WEST POINT, NY – The 14th-ranked Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team held host Army to just one goal over the final 37minutes and the Blue Jays got four goals from junior Brandon Benn and three from freshman Ryan Brown in a 9-4 win over the Black Knights before a crowd of 10,340 at Michie Stadium Friday night. The win is the 19th straight for Johns Hopkins against Army.

Johns Hopkins will now wait until Sunday night to learn if it has earned an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The Blue Jays have qualified for the NCAAs in each of the last 41 years. That streak is the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in any Division I team sport.

The Blue Jays (9-5) led just 4-3 at the half, but scored twice in the third quarter to give themselves some breathing room. The second of Benn’s four goals opened the second half scoring as he was on the back end of a quick pass to the crease from sophomore Wells Stanwick to polish off an unsettled situation and give JHU a 5-3 lead at the 10:14 mark.

That lead held for just under five minutes, when Benn again capped a transition opportunity, this one off a slick pass to the backside from junior James Malm.

The Black Knights (8-6) ended a 27-minute scoring drought just over five minutes into the fourth quarter as Pat Brennan ripped a 10-yarder from the wing just inside the near post to slice the deficit to 6-4.

Any hopes for an Army comeback were dashed in the middle of the quarter as the Blue Jays struck for three goals in a four-minute span to put the game away.

Benn got his hands free in the slot and junior Rob Guida hit him in stride for his fourth goal of the game at the 7:46 mark and Brown polished off the second hat trick of his career with back-to-back goals in a 42-second span to close the scoring.

The Blue Jays needed just 66 seconds to open the scoring as junior Guida dodged to the middle of the field and drew a slide before slipping a pass to senior Lee Coppersmith, who ripped home a 12-yarder to stake JHU to the early lead.Fittingly, the strong defensive effort was capped when senior Pierce Bassett recorded the 500th save of his career on Army’s final shot of the game and the four goals allowed marked the third time in four games JHU has held the opposition to just four.

The one-goal lead held through the first quarter for the Blue Jays as Bassett posted four of his 14 saves on the night in the first period. His counterpart, sophomore Sam Somers, was also on his game early as he posted five saves in the opening 15 minutes.

The offenses got going in the second quarter as the teams combined for six goals, including five in the opening eight minutes of the period.

The Blue Jays doubled their lead 81 seconds into the second quarter on an unassisted goal by Stanwick, who got his hands free after dodging from behind the goal, but Army struck twice in a span of just 40 seconds to knot the game a two. Alex Newsome scooped up a ground ball in front of the cage and fired into an open net to end Army’s 18-minute game-opening scoring drought and All-American Garrett Thul fired home an extra-man goal 40 ticks later to tie the game.

Brown and Thul traded goals midway through the period to force the second tie of the game before junior Brian Benn fired home an extra-man goal of his own in the final four minutes of the half to give the Blue Jays the 4-3 halftime lead. The two third-quarter goals extended the lead and Army scored just Brennan’s goal after intermission.

#14 Johns Hopkins (9-5) 1-3-2-3/9
Army (8-6) 0-3-0-1/4

Goals: J: Benn-4, Brown-3, Coppersmith, Stanwick. A: Thul-2, Brennan, Newsome. Assists: J: Guida-3, Coppersmith, Greeley, Malm, Palmer, Stanwick. A: Ghidotti, Glesener, Perettine. Saves: J: Bassett-13, Schneider-1. A: Somers-11. Shots: J-35. A-32. EMO: J: 2-for-8. A: 1-for-7. Attendance: 10,340.

University Park, Pa. – The Towson men’s lacrosse team (10-7) withstood a late rally from No. 9 Penn State (12-4) to defeat the Nittany Lions, 11-10, and claim its first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title since 2005 Friday afternoon at PSU Lacrosse Field.

PSU outscored Towson 4-3 in the fourth quarter to try and rally from an 8-6 deficit at the end of the third. The game was tightly contested until late in the second quarter and into the third when the Tigers broke it open with a five-goal run.

Towson was making its first appearance in a CAA final since 2010, when the Tigers fell to Delaware, 12-9 on May 8. Today’s championship is Towson’s fourth title in its ninth appearance at the CAA Tournament. Towson’s Thomas DeNapoli, Jordan Fortmann and Ben McCarty were named to the All-Tournament team. Senior goalkeeper Andrew Wascavage received Most Outstanding Player. It is Head Coach Shawn Nadelen’s first CAA championship.

Sophomore Greg Cuccinello’s second hat trick of the season led the Tigers. He also had one assist. DeNapoli added two goals and two assists, while senior Matt Hughes scored his fourth and fifth goals in four games.

TJ Sanders’s three goals led the Nittany Lions. Jack Forster and Shane Sturgis each posted two goals. Goalie Austin Kaut made six saves.

McCarty opened the game’s scoring with his seventh goal in two games off a pass from DeNapoli at 11:10 in the first quarter. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead at 10:25 when sophomore Cuccinello beat PSU’s Kaut middle right.

Penn State struck back with a three-goal run starting at 9:28, getting scores from Forster, Kyle VanThof and Steven Bogert. But DeNapoli cut short the rally with his 40th goal of the season at 2:05. Hughes caused a Penn State turnover, picked up the ground ball and fed it to DeNapoli for the score. Hughes capped the quarter with his seventh goal of the year and, fourth in four games, with one second left.

The Nittany Lions started the second quarter on another three-goal rally when Forster connected with Tom LaCrosse on a fast break at 13:53. Sanders scored at 11:11 and Gavin Ahern followed at 10:18 to give PSU a 6-4 lead.

Junior Andrew Hodgson notched a goal for Towson at 6:59 when Towson worked the ball around the back of the net to Cuccinello who fed Hodgson. He dodged a defender and beat Kaut high to low from 12 yards out. His goal inched Towson to within one, 6-5, and Mabus’ tally at 4:28 pulled the Tigers even, 6-6.

Cuccinello started the third quarter with a bullet at 12:30 to put Towson up, 7-6, before Hodgson scored just over eight minutes later to give the Tigers an 8-6 advantage they carried into the fourth quarter.

The final frame was a wild one, seeing a total of seven goals – four in the final four minutes. Cuccinello posted his final goal of the game at 13:19 from 13 yards out, but the Lions showed they still had some fight when Sanders scored his 41st of the season 45 seconds later. Hughes answered with his second of the game when freshman Dan Livingston cleared the ball and passed to a waiting Hughes right in front of the goal at 6:51. That put Towson up three,10-7.

Towson was whistled for a slash at 4:54 and Penn State capitalized just 24 seconds into the penalty with a Sturgis goal at 4:31 to make it 10-8. DeNapoli posted his 41st of the year at 2:33, unassisted to increase the Tigers’ lead to 11-8. It gave Towson just enough breathing room to withstand Penn State goals from Sturgis and Sanders, at 2:14 and 1:42 respectively.

With the win, the Tigers earned the CAA’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. They will find out their opponent during the NCAA selection show on Sunday, May 5.

College Men’s Lacrosse: Towson 11, No. 9 Penn State 10
Towson (10-7)               4-2-2-3/11
Penn State (12-4)           3-3-0-4/10

GOALS: TOW – Cuccinello 3, DeNapoli 2, Hodgson 2, Hughes, 2, Mabus, McCarty; PSU – Sanders 3, Forster 2, Sturgis 2, Ahern, VanThof, Bogert. ASSISTS: TOW – DeNapoli 2, Cuccinello, Livingston, Mabus; PSU – Ahern 2, Manley 2, LaCrosse, Zittel. SAVES: TOW – Wascavage (12, 60:00, 10 GA); PSU – Kaut (6, 60:00,11 GA). SHOTS: TOW – 32; PSU – 35. GROUND BALLS: TOW – 21; PSU – 33. FACE-OFFS: TOW –5-24; PSU – 19-24. CLEARS: TOW – 22-24; PSU – 19-23. EMO: TOW – 0-2; PSU 2-2. ATT: 796.

UMBC will play for its first America East Conference title in men’s lacrosse since 2009 when they face top-seeded Albany on Saturday, May 4 at Stony Brook’s LaValle Stadium. The Retrievers and Great Danes will face-off at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday in front of a national television audience on ESPNU and the WatchESPN app. Mark Dixon and Ryan Flanagan have the call of the fourth meeting between UMBC and Albany in the title game.

The Retrievers (7-7) advanced by virtue of a stunning comeback in the semifinal contest vs. No. 2-seeded Hartford. Trailing 13-9 with less than six minutes remaining, UMBC junior face-off specialist Phil Poe won the final six draws of the game, and senior attackman Joe Lustgarten scored three of the Retrievers’ six goals in a span of 5:12 to spearhead a rally which resulted in a 15-13 UMBC victory. Lustgarten, who led UMBC with four goals and two assists, scored the game-winning goal with 55 seconds remaining, while Poe won 11 of 12 fourth-quarter draws and 22 of 29 in the contest.

Twelfth-ranked Albany (12-4) faced a tough out in No. 4 and host Stony Brook, but came away with a 17-15 victory in the nightcap of Thursday’s thrilling action at LaValle Stadium. The Great Danes defeated UMBC, 16-10, on April 19.

LAST TIME WE MET: Matt Gregoire scored a career-best five points, but the Retrievers fell, 16-10, to tenth-ranked Albany at John Fallon Field on April 19.Gregoire scored back-to-back goals late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to bring the Retrievers to within 11-9 with 10:48 remaining. But the high-powered Great Danes reeled off three straight goals in a span of 2:12 to take its biggest lead of the game at 14-9 with 6:36 to play. Pat Young briefly halted the surge and cut the deficit to four goals with 5:10 to play, but the Retrievers could get no closer.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT: In the conference semifinals, junior attackman Ty Thompson scored three goals down the stretch as the Great Danes scored five of the game’s final six goals to seal the 17-15 victory over Stony Brook. Ty Thompson finished with four goals and an assist while his teammate and cousin Lyle, the America East Player of the Year, had three goals and three assists to up his season-point total to 99.

ALL-TIME SERIES: UMBC leads the all-time series, 10-6, but Albany has won the last two contests. The two teams will meet for the seventh time in ten league seasons in the championships. The Great Danes have won four of the previous six meetings, although the Retrievers have won two of the three title game match-ups (2006, 2008).

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Led by junior attacker Aimee Gennaro’s (Havertown, Pa.) game-high six points and a stout team defense, the No. 15/12 Navy women’s lacrosse team (18-1) won a fourth-straight Patriot League Tournament title by defeating Holy Cross (9-10), 14-4, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Navy earns the Patriot League’s automatic berth to the 26-team NCAA Tournament and will learn its opponent and site during the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, May 5th at 9:00 PM on NCAA.com. Navy will be making a fourth-straight NCAA Tournament appearance.

“I am so proud of our team for stepping onto the field today and winning our fourth Patriot League title,” head coach Cindy Timchal said. “It is certainly a reflection of how hard this team has worked. I give credit to Holy Cross as well. They proved they are a Patriot League finalist team and played brilliantly on Friday night. We were fortunate to get a fast start against them today, but they played tough all the way.”

Gennaro tallied five goals with one assist in Sunday’s final after scoring a game-high five points on two goals and three assists in Navy’s 9-8 semifinal win over Lafayette on Friday. Gennaro was named to the Patriot League All-Tournament Team for the second time in her career.

Senior attacker Jasmine DePompeo (Sayville, N.Y.) earned Patriot League Tournament MVP honors for the second time. DePompeo had six points in Navy’s two tournament wins and broke the Patriot League’s single-season scoring record on Sunday with her 120th point of the season (55 goals, 65 assists).

Her 65 assists rank as the fifth-best in a single season in NCAA history and she is the nation’s leading scorer. DePompeo was named to the Tewaaraton Award nominee list and is a three-time Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year.

Sophomore midfielder Lindsay Rheiner (Wycombe, Pa.) and goalie Annie Foky (Charlottesville, Va.) rounded out Navy’s four selections to the all-tournament team.

After trailing at halftime in its previous three games, Navy had a strong start against Holy Cross by scoring the first two goals and taking a 10-2 halftime lead.

“We knew we had to step onto that field with a lot of confidence,” Timchal said. “We knew that we would have to get a fast start and play tough the whole way through.”

Gennaro scored just one minute into the game on a free-position goal and then tallied her second four minutes later.

After Holy Cross’ Kat Sutton scored, senior attacker Kathy Young (Berwyn, Pa.) scored her first of four goals and then assisted on junior midfielder Jill Coughlin’s (Annapolis, Md.) strike.

Holy Cross slipped in another goal to make it 4-2, but the Mids took over with an 8-0 run over the next 18 minutes. Gennaro opened the spurt with another free-position goal and then senior defender Brijet Mall (Cumming, Ga.) raced down the field on a clear and went unmarked to the cage and put in her first career goal, which set off a wild celebration on the Navy sideline.

Sophomore midfielder Casey Browne (Miller Place, N.Y.) followed with a strike before Young once again found the back of the net.

DePompeo then got involved with back-to-back assists, first setting up sophomore attacker Loren Generi (Bayport, N.Y.) and then feeding Gennaro with just 18 seconds remaining in the first half. Navy scored 10 goals on just 11 shots in the first half.

Navy opened the second with back-to-back goals on tallies by Young and Gennaro as the lead grew to 10 at 12-2. The Crusaders chipped away with back-to-back goals with 11 minutes remaining, but Navy’s Young and Generi scored the game’s final two goals for the 14-4 final.

Generi had two goals and four draw controls and became Navy’s career leader with 221 draw controls in just two seasons of play. Generi has 103 draw controls this season after a school single season record of 118 in 2012.

Foky made six saves, after stopping seven shots on Friday night, to improve to 16-1 in the cage.

Rheiner had three ground balls, three draw controls and two caused turnovers against Holy Cross after tallying two goals, four ground balls, three caused turnovers and a draw control in the semifinals.

Young scored four goals on Sunday and had a goal and an assist on Friday.

Holy Cross held a slight edge in shots at 21-20, Navy led in ground balls (14-11) and draw controls were even at 10-10.

The victory extends Navy’s program record winning streak to 12 games and the Mids have won 18-straight against league opponents.

Navy also defeated Holy Cross in the 2012 tournament final, 18-11.

The Patriot League Tournament is presented by Rockin’ Refuel.

2013 Patriot League Women's Lacrosse All-Tournament Team
Navy
Jasmine DePompeo (MVP)
Aimee Gennaro
Lindsay Rheiner
Annie Foky

Holy Cross
Maddie Carrellas
Sara Cox
Kat Sutton

Lafayette
Ana White
Addie Godfrey

American
Kimberly Collins
Alex Lugovina

Honorable Mention: Auto Racing-NASCAR STP Gas Booster 500 (Sunday 1pm from Martinsville, VA live on FOX), IndyCar Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Sunday 3pm from Birmingham live on NBC Sports Network); Golf: PGA Tour Valero Texas Open (Thursday & Friday 3pm live on Golf Channel, Saturday & Sunday 1pm live on Golf Channel 3pm live on NBC. All golf from San Antonio), LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship (Thursday & Friday 12pm & 6pm Saturday & Sunday 5pm from Rancho Mirage, CA live on Golf Channel); Women’s College Basketball: NCAA Tournament Elite 8-Notre Dame vs. Duke(Tuesday 7:05pm from Norfolk live on ESPN), Tennessee vs. Louisville (Tuesday 9:10pm from Oklahoma City live on ESPN); Final Four (Sunday TBA from New Orleans live on ESPN); Mixed Martial Arts: UFC on FUEL TV-Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi (Saturday 11am from Stockholm, SWE live on FUEL TV); Bellator MMA (Thursday 10pm from Atlantic City live on SpikeTV)

10. Maroon 5/Neon Trees/Owl City (Wednesday 7:30pm Verizon Center); Green Day (Thursday 7:30pm Patriot Center); They Might Be Giants (Saturday 9pm Rams Head Live); Brigance Brigade Foundation Benefit feat. Charm City Devils/Loving The Lie (Saturday 8pm Baltimore Soundstage); Senses Fail (Friday 8pm Ottobar); Marc Broussard (Monday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); Meek Mill (Saturday 8pm Fillmore Silver Spring); Ozomatli (Wednesday 7pm 9:30 Club), Local Natives (Friday 8pm Saturday 7pm 9:30 Club), Black Crowes (Monday 7pm 9:30 Club); Carolina Chocolate Drops (Wednesday 7:30pm Birchmere); Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/Walk The Moon (Sunday George Washington University)

I like Charm City Devils. I LOVE supporting anything involving O.J. Brigance. Nice little Saturday night then.

Loving The Lie is another excellent Baltimore band playing the event Saturday night. I throw my support fully behind that.

Genuinely believe I’ve heard more about Local Natives in the last month than I’ve heard about U2 in my life. Pretty good reason for that.

I can get behind EVERYTHING about Carolina Chocolate Drops…

9. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Dragons (Tuesday-Sunday 1st Mariner Arena); Jon Lovitz/Chris Kattan/Tim Meadows (Thursday 7:30pm Birchmere); Louis C.K. (Saturday 8pm & 10:30pm Meyerhoff Symphony Hall); Brian Regan (Friday 8pm Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric); Shawn & Marlon Wayans (Thursday-Sunday DC Improv); Craig Shoemaker (Thursday 8pm Baltimore Comedy Factory), Bret Ernst (Friday & Saturday Baltimore Comedy Factory); Rich Vos (Thursday-Saturday Magooby’s Joke House); “That Thing You Do!” available on Blu-Ray (Tuesday)

Don’t kill me for this, but I searched “That Thing You Do!” on YouTube and discovered this video of ‘N Sync performing the song over a decade ago. I could have ignored the video, but instead I shared it with you here.

Language, but nothing not to enjoy about Louis C.K…

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Honorable Mention: NBA-Washington Wizards @ Oklahoma City Thunder (Wednesday 8pm from Oklahoma City live on Comcast SportsNet), Washington Wizards @ Orlando Magic (Friday 7pm from Orlando live on Comcast SportsNet), Toronto Raptors @ Washington Wizards (Sunday 6pm from Verizon Center live on Comcast SportsNet); Boxing: Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado (Saturday 10:15pm from Las Vegas live on HBO); Mixed Martial Arts: Bellator MMA (Thursday 10pm from Tampa, FL live on SpikeTV)

10. Florida Georgia Line (Saturday 9pm Rams Head Live); Jimmie’s Chicken Shack (Friday 6:30pm Recher Theatre); Cris Jacobs Band (Friday 8pm 8×10 Club), All Mighty Senators (Saturday 8pm 8×10 Club); The Pietasters (Thursday 7:30pm Ottobar); Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Tuesday 8pm Rams Head on Stage), Family Of The Year (Monday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); DJ ?uestlove (Saturday 11pm Howard Theatre); Gloriana (Tuesday 7pm 9:30 Club); Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell (Friday 8pm Strathmore); The Strokes “Comedown Machine” and Lil Wayne “I Am Not A Human Being II” available in stores/on iTunes (Tuesday)

Any day where I get to post a JCS video in T10BD should be considered a good day. No…it should be considered a freaking FANTASTIC day.

The Pietasters are fun. That was a sentence.

Every time Emmylou Harris comes to town I get excited because I know I’ll post the video of her doing “Long Black Veil” with Dave Matthews at a Johnny Cash tribute show.

I enjoy music made by The Strokes. Insert your own witty comment here.

9. Creed Bratton (Friday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); Aziz Ansari (Friday 7pm & 10:30pm D.A.R. Constitution Hall); Gary Gulman (Thursday-Saturday Magooby’s Joke House); Kevin Pollak (Thursday-Saturday DC Improv); “Lincoln” and “Killing Them Softly” available on Blu-Ray/DVD (Tuesday); “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” out in theaters (Friday); Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Presents Dragons (Wednesday-Sunday 1st Mariner Arena); Glenn Clark’s Easter plans (Sunday Time & Place TBA)

In a tradition unlike any other, this is the part of the year where I demand my fiancee make Cadbury Cream Eggs Benedict Sunday or risk this being our final Easter together.

(I actually have absolutely no idea if I would even enjoy this.)

We can all agree Staburst jelly beans >>>> Jelly Belly jelly beans, correct?

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