Here are the official recaps of Saturday’s lacrosse action, courtesy of the schools’ Sports Information Departments…
Wharton, Palmer, Boland Power 2nd-Ranked Hopkins Past Navy, 14-5
BALTIMORE, MD – A year ago, the Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team jumped out to a 5-0 first quarter lead against Navy, only to watch the Midshipmen storm back for a 9-8 overtime victory that snapped JHU’s 36-game winning streak in the series. On Saturday night at Homewood Field, the Blue Jays again jumped to a 5-0 lead, but instead of wilting, they pushed the lead to 10-0 at the half and cruised to a 14-5 victory before a crowd of 4,682. The win is the fifth straight for the Blue Jays, who improve to 10-2 on the year, while the Midshipmen dropped their fifth straight and finish the season at 4-9.
The Blue Jays needed just 45 seconds to open the scoring as senior Chris Boland capped JHU’s first possession with an unassisted goal to give JHU a quick 1-0 lead. It look far less time than that – six seconds to be exact – for the Blue Jays to push the lead to 2-0 as graduate student Ben Smith worked his way to the high slot off the ensuing faceoff and scored off a nifty feed inside from senior Matt Dolente.
Boland and fellow starting attackmen Zach Palmer and Kyle Wharton combined for seven goals and seven assists in the win and at least one of the three had a hand in six of JHU’s next eight goals as the Blue Jays stormed to the 10-0 lead.
Palmer’s extra-man goal just under six minutes into the game pushed the lead to 3-0 and he added the first of his career-high five assists three minutes later when he got the helper on an extra-man goal by sophomore John Greeley. Sophomore John Ranagan and Boland added unassisted goals in a 93-second span late in the quarter to make it 6-0 at the end of the first period.
Any hopes for a Navy comeback were gone in the second quarter as Wharton bookended a four-goal period for the Blue Jays. He got the first of his four goals on the night just over three minutes into the period off a feed from freshman Eric Ruhl and then capped the first half with an extra-man goal that was assisted by Palmer. In between, freshmen midfielders Ruhl and Rob Guida scored for the Blue Jays. Palmer assisted on Ruhl’s goal as he drew the defense in tight with a dodge from behind before finding Ruhl alone 10 yards out with time and room, while Guida scooped up a loose ball on the crease and beat Navy goalie RJ Wickham from in close for his ninth goal of the year.
The Midshipmen finally broke through with 11:37 remaining in the third quarter when freshman Sam Jones scored on a dodge from behind the goal, but Hopkins answered with three goals in a span of just 96 seconds midway through the period to take its largest lead at 13-1. Greeley netted his second man-up goal of the night to jump-start the three-goal run, which included back-to-back goals by Wharton – with the first assisted by Boland and the second by Palmer.
Navy, as expected, never quit and scored the next four goals to make it 13-5. The first three of those goals – an extra-man strike by Harrison Chaires late in the third quarter and tallies by Nikk Davis and Taylor Reynolds early in the fourth – came in a span of just under four minutes, while Sean Dinn’s first goal of the season with 3:22 remaining in the game made it 13-5. Greg Edmonds’ first career goal in the final minute of the game closed the scoring for the Blue Jays and accounted for the 14-5 final score.
Palmer’s six points (1g, 5a) paced the Blue Jays, while Wharton (4g) and Boland (2g, 2a) added four points apiece for JHU, which held advantages in shots (41-32) and ground balls (35-30). Dolente won 13-of-19 faceoffs and grabbed a game-high seven ground balls for Johns Hopkins, which also converted on 4-of-7 extra-man chances.
Jones and Dinn paced Navy with one goal and one assist and Wickham posted seven saves in goal for Navy, but an 0-for-10 showing on faceoffs in the first half contributed to a 27-7 advantage in shots for JHU before intermission and helped lead to the 10-0 halftime score that was just too much for the Midshipmen to overcome.
Navy (4-9) 0-0-2-3/5
#2 Johns Hopkins (10-2) 6-4-3-1/14
Goals: N: Jones, Dinn, Chaires, Davis, Reynolds. J: Wharton-4, Boland-2, Greeley-2, Palmer, Ruhl, Ranagan, Guida, Edmonds, Smith. Assists: N: Dinn, Jones, Warner. J: Palmer-5, Boland-2, Dolente, Ruhl. Saves: N: Wickham-7. J: Bassett-8, Burke-0. Shots: N-32. J-41. EMO: N: 1-for-3. J: 4-for-7. Attendance: 4,682.
Loyola Clinches ECAC Bid With Senior Day Win Over Hobart
BALTIMORE – Four Loyola University Maryland players scored two goals each, and the No. 20/19 Greyhounds clinched a bid to the first-ever ECAC Lacrosse League Championships with an 11-8 victory over visiting Hobart on Senior Day at Ridley Athletic Complex on Saturday.
Hobart’s Mike White tied the game at 8-8 with just eight second to go in the third quarter, and it looked like the teams would head to the final period deadlocked, but John Schiavone won the ensuing face-off to himself, ran into the box and dished a pass to Mike Sawyer who was camped seven yards from the goal on the left side.
Saywer ripped a shot into the upper right corner for his second of the game to put Loyola (8-3 overall, 4-2 ECAC) in front for good with four ticks left in the third quarter.
The victory was the Greyhounds’ fifth in a row and clinched the No. 2 seed for the ECAC Championships that will be held May 5-7 in Denver, Colo. Loyola will play the No. 3 seed Fairfield in the semifinals. The Stags clinched their spot in the Championships with a victory Saturday at Ohio State.
Loyola added two fourth-quarter goals by Scott Ratliff and Chris Basler, and the Greyhounds held the Statesmen (5-8, 2-3) scoreless on eight shots in the period, to provide the final margin.
“I thought that we came out and moved the ball very well today,” Head Coach Charley Toomey said. “Coach (Dan) Chemotti made that a point of emphasis this week, and we did a good job of making sure that we made the extra pass.”
Sawyer, Matt Langan, Stephen Murray and Patrick Fanshaw each scored twice, and Fanshaw led the Greyhounds with three points, notching an assist on Murray’s extra-man goal.
Hobart scored first when Cam Stone recorded the first of his game-high three goals on a man-up tally 2:18 into play, but the Greyhounds reeled off three consecutive by Langan, Sawyer and Murray to lead 3-1 with 5:10 to play in the first.
The Statesmen tied it at 3-3, however, as Alex Love scored late in the first, and Chris Pedersen found the net 1:16 into the second quarter.
The score remained tied for more nearly eight minutes until Langan came from behind the cage and around a Sawyer screen to beat Hobart goalie Jon Lawless stick-side high with 6:00 on the clock.
Loyola struck next on the EMO as Chris Basler slipped a pass to Fanshaw, and the sophomore scored his first of the contest.
Murray used a face dodge at the top of the box to get space down the left alley and score with 2:27 to go in the half.
Greyhounds’ goalie Jake Hagelin made a clean save of a Hobart shot and sent an outlet pass over the top to Ratliff who flipped it to Fanshaw, and he scored in transition with 1:19 to go, giving Loyola a 7-3 advantage.
Hobart would close the gap to three when Stone scored just nine seconds later, and the team went to the locker room at halftime with the Greyhounds on top, 7-4.
Stone’s goal ignited a 4-0 Hobart rally that was capped by Sam Miller’s lone goal of the afternoon at 4:36 in the third quarter, tying the game at 7-7. Miller entered the game with a team-high 25 goals.
Davis Butts put Loyola back in front by a goal, 8-7, scoring with a low shot after a dodge from the left side.
White tied things again for the Statesmen with eight seconds to go in the third, but the draw would be short-lived before Sawyer’s go-ahead goal.
Hagelin made seven saves for the Greyhounds who outshot the Statesmen, 41-30. Lawless made his first start of the season and finished with 14 saves.
The Greyhounds have one final regular-season game left on the schedule before heading to Denver for the league championships. Loyola will travel a short distance down Charles Street to play at Johns Hopkins next Saturday at 2 p.m.
No. 3 Salisbury Rallies For 16-14 Win Over No. 1 Stevenson in CAC Title Game
OWINGS MILLS, Md. – The No. 1-ranked Stevenson men’s lacrosse team scored eight first quarter goals and led by four at halftime, but No. 3 Salisbury held the nation’s second-ranked scoring offense to just three goals over the final 35:18 in capturing their 16th win and 16th CAC championship with a 16-14 win Saturday at Caves Athletics Complex.
The loss snapped a 15-game home winning streak for the Mustangs (16-2) who were 9-0 at home this season entering today’s game. Stevenson is 30-4 at home since 2009 with three of its four losses coming to the Sea Gulls.
Meanwhile, Salisbury (16-1) has won 14-straight on the road, including eight this season, and is 4-1 all-time at Caves Athletics Complex, winning CAC titles on the Mustangs’ home field in 2009 and 2011.
The visiting team has now won six of the last eight meetings in the series which began in 2007. The Sea Gulls lead the overall series 7-4, but each team has won four times in eight meetings since 2009.
Trailing 11-7, Salisbury began its comeback with 7:08 remaining in the second quarter when they inserted reserve goalie Tim Swinburn in for 2010 USILA Second Team All-American Johnny Rodriguez. From that point, the Sea Gulls outscored the Mustangs 9-3 over the final 35-plus minutes while Swinburn made a career-high 12 saves, including 10 in the second half and seven in the fourth quarter as Stevenson outshot Salisbury, 16-3.
Swinburn’s previous career-high in saves was six.
Led by Swinburn, Salisbury went on an 8-0 run during a span of 22:08 over the second and third quarters, holding the Mustangs scoreless for the entire third quarter, the first time in 72 quarters this season Stevenson has been held without a goal.
Tony Mendes scored four of his five goals in the second half for the Sea Gulls, who outshot the Mustangs 20-9 in the third quarter, while Matt Connone had two goals and two assists.
The final 35 minutes were a complete change from the first 25 where Stevenson built a 10-5 advantage and led 8-3 after the first quarter. Prior to allowing eight first-quarter goals Saturday, Salisbury had outscored its opponents 64-16 in the opening period.
Senior Neal Barthelme (Towson/Dulaney) finished with six goals and seven points for Stevenson, his fifth game with at least seven points this season. With six goals, Barthelme set a new single-season school record and now has 65, surpassing the previous mark of 59 set by senior Richie Ford (Baltimore/Towson) in 2008.
In just two seasons with the team, Barthelme has totaled 99 goals and ranks fifth on the school’s career list.
Senior Jimmy Dailey (Westminster/Winters Mill) who has scored a school record 107 points this season, added six more on Saturday as he finished with two goals and four assists. He now has 51 assists this season, just four shy of the school record set by Eric Schmith in 1998.
Senior Ray Witte (Annapolis/St. Peter and Paul) scored two goals and won 20-of-32 face-offs, including the 600th of his career. He also scooped up 11 ground balls and now has 320 for his career, 25 shy of Matt Smoot’s school record.
Ford had one goal and three assists for the Mustangs who were just 2-for-13 with the man-advantage as they could not capitalize on Salisbury’s nearly 10 minutes of penalty time.
Junior Ian Bolland (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes) made 14 saves, three shy of his career-high.
Stevenson concludes the regular season next Saturday, April 30 at No. 15 Denison. Game time is at 1:00 p.m.
Scott Jones Nets Game-Winner With 41 Seconds Left; UMBC Clinches Playoff Berth in 9-8 Triumph Over Vermont
BALTIMORE – UMBC sophomore attackman Scott Jones (Coquitlam, B.C.) scored three goals, added two assists and recorded the game-winning goal with 41 seconds remaining as the host Retrievers nipped Vermont, 9-8, in a critical America East Conference game.
The Retrievers won for the fourth straight time and improved to 6-5 overall and 3-1 in league play. UMBC clinched a spot in the four-team America East Tournament for the eighth time in eight conference campaigns.
Vermont dropped its third straight and fell to 6-8, 1-3.
Jones was UMBC’s America East Player of the Game, while Vermont junior attackman Geoff Worley tallied three goals and added a helper and was the Catamount’s Player of the Game.
Vermont tied the game at 8-all on a goal by sophomore attackman Thomas Galvin with 9:09 remaining and the Catamounts had two man-up opportunities down the stretch to take the lead. But Galvin committed a turnover on the second penalty and UMBC gained possession and called time out with 54 seconds remaining.
Retriever sophomore attackman Joe Lustgarten (Wading River, N.Y.) operated behind the cage and fed a cutting Jones, who buried his three-yard shot past Vermont netminder David Barton and inside the far left post.
Vermont had one last opportunity, but Garrett Virtue’s left-handed shot from 12 yards away missed wide right with two seconds remaining.
Senior midfielder Jamie Kimbles (Centreville, Md./Queen Anne’s) and junior attackman Rob Grimm (Black River, N.Y.) each added two goals and one assist for the hosts. Freshman midfielder Conor Finch (Westminster, Md./Boys’ Latin) scored his first two collegiate goals, both in the first quarter.
Galvin recorded two goals and an assist for the Catamounts, while Vermont’s leading scorer, sophomore attackman Drew Philie, added a goal and two helpers.
Vermont took a 4-3 lead after 15 minutes, but UMBC outscored the visitors, 4-1, in the second stanza. Jones fed Grimm on a fast break for the game-tying goal with 8:49 remaining in the period, and Grimm returned the favor to Jones just 35 seconds later.
Worley scored a man-up goal with 5:00 left in the period to tie the score, but Kimbles equalized that with an extra-man goal with 1:21 to play. After a Retriever time-out and restart, Grimm went right to the cage and made it 7-5 21 seconds later.
UMBC took that lead into halftime and went ahead, 8-5 on Jones goal with 7:25 to play in the third period. But UMBC would go scoreless for the next 21:49, while the Catamounts eventually tied the score.
Retriever sophomore Joseph Impallaria (Lutherville, Md./Calvert Hall) came off the bench and won 12 of 17 draws as UMBC outdrew Vermont, 13-8.
The Catamounts outshot UMBC, 38-25, and UMBC junior netminder Brian McCullough (Garden City, N.Y.) made 11 saves. Barton had eight stops for Vermont.
Jones reached the 20-goal plateau and now leads the team with 28 points.
UMBC is 4-0 in games decided by three goals or less this season and 23-11 in those situations since 2007. They have won their last six games decided by a single goal, dating back to a 6-5 loss to Princeton in 2009. The Retrievers have never lost to Vermont (8-0), but three of the last four games have been decided by one or two goals.
The Retrievers conclude the regular season at Hartford on April 30.
Tigers Fall at Drexel, 13-9
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Senior attackman Scott Perri scored five goals and added two assists to lead Drexel University (7-6, 3-3) to its second win in the last three games, a 13-9 Colonial Athletic Association victory over the Tigers (2-10, 0-5) at the Dragons’ Vidas Athletic Complex on Saturday afternoon.Perri scored three of his five goals in the second half as Drexel broke open a close game by scoring six goals in the third quarter en route to the victory.
After Perri gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead just over a minute into the first quarter, the Tigers took a 2-1 lead on back-to-back goals by senior midfielder Pat Britton.
But, Drexel responded by scoring three straight goals to start the second quarter for a 4-2 advantage with 5:37 remaining.
Junior attackman Matt Lamon and junior midfielder Michael Brashears tied the game at 4-4 by scoring a pair of goals in a 59-second span before sophomore attackman Brendan Glynn regained the Dragons’ advantage by scoring with 1:19 remaining in the first half.
Led by a goal and an assist from sophomore attackman Robert Church, the Dragons opened the second half by scoring five straight goals to take a commanding 10-4 lead with 8:43 left in the period. With 8:06 left, sophomore attackman Dan Kramer ended the Dragons’ run by scoring off an assist from freshman midfielder Andrew Hodgson, trimming the deficit to 10-5.
After the teams traded goals twice, Brashears scored his second goal of the game on an extra-man tally off an assist from senior midfielder Peter Mezzanotte with 2:16 remaining, but the Dragons answered just 16 seconds later when junior midfielder Chris Farquhar scored for a 13-8 Drexel lead.
Senior attackman Tim Flynn ended the scoring with 1:08 remaining when he scored the first goal of his college career off a feed from junior attackman Stephen Norris.
While Perri led the Dragons with his seven-point performance, Glynn added three goals for the Dragons. Junior goalkeeper Mark Manos made 16 saves, including 10 in the first half, as Towson outshot Drexel by a 43-36 margin.
Britton and Brashears each scored twice to lead the Tigers in a losing effort while Hodgson had three assists.
The Tigers will finish the season next Saturday night when they host Saint Joseph’s in a CAA game at Johnny Unitas® Stadium. Opening face-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
