

Kaitlin Thornton had a second-half hat trick and finished with a season-high four goals. Lindsey Marshall (two goals, two assists) and Nikki Sliwak (three assists) also had multiple point games.

Kacey Knobloch scored four goals to lead James Madison.

Towson will play a pair of CAA North Division games next week: Friday afternoon at Drexel and Sunday afternoon against Hofstra at Tiger Field.