The Basics • Score: Penn State-16, #21 Johns Hopkins-15 • Records: JHU (10-6, 2-3 B1G) • PSU (7-7, 2-3 B1G) • Location: Baltimore, MD • Homewood Field • The Short Story: The Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team rallied from six goals down in the second half to tie the game, but fell just short in a 16-15 loss to visiting Penn State Thursday night in Big Ten action. How it Happened • Hopkins grabbed the early lead on a Miranda Ibello goal with just one tick on the possession clock. But Penn State answered with three straight goals, over a span of 10 minutes, to take a 3-1 lead. Redshirt senior Ellie McNulty ended a more than 20-minute scoring drought with a free position goal at the 5:39-mark to pull the Blue Jays within one. • Back-to-back Nittany Lion goals, just 66 apart, pushed the visitors' lead to four with 2:39 to go in the half. McNulty answered again, going right to the cage off the draw and scoring on a high-low shot from the right alley. Just 76 seconds later, McNulty fed a curling Maggie Schneidereith for the left-handed shot to pull JHU within two. • Sophia Triandafils converted a free position shot with 1:27 to go in the half to put Penn State up 7-4. But with just 11.7 seconds remaining, junior Lexi Souder converted her own free position shot and Hopkins trailed 7-5 at the half. • Penn State came out firing to start the second, scoring three goals in an 84-second span to push out to a 10-5 lead. DeMase ended the run when she took a pass from Schneidereith, off the free position, and scored from the doorstep. Kelly Daggett got one back for the Lions with a free position goal at 25:07, but DeMase answered just 40 seconds later to make it an 11-7 game. • Maria Auth and Kristin Roberto scored two quick goals to push Penn State's lead to 13-7 with 22:41 to go. Ibello cashed in a on free position shot less than a minute later to spark that six-goal Blue Jay run. She followed with a goal off a failed Lion clear and the deficit was four with 19:23 to go. • Schneidereith fed a cutting Aurora Cordingley, who hitched and scored from in-tight. Seventy-two seconds later, Schneidereith found DeMase cutting from goal line extended, and she slipped a shot inside the left post. McNulty made it a one-goal game when she went high-to-low off the split dodge at 13:50. Sophomore Shelby Harrison then tied the game when she blew a shot to the upper right corner from the right alley at 10:57. • Quinn Nicolai put Penn State back on top with a free position goal at 9:22, but McNulty responded with a goal to the bottom left corner and the teams were tied at 14 with 4:22 to play. Auth and Kayla Brisolari scored back-to-back goals to give PSU a two-goal lead with just 1:54 on the clock. JHU wasn't done yet as DeMase took a Schneidereith pass and went low on Taylor Suplee from close range with 40.7 ticks left. The Blue Jays won the ensuing draw but a turnover gave the ball back to the Nittany Lions and they were able to run out the clock. What it Means • Hopkins falls to 5-16 all-time against Penn State and has lost five straight in the series. • JHU needs a win at Maryland next Saturday, and a Penn State loss to Rutgers, in order to make its third straight appearance in the Big Ten Tournament. Johns Hopkins Leaders • Points: McNulty (6) • Goals: McNulty (4) • Assists: Schneidereith (4) • Draw Controls: Barger (6) • Ground Balls: Hoeg (4) • Caused Turnovers: Hoeg (4) • Saves: Crosson (4), Garvey (4) Opponent Leaders • Points: Auth (5) • Goals: Auth (5) • Assists: Brisolari (1) • Draw Controls: Brisolari (7) • Ground Balls: Daggett (3), Brisolari (3) • Caused Turnovers: Brisolari (2) • Saves: Suplee (11) Up Next • Hopkins concludes the regular season on Saturday, April 27 at second-ranked Maryland. Opening draw at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium is slated for 4:30 pm.