W. Lax can relax

Scoring in the first minute, and going on a 4-1 run in the middle of the first half, the women's lacrosse team appeared to be running away with a victory against No. 15 Johns Hopkins last night.

But the Blue Jays stormed back in the second half and scored five unanswered goals in the final 22 minutes. With the clock ticking down, they had a chance to tie it up but fell just a shot short.

No. 8 Penn held on for the 9-8 win at Franklin Field.

"It was frustrating; it was a frustrating second half," Penn coach Karin Brower said.

"We didn't control the tempo. We played defense most the game. We needed to take time. Instead we took the first [shot], and then we were back on defense."

Brower was less frustrated in the first half, though. Freshman Giulia Giordano scored her sixth career goal just thirty seconds in, and while Johns Hopkins evened it up two-and-a-half minutes later, the Quakers (8-1) finished the rest of the period on a 5-1 run, taking a 6-2 lead at the break.

"It was very important to go out hard," from the start, senior midfield Allison Ambrozy said. "It gave us a lot of confidence."

That confidence carried over at the start of the second, when Penn scored three more goals within the first six minutes.

But after junior Hannah Rudloff's goal with 25 minutes left, Penn would fail to score again.

"Part of [the drought] was draw controls," Ambrozy, a captain, said. "We weren't winning them as often in the second half. It also felt like we were on defense the whole time. We were playing good defense, but when you play defense for that long, you're bound to make mistakes."

The last 22 minutes of the game were all Hopkins, as the Blue Jays (5-5) narrowed a 9-3 deficit to 9-8 with just 18 seconds left.

And after that eighth goal, Blue Jays senior Lauren Schwartzman won the draw control, sprinted upfield and ripped a shot with just three seconds left. But Penn goalkeeper Sarah Waxman lunged to her lower left, stopping the shot and Hopkins' furious comeback.

"I'm just glad we took the lead early," Brower said. "I think that was really helpful since we just didn't play for 60 minutes. That has been our goal all year and I don't think we've done it. We have to string together two, good 30 minute periods."

It didn't help that senior attack Rachel Manson, who came into the game second on the team in both points and goals, failed to make an impact.

Her one-assist, zero-goal night was her lowest output of the year since her zero points in an 8-7 game at North Carolina on March 1.

But the team shared the responsibility. Ambrozy agreed with her coach that it was the inconsistent halves that almost cost the Red and Blue the game.

"We need to keep up the urgency and keep possession," Ambrozy said. "We either are behind or we have this huge lead . We need to keep going hard regardless of the score."

At the same time, there still were some positives. For the fourth consecutive game, at least seven players scored.

Ambrozy had a hat trick, her third-career trifecta and first since her sophomore year.

"I had some really great feeds," the Grosse Point, Mich., native said. "We were moving the ball well in the beginning and it just sort of opened up. Today I was really trying to get some good shots. And I guess it worked for me."

But the biggest positive was that Penn got its fourth win over a ranked opponent this year.

Even if they didn't close it out the way they expected to.

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