Maryland midfielder Jordyn Lipkin missed last year’s contest against Johns Hopkins with a foot injury. But in what could be her last meeting against the Blue Jays on Saturday, the redshirt junior left an early imprint.  

Lipkin scored the Terps’ first three goals, finishing with four, as No. 8 Maryland defeated No. 10 Johns Hopkins, 13-11, at the Maryland Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex. The four-goal performance tied a career high and guided the Terps to their first victory against an opponent ranked within Inside Lacrosse’s top 10 rankings. 

“She’s a great leader for us on the offense,” coach Cathy Reese said. “She had a lot of great openings off of cuts inside, and our feeders were able to hit her and I thought she finished well.”

Lipkin played just one game last season due to her foot injury, leaving the Terps without a reliable scorer who contributed 32 goals over her first two seasons.

This season, Lipkin entered as one of five captains and has started in every game. She began Saturday’s contest ranking second on her squad in goals and fourth in points.

In Maryland women’s lacrosse’s last game against Rutgers, the Terps struggled early, but midfielder Jordyn Lipkin scored three of the first five goals to spark a 4-2 run to finish the game.

[Maryland women’s lacrosse beats Rutgers 8–7 with late push, keeps Big Ten title hopes alive]

In Saturday’s contest, Lipkin provided similar support — with her early scoring pushing the Terps out of a sluggish start. 

“Jordan took an extra second and put the ball away, and that was a big deal,” Reese said. “We’ve had a lot of times this season where maybe we started slow and then it was hard to dig ourselves up, but we were able to come out today and keep battling.”

Her three first-quarter goals were nearly identical, using off-ball movement to create easy passes for her teammates and finish unmarked in front of the net. Her fourth was no different.

Following consecutive goals by the Blue Jays, Maryland had a two-player advantage with just over 2:30 remaining in the half. Lipkin carefully maneuvered through Johns Hopkins’ defense until she found a soft spot in the zone defense.  She raised her stick and called for a pass from attacker Chrissy Thomas before depositing her fourth goal of the half and tying a career-high set on Mar. 13 against Penn State.

“We watched their defense tendencies, but at the end of the day, it comes to how we’re moving as a whole,” Lipkin said. “

Lipkin didn’t score again, but her early impact helped the Terps’ offense find its rhythm. Maryland did so by continuing to lean on its captains. 

[Cathy Reese calls Maryland’s shooting percentage against Ohio State ‘unacceptable’]

Maryland closed strong in its last game against Rutgers, with midfielder Kori Edmondson netting three goals in the final quarter. Her last two came off free-position shots — a strength she carried into Saturday’s contest.

Edmondson has been nearly automatic from the eight-meter line all season. Entering the game, the junior had converted over 68 percent of her free-position chances, ranking 12th nationally. She continued that trend against junior goalkeeper Morgan Giardina, scoring twice on free-position shots in the first half.

Maryland’s captains continued to thrive in the second half. Edmondson completed her tenth hat trick this season and Thomas scored twice in the final quarter to prevent a comeback.

The Terps finished shooting just over 40 percent — a step in the right direction for a team that had shot no better than 32 percent over its previous three games. While head coach Cathy Reese wants that number closer to 50, it’s a key boost as Maryland heads into Big Ten Tournament play on Wednesday.

“I’m gonna take it,” Reese said on the team’s shooting percentage. “We never quit … We kept getting looks, we kept finding feeds, we kept driving against a really tough and physical defense.”