BALTIMORE, Md. – The Owls field hockey team finished off their 2021 campaign earlier Saturday evening, as Bryn Mawr traveled to Maryland to take on the second-ranked Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University. Despite the tough matchup against the undefeated Blue Jays, Bryn Mawr showcased a tremendous amount of talent and grit on Saturday, holding one of the top offenses in the country to just a single goal. Bryn Mawr goaltender Maggie Titus made nine saves in a spectacular performance anchoring the stingy Owls defense. Senior goalkeeper Anna Hartzell also saw action in the final game of her career, and the Owls held Johns Hopkins to just ten shots on goal in the contest. Hazel Miller and Sarah Chapman each notched shots on goal of their own for Bryn Mawr. In the end, a lone goal from Maddie Brown-Scherer gave the Blue Jays a 1-0 win on the evening. The one goal Bryn Mawr allowed is the fewest Johns Hopkins has scored in a game all throughout this undefeated season they have put together.

After a quiet opening few minutes, Johns Hopkins struck paydirt on the first major action of the game. Abby Birk slipped a pass to Brown-Scherer in the middle of the circle, and she turned and fired the ball into the back of the cage, giving the hosts a 1-0 lead just 3:32 into the contest. The Blue Jays would get four penalty corners and two more shots in the rest of the first quarter, but the Owls defense blocked one of those chances and the second went high of the cage. Bryn Mawr would get their first good offensive chance with two minutes to go in the frame, but a penalty corner for the Owls didn't result in any shots, and the teams headed to the first break with the Blue Jays still ahead by just a goal.

Johns Hopkins continued to get most of the chances early in the second quarter, racking up another three penalty corners and four shots over the first ten minutes of the period. However, Titus made three very good saves, and the excellent team defense continued to keep the Blue Jays from scoring further. Despite not having as many shots in the box score though, the Owls were not just sitting back in their own end and absorbing attacks. Bryn Mawr did a tremendous job all night of gaining possession for themselves and working their way into the Johns Hopkins end of the field.

All of that allowed for another strong offensive stretch late in the second quarter, with Bryn Mawr getting what would end up being their only three shots of the game. Those three chances all came on one sequence for the Owls, as the visitors earned a penalty corner of their own in the 27th minute. Paige Schaefer stepped up and sent the ball into play, with Novy Goetgeluk getting the first crack at a shot from the top of the circle. Her effort was blocked by the Johns Hopkins defense, but the rebound trickled on for Hazel Miller. The first-year forward ripped a shot of her own that made it on goal, but Blue Jays goalkeeper Morgan Seward made the stop. However, the ball bounced towards the right side of the cage, and Sarah Chapman a great chance at a game-tying goal with the cage now wide open. Chapman had to dive to the turf to try to get a stick on the shot, but her effort was saved from going into the cage by a fantastic defensive save from Johns Hopkins' Anna Scott. The hosts were finally able to clear the ball from danger after that, and that would send the teams into the halftime break with the Blue Jays still clinging to a 1-0 lead.

Over the remaining two quarters in the second half, Johns Hopkins would continue stand out in the stat sheet with the only shots. The Blue Jays got off six shots in the third quarter, but Titus made five more saves and the Bryn Mawr defense blocked another shot as the Owls pitched another shutout in the frame. In the fourth quarter, Titus made one more save and the Bryn Mawr defense blocked two more shots, giving the Owls one final chance to try and find an equalizer. Bryn Mawr was able to pull their goalkeeper in the final seconds for an extra attacker, but the Owls were unable to get anything going in the second half and were ultimately forced to accept the hard-fought 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays in the end.

With the loss, the Owls close out their 2021 season with an 8-8 record. Bryn Mawr will say goodbye to this year's senior class, which provided the Owls with tremendous leadership and skill during the past four seasons. However, there were also plenty of positives from the 2021 campaign as well. Goalkeeper Maggie Titus set a new single season record for Goals Against Average with a mark of 0.88, shattering her own previous record of 1.16. Titus is now also firmly in control of the career Goals Against Average record with a career 1.04 GAA, far surpassing the next best of 1.61. Titus also holds the BMC FH career records for wins (25) and shutouts (11) after a tremendous 2021 campaign.

The Owls will continue working hard through the offseason and their spring training period and will look to build an even better campaign when they return to action in the fall of 2022.