Here is a rundown of Saturday’s action, highlighted by Loyola’s come from behind win over Navy (as heard on AM1570 WNST) and Johns Hopkins’ 2nd half pull away win over Towson at Unitas Stadium.
Rundowns were taken from official school releases.
No. 14 Loyola Comes Back For 9-8 Win Over Navy
BALTIMORE – With winds wipping through Ridley Athletic Complex at over 40 mile per hour gusts, the 14th-ranked Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team made a major second-half rally to overcome a five-goal deficit and defeat the United States Naval Academy, 9-8, on Saturday afternoon in the Greyhounds’ season opener.
Loyola, which trailed 7-2 after Navy’s Cade Norris scored with 5:53 to play before halftime, held the Midshipmen scoreless for 28 minutes, 5 seconds, covering both halves.
Patrick Fanshaw tied the game at 7-7 with three ticks left on the third-quarter clock, and he then scored the game-winner with 1:08 left in regulation, taking a Chris Basler pass from the right side of the crease and tallying his second goal of the game.
“We preach family, and today we showed that,” senior co-captain Matt Langan said. “We had contributions from everyone, from freshmen to fifth-year seniors. At halftime (Assistant Coach Dan) Chemotti said that there are no four-point goals, no two-point goals. We had to go out there and battle back one goal at a time, and that’s what we did.”
Possession was the key to Loyola’s comeback in the second half. Faceoff specialist John Schiavone won 14-of-21 restarts during the game, all five attempted in the third quarter and 3-of-4 in the fourth.
The Greyhounds picked up 21 second-half ground balls to Navy’s three and doubled up the Midshipmen, 32-16, in the game.
“Anytime you win 21 of 24 ground balls (in the second half), you are likely to win,” Head Coach Charley Toomey said. “We played with a lot of hustle in the last 30 minutes, and I thought that we stepped up for each other.”
Josh Hawkins led all players with seven ground balls, Schiavone had five, and Scott Ratliff and Mike Sawyer each had four.”I am lucky to have `Hawk’ and Ratliff on my team,” Schiavone said. “I think I only had two or three ground balls in the second half. The rest were them.”
Loyola only allowed one Navy shot in the third quarter while taking 16 of its own. The Greyhounds outshot the Midshipmen, 35-24, in the game.
Trailing 7-2 after Norris’ second-quarter goal, Hawkins picked up the ground ball for Loyola on the ensuing faceoff, but Loyola turned the ball over before taking a shot.
Navy had two shots on its offensive end, the latter saved by Jake Hagelin, and Dylan Grimm stripped Andy Warner of possession, and Ratliff got to the loose ball for the Greyhounds.
A good offensive possession by Loyola was culminated when Langan fired a pass from X to D.J. Comer who was waiting in front of the goal. Comer’s hard shot found the net for his second of the game, pulling Loyola within four, 34 seconds before halftime.
Neither the Greyhounds, nor Navy scored in the first eight minutes of the second dhalf, but Mike Sawyer found a crease and ripped a shot past Navy’s R.J. Wickham with 6:46 to play in the frame.
Hawkins again won the ground ball on the restart, and after a Navy penalty on Tucker Hall for offsides, Stephen Murray took a Langan pass and scored Loyola’s second man-up goal of the game.
Loyola forced another Navy turnover after one of its own following Murray’s goal, and Davis Butts ran down the right alley, scoring his first goal of the season with 2:51 left in the third, cutting the Midshipmen’s advantage to 7-6.
A Midshipmen timeout could not stop Loyola, as Hawkins picked up the ground ball on the face-off, his third in a row. His shot in an unsettled possession bounced wide left, and Navy forced a Loyola turnover moments later.
Loyola, however, forced a Midshipmen turnover, and after setting Sawyer missed wide right, the Greyhounds set up for the final shot of the quarter. Langan started the play from X and fed Fanshaw who ripped a goal with three seconds left in the third quarter, making it a tie game going into the fourth.
After Ratliff picked up the ground ball on Schiavone’s fourth-quarter opening face-off win, Michael Hirsch caused a turnover for Navy, and Brian Striffler had two shots for the Midshipmen. The first went right and Hagelin made a save on the second with 11:53 remaining in regulation.
Sawyer then tallied his game-high third goal 20 seconds later, giving Loyola its first lead of the game, 8-7.
Navy did not back down, however, as Jay Mann took a Sam Jones pass and tied the game with 7:48 to play.
The Midshipmen won the ensuing face-off, their only win of the second half, but Hagelin saved a Jones shot, and Loyola cleared the ball to its offensive end.
Wickham made two saves, and another went wide before Basler found Fanshaw for the game-winner with 1:08 left on the clock.
Loyola earned the next possession, but a turnover gave it back to Navy with just over 30 seconds left. Striffler had a shot sail wide left, and Navy called timeout with 5.2 seconds remaining.
Andy Warner took the ball in his stick and went left around a pick, but Hagelin stopped his shot with a second left, securing the win.
Loyola’s victory was reminiscent of last season’s 8-7 win to open the season at Navy when Cooper MacDonnell scored the game-winner in overtime.
The Greyhounds are back in action next Saturday, February 26, when they take on Towson at 12 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on ABC-2 in the Baltimore area, ESPN3.com nationally, and it can be heard in Baltimore on WNST-AM 1570.
JHU Grabs 900th All-Time Win With 10-6 Victory at Towson
BALTIMORE, MD – Johns Hopkins attackmen Zach Palmer, Kyle Wharton and Chris Boland combined for seven goals and four assists and the Blue Jay defense held host Towson scoreless for a stretch of 35:22 midway through the game as 11th-ranked JHU opened the 2011 season with a 10-6 victory before 3,226 fans at wind-blown Unitas Stadium Saturday afternoon. The win is JHU’s 16th straight against the Tigers and the 900th all-time in school history. Johns Hopkins is the first men’s lacrosse program in the nation to reach the 900-win mark.
After Towson’s Carl Iacona gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead with an unassisted goal at the 10:30 mark of the second quarter, the Blue Jay defense clamped down and didn’t allow another goal until senior midfielder Pat Britton finally broke the ice with an unassisted goal of his own with 5:08 remaining in the fourth quarter.
It was all Johns Hopkins between those goals as the Blue Jays reeled off six unanswered goals during that time, including five by the starting attack.
A Lee Coppersmith goal on a simple ally dodge less than 90 seconds after Iacona’s goal drew the Blue Jays even at 4-4 and the teams went to the half with no further scoring.
Towson had two golden chances to take a 5-4 lead, but Johns Hopkins goalie Pierce Bassett made saves on back-to-back Towson extra-man chances in the first five minutes of the third quarter and the Blue Jays capitalized with back-to-back goals in a 78-second span midway through the period to take the lead for good.
Wharton’s second goal of the game off a nifty no-look pass from sophomore John Greeley made it 5-4 and Palmer’s extra-man goal a short time later made it 6-4. Freshman Brandon Benn assisted on Palmer’s goal as he found him cutting down the ally from the side of the goal and Palmer quick-sticked it home.
Wharton notched his third goal of the game three minutes later as a Bassett save led to a transition goal with freshman Phil Castronova getting the helper as Wharton notched his 10th career hat trick.
Boland netted consecutive goals of his own – the first with 3:09 left in the third quarter and the second with just 5:55 remaining in the fourth quarter – to extend the lead to 9-4 before Britton sandwiched a pair of goals around Benn’s first career tally to account for the 10-6 final.
The Blue Jays led 3-1 after less than eight minutes of the first quarter as Wharton, Palmer and freshman Eric Ruhl all scored early with only a Matt Thomas goal mixed in for the Tigers in the minutes.
Towson responded with a three-goal run that was capped by Iacona’s goal early in the second quarter, but Coppersmith’s goal a short time later ignited the game-turning 6-0 for the Blue Jays.
Palmer tied his career high with five points and posted a personal-best three assists to lead the way offensively for the Blue Jays, held advantages in shots (35-29), ground balls (36-23) and faceoffs (11-10). Senior Matt Dolente won 8-of-14 faceoffs and grabbed four ground balls for Johns Hopkins, which improved to 9-2 under head coach Dave Pietramala in season openers.
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Tuesday, February 22 when the Blue Jays travel to Delaware for a 6 pm game against the Blue Hens. Delaware improved to 3-0 on the year with an 8-7 win against Marist on Saturday.
Johns Hopkins (1-0) 3-1-4-2/10
Towson (0-1) 3-1-0-2
Goals: J: Wharton-3, Palmer-2, Boland-2, Ruhl, Benn, Coppersmith. T: Britton-2, Iacona, Hughes, Thomas, Laman. Assists: J: Palmer-3, Benn, Boland, Castronova, Greeley, Ranagan. T: Stratton. Saves: J: Bassett-9. T: Love-10. Shots: J-35. T-29. EMO: J: 1-for-3. T: 0-for-4. Attendance: 3,226
UMBC Lacrosse Opens 2011 Campaign With 16-10 Win at Presbyterian
Clinton, S.C.—UMBC sophomore midfielder Dave Brown scored four goals and added three assists as the Retrievers opened the 2011 season with a 16-10 victory at Presbyterian (0-2).
Brown was part of a potent UMBC starting midfield unit which accounted for 11 goals. Sophomore midfielder Scott Jones contributed four goals and one helper, while classmate Scott Hopmann (Annapolis, Md. /St. Mary’s) tallied three times.
Retriever junior attackman Rob Grimm had a goal and a career-high four assists.
The Blue Hose scored just 39 seconds into their home opener, but Jones got the equalizer 45 seconds later, converting a Grimm feed. Then Hopmann scored back-to-back goals at the 9:38 and 6:20 marks to give the Retrievers the lead for good. Grimm assisted on UMBC’s first three scores.
The Retrievers would lead, 5-2, after one quarter and built the advantage to 10-5 at halftime. UMBC closed the half with three straight goals, including one man-up and one even strength goal by Brown and the first collegiate goal for red-shirt freshman Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River).
The two teams exchanged scores to start the second half, but Presbyterian went on a 4-0 run to get within 11-10 on an Andrew Athens’ goal at the 11:01 mark of the fourth quarter. But Brown scored at 10:02 to start a game-ending 5-0 Retriever run, capped by Jones’ fourth goal of the game with 4:57 remaining.
UMBC outshot the Blue Hose, 49-25, and PC netminder Jon Athens was credited with 21 saves. Retrievers junior netminder Brian McCullough made six saves to get the victory for the visitors.
The Retrievers also controlled 25 of 29 draws, as senior J.D. Harkey captured 13 of 15 and sophomore Joseph Impallaria (Lutherville, Md./Calvert Hall) won 12 of 14.
UMBC opens the home schedule on Saturday, Feb. 26 when they host Rutgers at UMBC Stadium. The opening face-off takes place at 1:00 p.m.
#4 Terps Open Season With 16-4 Victory
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - It was not the smoothest start to a season, but the No. 3 University of Maryland men’s lacrosse team got four points from four different Terps to give head coach John Tillman a 16-4 victory over Detroit Mercy in his first game at the helm of the Terrapin program.
The Titans (0-4) capitalized on two non-releasable Terrapin penalties to take a 2-0 lead with just under six minutes left in the first quarter, but from that point on it was all Maryland as the Terps (1-0) ripped off 10 unanswered goals from the final minutes of the first quarter to midway through the third.
Junior Joe Cummings, who was one of two Terps to tally hat tricks on the day, got things going for Maryland with a slick turn-and-shoot goal just outside the crease off of a nice feed by sophomore John Haus.
Senior Ryan Young took over the game at the start of the second quarter, scoring three straight to give the Terps a 4-2 lead. The first of Young’s goals came on an extra-man opportunity when he finished a nice pass from senior Grant Catalino. He scored his second a minute later, one-timing a cross-crease pass from senior Travis Reed. Young completed the natural hat trick with another easy goal thanks to a terrific skip pass by Haus.
Next up it was Reed’s turn to net a pair of goals for the Terps to make it a 6-2 game with just under four minutes to go in the second. Reed’s first came on a lefty rocket from the right wing off an assist from Young.
Reed’s second score came via Maryland’s dangerous transition game. Senior defender Brett Schmidt caused a turnover and got the groundball on the left side of the field near the midfield stripe. He quickly fed a pass to senior defender Max Schmidt, who was racing down the middle of the field. Max Schmidt then quickly moved the ball on to Reed who beat Titan goalie A.J. Levell with a quick shot.
With less than three minutes to go in the half Reed was on the giving end of the next Maryland goal. He found junior Jake Bernhardt running free into the restraining box and Bernhardt ripped a shot from 12 yards out to give the Terps a 7-2 advantage.
That lead grew to 8-2 just before halftime thanks to Catalino’s first goal of the afternoon. Haus picked up his third helper of the day by skipping the pass through to Catalino on the left goal line extended and Catalino had enough time to give Levell a good ball fake before finishing the play low.
Maryland’s scoring run continued after the break with Cummings scoring his second of the day just 46 seconds into the third quarter. Cummings’ dodging goal from down the left alley was the Terps’ first unassisted goal of the game.
Catalino finished the 10-0 run at the 8:59 mark, lacing a low-to-low shot from the left alley off a nice feed from Jake Bernhardt.
Detroit Mercy’s Shayne Adams ended the Titans’ scoreless streak at 32:13 with his sixth goal of the season at the 6:52 mark. But that only gave the Terps the chance to begin another scoring run.
Junior Drew Snider started this five-goal run for the Terps with a nice shot into the upper right corner from the left wing. Haus picked up his career-best fourth assist on the goal.
The Terps’ transition game worked to perfection again to close out scoring for the third quarter. Sophomore Jesse Bernhardt caused a turnover that junior Michael Shakespeare advanced into the offensive zone. Sophomore Landon Carr made a great run down the middle of the field and finished the play with his first career goal to make it a 12-3 Terrapin lead.
The run continued less than two minutes into the fourth quarter on Snider’s second goal of the game.
Senior Fran Gormley scored his first of the season at the 12:19 mark on a terrific shot from 10 yards out to make it a 14-3 Terrapin lead.
Sophomore Owne Blye finished the five-goal run with his first goal at the 7:59 mark. Freshman Sean McGuire picked up his first collegiate point by feeding Blye the ball after Blye made a good cut toward the crease.
Matt Gregson closed out the scoring for the Titans with an unassisted goal with 6:28 left in the game.
Cummings finished things up for the Terps with a goal from the right alley with 3:55 remaining.
The Terps were terrific when the ball was on the ground, winning the groundball battle 49-23. A big reason for that was the play of sophomore Curtis Holmes on face-offs. Holmes won 17 of 21 face-offs and had a game-high five groundballs.
Redshirt freshman Niko Amato made his first collegiate start a solid one, making three saves and allowing just four goals in 52:01. Amato also chipped in with four groundballs and a caused turnover.
Maryland’s defense limited the Titans to just 17 shots for the game. At close defense, seniors Ryder Bohlander, Shane Hall, Brett Schmidt and Max Schmidt combined for nine groundballs and five caused turnovers.
The Terps’ long pole trio of Jesse Bernhardt, Michael White and David Miller combined for seven groundballs and four caused turnovers.
Maryland returns to action next Saturday, Feb. 26, when it hosts No. 15 Georgetown at 3 p.m. at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium.
Game Notes:
• With today’s 16-4 win Maryland is now 1-0 all-time vs. Detroit Mercy.
• Maryland has won 18 straight season openers and is 82-3-1 all-time to start the season.
• With four points on three goals and one assist, senior Ryan Young now had 37 multi-point and 17 multi-goal games for his career.
• Young’s three goals tied his career high.
• With four points on two goals and two assists, senior Grant Catalino now has 38 multi-point, 30 multi-goal and 12 multi-assist games for his career.
• Catalino’s two goals give him 90 for his career and moves him into sole possession of 15th place on Maryland’s all-time goal-scoring list.
• With four points on two goals and two assists, senior Travis Reed now has 31 multi-point, 19 multi-goal and 11 multi-assist games for his career.
• With three points on three goals, junior Joe Cummings now has 13 multi-point and seven multi-goal games for his career.
• Sophomore John Haus set a career high with four assists. It marks his fourth career multi-point game and his first with multiple assists. Haus had two assists total during his freshman season.
• Sophomore Curtis Holmes won 17 of 21 face-offs to set career highs in both face-offs won and taken. As a freshman in 2010, Holmes won a total of 11 of 24 face-offs.
• The Terps held Detroit Mercy scoreless for 32:13 from 5:55 of the first quarter to 6:52 of the third. It is the first time Maryland has held an opponent scoreless for 30 minutes or more since holding Denver without a goal for 30:06 in the first round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament.
• Maryland finished with 30 points on 16 goals and 14 assists. The last time the Terps had 30 points in a game was March 20, 2007 in an 18-3 win over Mount St. Mary’s.
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