UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State women’s lacrosse head coach Missy Doherty collected her 100th career win, as the No. 10 Nittany Lions topped No. 18 Johns Hopkins (7-7, 0-4), 12-9, on Saturday afternoon at Penn State Lacrosse Field. With the outcome, Penn State (11-4, 3-2) surpasses the 10-win plateau for the first time since 2005, the last year it earned a berth to the NCAA Championship.
Doherty, in her second year at the helm of the Nittany Lion program, owns a 100-58 (.633) career record, including a 21-12 mark in Happy Valley. The victory, Penn State’s third consecutive, also clinches a winning conference record for the Nittany Lions in 2012.
Four different Nittany Lions totaled three points, including sophomore Mackenzie Cyr (Westminster, Md.) and junior Molly Fernandez (Baltimore, Md.), who each netted hat tricks. Freshmen Maggie McCormick (Eldersburg, Md.) (2 goals, 1 assist) and Tatum Coffey (Toms River, N.J.) (1 goal, 2 assists) also contributed to the balanced offensive attack.
Penn State jumped out a 3-1 lead eight minutes into the game, getting goals from McCormick, Cyr, and Fernandez. After nearly another eight minutes, this time of scoreless play, Johns Hopkins netted a goal to pull to within one.
Back-to-back goals by McCormick and senior Aly Adams (Springfield, Pa.) pushed the Lions’ lead to 5-2 with 8:11 remaining in the half. In what would be a reoccurring theme throughout the game, Johns Hopkins answered back, recording consecutive goals to again make it a one-goal contest.
Cyr would then give Penn State a little breathing room before halftime, putting in her second of the day to make the game 6-4 at the break.
After six-plus minutes of scoreless action to start the second half, Penn State built its largest lead of the game, using goals by freshman Haley Ford (White Hall, Md.), her ninth in the last four games, and Fernandez to go up 8-4.
Held without a goal through the first 14:32 of the second half by the Penn State defense, Johns Hopkins scored two within a span of 39 seconds to make the game 8-6.
Ensuing goals by Cyr and freshman Kelly Lechner (Silver Spring, Md.) then re-upped the Nittany Lions’ lead to four at 10-6.
The teams traded two-goal runs for the remainder of the game, with the exception of a late free position score by JHU’s Candace Rossi to account for the final 12-9 result. Penn State’s goals came from Coffey, who scored her 30th of the season, and Fernandez, who completed her hat trick with just under two minutes left in game.
Penn State was outdrawn by Johns Hopkins, 16-7, but had a 15-9 advantage in ground balls.
Penn State will finish out its 2012 regular season schedule on Saturday, April 28 when it hosts Princeton (6-6) for a 3 p.m. Senior Day contest. Aly Adams, Dana Cahill (Towson, Md.), Brittaney Chamberlain (Finksburg, Md.), Kelsey Hughes (Severna Park, Md.), Colleen Shea (Baltimore, Md.), Elaine Welch (Bernardsville, N.J.), and Theresa Zichelli (Severna Park, Md.) will appear in their final regular season game in a Nittany Lion uniform. A special ceremony to honor their careers and contributions will precede the contest.