Yesterday, two women’s sports teams were attempting to reverse decades of history in terms of their results against a major rival.
The Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse team and the Czechia women’s national ice hockey teams have played well in their respective athletic disciplines, and found themselves in contests where they had to play against not only historically awesome opposition, but history.
In the semifinals of the 2025 IIHF Women’s World Championship, Czechia, a team which only started playing international ice hockey in the top tier a few years ago, found themselves up against a United States team which have won two Olympic golds and ten World Championships since 1990. The Czechs were 0-5 lifetime against the States,
But the home crowd for the 2025 World Championships in Prague spurred the hosts to a 1-0 lead before the Americans grinded out goals in the second and third to win 2-1. Thing is, despite the final result, this game could have gone in Czechia’s favor in the final minute of play. With Czechia having pulled the goaltender, the Americans were able to rush the puck from the back into the attack end.
The Americans’ top wingers, Hilary Knight and Kendall Coyne-Schofield, had the puck on their sticks along the boards but never got off a telling shot on the empty goal cage. As a result, Czechia had a final possession in the final 20 seconds which led to a shot attempt which almost careened on the U.S. goal frame, but trickled into the corner as the final horn sounded. It was that fine a margin.
An hour after that game ended, the Hopkins laxers took on the University of Maryland in the distaff version of a game known as “The Rivalry.” But while the two respective men’s lacrosse teams from Hopkins and Maryland have played some 126 times since 1895, the women’s competition is a shorter rivalry.
It has also been one-sided. The Terrapins, since first playing The Hop in 1979, have won all 26 games coming into yesterday afternoon’s encounter.
Johns Hopkins, in an encounter which would have determine which team would finish second in the Big Ten regular-season standings behind Northwestern, did come out hot in the first few minutes of the contest, scoring the game’s first three goals.
However, when Maryland was able to get the ball for long periods of possession, the Terrapins — and Jordyn Lipkin — used it. And how. Lipkin had four by the interval, leading the Terps to an 8-5 lead at the interval. The Blue Jays mounted a comeback after they fell five goals adrift early in the third quarter, getting to within two goals in the fourth quarter, but would eventually lose 13-11.
Reversing a historical losing streak, often termed a “schneid” in sports slang, is a lot harder than it seems. Yes, the nature of competition dictates that competitors to a major rival often gear their focus towards improving themselves in order to not only beat that one opponent, but in the process, vault themselves into a similar level of form.
However, getting to that form, whether a team is formed through recruiting of athletes, developing a pro roster, or using selectors to form a national team, is a process that takes more than just picking athletes and coaching them up. It’s teaching them how to process situations.
I have seen many teams in the scholastic, collegiate, professional, and Olympic levels who have won games and championships because they have applied experiences from the past to move forward and achieve on the field. And for every Maryland, U.S. women’s hockey, McDonogh, Eastern, or Middlebury, there are a raft of rivals for each.
Some have had more success against rival teams than others. And that’s the nature of competition.