The Liberty University Women’s Lacrosse team fell to Johns Hopkins University, 17-7, in the season home opener Feb. 7 at the Liberty Lacrosse Field.
The Lady Blue Jays struck early in the opening quarter. After a save from junior goalkeeper Rachel Hines, Johns Hopkins freshman midfielder Sienna Chirieleison capitalized on an opportunity, finding the back of the net at the start of the period. Johns Hopkins senior attacker Ava Angello followed with an unassisted goal of her own after she snagged a loose ball out of Liberty’s defensive zone.
The Lady Flames answered shortly after redshirt freshman midfielder Nicole Arriola scored as she led a push into the offensive zone. Senior attacker Ava Rajala earned an assist on the play.
Angello snagged another goal before the frame ended with Johns Hopkins leading 4-1. That sparked a heavy scoring run for the Lady Blue Jays, which increased their lead to 9-1 midway through the second period.
Liberty responded with two goals before halftime. Rajala cut into the deficit by weaving around defenders as she navigated from behind the net, which created an opening for her to sneak the ball into the goal.
Angello quickly countered with another Johns Hopkins goal, but Liberty freshman attacker Sophia Nesci muscled her way through the defense to tally her first career goal, assisted by sophomore attacker Olivia Young. Johns Hopkins held its strong lead to end the half 10-3.
“I think early on I was frustrated because I’m like, man, this is a top 10 team and we’re just not picking up loose balls. It was easy things that I feel like we could’ve dug in, but I told them at the end, as this game started to pull away a little bit, they have a choice to make: Are we just going to lay down and pack this one in, or are we going to dig in?” Head Coach Kelly Nangle said.
The third quarter remained scoreless until the 9:33 mark when senior midfielder Katie Colavito worked in tandem with Nesci to set up an opportunity around the net. After some teamwork, Colavito finished the play, giving the Lady Flames their fourth goal of the game and bringing the score to 10-4.
The Lady Blue Jays responded with another flurry of goals. Junior attacker Taylor Hoss scored with an assist from junior midfielder MK Lescault, followed by an unassisted goal from freshman midfielder Zoey Smith as she barreled through Liberty traffic.
Junior midfielder Lacey Downey and Hoss collaborated to claim a goal and an assist each before Angello closed the play with another goal, extending Johns Hopkins’ lead 15-4 entering the fourth period.
Angello added two more goals with assists coming from freshman attacker McKenzey Craig and junior attacker Jaelyn Bennett. Liberty responded with a three-goal surge to close the game.
Colavito found Nesci again while on a man-up to get a fifth goal for the Lady Flames. Redshirt senior midfielder Kate Troutman launched the ball into the corner of the net as she earned the second-to-last goal, assisted by senior attacker Amelia Loughery. Rajala claimed the final goal unassisted before the clock expired, ending the game 17-7 with a loss to Johns Hopkins.
“I’m proud of how they responded,” Nangle said. “They made some decisions and we then can get better from that because they need to see in these games, they can do good things — they can do everything. I’m proud of that effort towards the end.”
The Lady Flames will return to the Liberty Lacrosse Field to face Davidson College Feb. 15 at noon.
Warden is the assistant sports editor for the Liberty Champion.