BALTIMORE, Md. – Led by a season-high 12 saves from sophomore goalkeeper Mary Teeters, the 12th-ranked Tigers (3-0) celebrated their highest national ranking in school history by rallying from a four-goal second half deficit to edge Johns Hopkins University (3-3) by an 11-10 margin at the Blue Jays' Homewood Field on Wednesday afternoon.

The Tigers, who defeated the Blue Jays for the second straight season, overcame a 9-5 deficit in the second half by scoring six straight goals, including five free-position goals, over a 13-minute span to earn the victory.

“Mary (Teeters) has been huge for us all season, especially in the last two games,” Towson Coach Missy Doherty said. “Our turnovers in the offensive end were a little out of character and when things don't go well, you want to see how your team reacts. I thought the way that we responded shows our character.” 

After battling to a 5-5 draw after the first half, the Blue Jays opened the second half by scoring four unanswered goals in the first nine minutes to take a 9-5 advantage. Senior attacker Paige Ibello scored two of her three goals during the run.

But, the Tigers responded by scoring five consecutive free-position goals to regain the lead at 10-9 with 6:54 left in regulation. After senior midfielder Hillary Fratzke tallied back-to-back free-position goals, senior midfielder Steph Taylor converted a pair of free-position goals in a two-minute span to tie the score.

With 6:54 remaining, sophomore midfielder Jackie LaMonica gave the Tigers a 10-9 lead when she scored her second goal of the game, another free-position shot with 6:54 remaining.

Fratzke upped the advantage to 11-9 with her third goal of the half. Senior attacker Sam Schrum of Hopkins answered to end a nearly 16-minute drought for the Blue Jays and narrow the margin to 11-10.

After a Tiger turnover, the Blue Jays took possession with 2:30 remaining. However, they struggled to find an open shot against a stingy Tiger defense.

The Blue Jays had one final opportunity to tie the game, but a close shot by sophomore attacker Candace Rossi was stopped by Teeters with two seconds remaining to preserve the Tigers' victory.

“I knew that I had to make the save or else, we were going into overtime,” Teeters said. “It was a good shot, but I don't like overtime so I had to step up. Our defense was awesome today, especially in the last two minutes.”

After a slow start, the Tigers grabbed a 3-0 lead with 18:39 remaining in the first half by scoring three times in a 57-second span. LaMonica opened the scoring off an assist from Taylor before junior attacker Jess Dunn upped the advantage to 2-0.

Freshman midfielder Kelly Custer extended the Tiger lead to 3-0 when she scored the first goal of her college career, an unassisted marker past freshman goalkeeper Cosette Larash.

After the teams exchanged goals to give Towson a 4-1 cushion, the Blue Jays went on a three-goal spurt to tie the game at 4-4 with 8:10 left in the first half. Schrum started the run by scoring off an assist from Ibello.

Junior midfielder Brianna Cronin narrowed the deficit to 4-3 with an unassisted goal before senior midfielder Angela Hughes tied the game with 4:55 remaining in the period.

Senior midfielder Nikki Marcinik regained the Tiger lead at 5-4 just 19 seconds later with an unassisted goal before Cronin tallied her second goal of the game to even the score at 5-5. 

Fratzke scored three goals for her third “hat trick” of the season, extending her scoring streak to 51 straight games. Taylor added two goals with an assist as the Tigers improved to 3-0 for the sixth time in the last eight seasons.

Schrum and Ibello each contributed three goals with an assist for the Blue Jays while Cronin added three goals. Larash made six saves in a losing effort for Johns Hopkins, which outshot Towson by a 33-23 margin. 

The Tigers will return home on Saturday afternoon to host George Washington University at 1 p.m. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays will open their American Lacrosse Conference schedule by hosting the University of Florida at Homewood Field on Saturday at 1 p.m.

College Women's Lacrosse: #12 Towson University 11, Johns Hopkins University 10
Towson (3-0)  5-6 / 11
Johns Hopkins (3-3)  5-5 / 10

Goals: TOW – Hillary Fratzke 3, Steph Taylor 2, Jackie LaMonica 2, Nikki Marcinik 1, Kelly Custer 1, Jess Dunn 1, Ali Lathroum 1; JHU – Sam Schrum 3, Paige Ibello 3, Brianna Cronin 3, Angela Hughes 1. Assists: TOW – Nikki Marcinik 1, Steph Taylor 1; JHU – Angela Hughes 1, Paige Ibello 1, Sam Schrum 1. Saves: TOW – Mary Teeters 12 (60:00, 10 goals allowed); JHU – Cosette Larash 6 (60:00, 11 goals allowed). Shots: TOW – 23; JHU – 33. Free-Position Opportunities: TOW – 6 for 9; JHU – 1 for 4. Attendance: 250.

Post-Game Notes:
• Wednesday's game between the Tigers and the Blue Jays was the 16th all-time meeting in a series which Johns Hopkins leads by a 9-7 margin … After losing eight straight times to the Blue Jays, the Tigers have now won back-to-back games against their Charles Street rivals.
• The Tigers also snapped a four-game losing streak against the Blue Jays at Homewood Field … Prior to Wednesday, the Tigers' last win over Hopkins at Homewood Field was on April 26, 2000.
• The win enabled the Tigers to earn a season sweep over Loyola and Johns Hopkins for the first time in the program's history … The Tigers had earned a split against the two teams in each of the last two years.
• The Tigers were held to a season-low 11 goals against Johns Hopkins on Wednesday … The Tigers had averaged 14.50 goals in their first two games … However, the Tigers have now won their last 11 games when scoring 10 or more goals.
• Fratzke has also scored at least two goals in 35 straight games, dating back to the 2007 season … The last time she was held to a single goal was on March 3, 2007 at Penn.
• Fratzke also continued her streak of recording a point in every game of her career, a string of 57 games … It is the second-longest active streak in the country behind a 59-game streak by Denver's Ali Flury.
• Fratzke also recorded the 35th “hat trick” of her college career against the Blue Jays … Dating back to last season, she has tallied a “hat trick” in five of her last six outings.
• Taylor recorded the tenth multi-goal game of her college career … She had been limited to one goal in each of the Tigers' first two games.
• With a goal and an assist against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, Marcinik extended her streak of consecutive games with a point to 24 games.
• LaMonica tallied the fourth multi-goal game of her career … She has scored at least two goals in each of the Tigers' first three games.