Mike Preston: Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse rallies late to beat Lehigh, 13-10, in NCAA Tournament opener | COMMENTARY
Johns Hopkins’ usual suspects scored some big goals in crunch time Sunday afternoon against visiting Lehigh, but the Blue Jays found a different hero to help seal their 13-10 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Senior faceoff specialist Tyler Dunn had struggled in the first three quarters, losing 13 of 18, but he won seven of nine in the final period to help Johns Hopkins overcome a one-goal deficit and score the final four goals in the last six minutes before a crowd of 1,400 at Homewood Field.
Johns Hopkins (11-4) will face No. 6 seed Virginia on Sunday in a quarterfinal game at Towson’s Johnny Unitas Stadium. The time of the game has yet to be determined, but the Cavaliers easily defeated Saint Joseph’s, 17-11, in an opening-round victory on Saturday.
“It was all about getting comfortable,” said Dunn, a senior and Calvert Hall graduate. “As the game goes on, you get more comfortable with yourself and all the players out there with you.”
Dunn’s struggles in the first three quarters allowed the Mountain Lions (10-7) to stay with the Blue Jays, especially with their patented, deliberate offense. But the outcome was never in doubt after Dunn flicked the switch and dominated the fourth period.
Johnathan Peshko tied the game at 10 with a strike with 5:42 left before sophomore midfielder Matt Collison, who tied a career high from earlier this season with four goals, buried a high shot less than a minute later to put Hopkins ahead, 11-10, for good.
Senior defenseman Scott Smith converted on an empty-net goal from the opposite restraining line when Lehigh pulled goalie Nick Pecora during a 10-man ride to make it 12-10 with 3:11 remaining. Then senior midfielder Dylan Bauer beat midfielder Tyler Lahey from behind the goal to increase the lead to 13-10 and seal the win for the home team in a game that was delayed twice because of inclement weather.
“It was wild at times, but I don’t think games are supposed to be easy this time of year,” Johns Hopkins coach Peter Milliman said. “Lehigh really stressed us throughout the game, but we had some seniors who made some senior plays for us and it just showed that they wanted to stay together to keep playing.”
Before the final five minutes, the game was played evenly. Lehigh outshot Hopkins, 38-36, and the Blue Jays had only a 32-31 advantage in ground balls. There weren’t any major differences in clears or saves either, but Hopkins did convert on two of three extra-man opportunities. But Dunn was the key for the Blue Jays.
“To finish seven of nine and to give us that many possessions is massive,” Milliman said of the faceoff specialist.
The opportunities allowed the Blue Jays to heat up.
“My teammates do a good job of keeping pressure off of us,” Collison said. “We keep hammering away, and our biggest competition is black and blue, what we’ve seen all week. So we have confidence in the other guys on the field and everyone on the sidelines. If we keep chipping away, we will start heating up and we believe things will break our way.”
Lehigh came out in a ball-controlled offense and the Mountain Hawks worked the shot clock down to the final seconds. The teams were nearly even on shots in the first period as the Blue Jays took nine and Lehigh six, but the Mountain Hawks won four of five faceoffs.
Lehigh attackman Andrew Kelly beat Collison for the game’s first goal early in the first period, but Collison tied the game soon after on a feed from attackman Jacob Angelus.
Mountain Hawks attackman Quinn Armstrong beat short stick middies Brandon Aviles just inside the restraining box to push the Lehigh lead to 2-1, but Collison scored again, this time on a feed from Angelus, for an extra-man goal late in the first to tie the score.
Hopkins scored two extra-man goals in a three-goal second period, the best coming from Angelus, who stutter-stepped twice by midfielder Nick Turini before scoring from the right of the goal early in the frame.
Neither team could gain much of an advantage in the second period. The Blue Jays took a 5-3 lead on an extra-man goal by attackman Garrett Degnon a few minutes later, but Kelly scooped up a ground ball outside of the goal after goalie Chayse Ierlan had made two consecutive saves and deposited it in the back of the net for an easy goal late in the quarter.
Lehigh midfielder Dakota Eierman scored while crossing outside the crease on a feed from fellow middie Freddie Amato early in the third, but the goal was nullified as a horn sounded to pause the game because of the weather.
Hopkins led 8-5 in the third before Lehigh reeled off four straight goals between the third and fourth quarters and took a 9-8 advantage with 10:28 to go.
After trading the next two goals, it was all Blue Jays.
NCAA TOURNAMENT QUARTERFINALS
No. 6 Virginia vs. No. 3 Johns Hopkins
At Johnny Unitas Stadium, Towson
Sunday, TBA
TV: ESPNU