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BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Johns Hopkins sophomore goalie Lizzie O’Ferrall knows the exact second her season turned around.
“[Assistant] coach John Tucker, before I went in the second half against Oregon, he said ‘this is your position, you have to take it back and never let it go,’” the former Mount de Sales standout said. “That really stuck with me.”
O’Ferrall followed her coach’s advice, sparking in the second half of the March 22 game against then-16th-ranked Oregon, making seven saves and leading her team to a 10-9 victory.
The 17th-ranked Blue Jays (5-6) have fought their way back into the race for a spot in the 16-team NCAA Tournament since O’Ferrall was reinserted into the starting lineup. The team is 2-2 in its past four games, with its only losses a 9-8 defeat against sixth-ranked Penn and an 11-10 setback in triple overtime against 15th-ranked Vanderbilt last week. O’Ferrall has posted an 8.89 goals-against average and a .482 save percentage.
Johns Hopkins can get back to .500 with a win tonight at 7:30 at Homewood Field against local rival UMBC (4-9). The Retrievers have won their past two games and lead the all-time series against the Blue Jays, 12-6-2, but have lost the past three and five of the past six. UMBC is led by America East Player of the Week Ali Levendusky, a senior attacker who has 44 goals.
But Johns Hopkins coach Janine Tucker has no doubt who will be trying to stop Levendusky in the Blue Jay’s goal.
“[O’Ferrall] had a rough start,” Tucker said. “You have to earn your keep, so we gave one of our freshman an opportunity because at the time she was playing the best. But since then she did a very nice job, and now its her job to hold on to.”
O’Ferrall started eight games last year for the Blue Jays, and helped the team to a first-round win in the NCAA Tournament. But this season she had a terrible opening first half against 12th-ranked George Mason, yielding six goals and getting replaced at intermission. It was a month before she saw the field again.
Tucker gave playing time to three other goalies during that stretch before O’Ferrall played 10 minutes at the end of a 16-8 loss to third-ranked Maryland. The next game, however, the team was tied 5-5 with Oregon at intermission and Tucker went back to her original starter.
“I have had an up and down season,” O’Ferrall said. “It’s been a real big learning experience for me, and how to play like a starter, and be ready for every game and mentally perform how I want to.”
dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com
