#5 Maryland 8-3 (3-1) at #3 Johns Hopkins 9-3 (4-0)
Where: Homewood Field, Baltimore MD
When: Saturday April 20th, 4 PM
TV: ESPNU
Game Preview
With an 11-6 win over Rutgers extending the win streak to three, the Terps now shift their attention to what is arguably the biggest rivalry in all of college lacrosse: Maryland vs Johns Hopkins. A win would secure a share of the regular season Big Ten title for Maryland, as well as the number one seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.
The Terps will travel to Homewood Field for the fourth time in three years where they will look to make it six straight wins over the Blue Jays on their home turf. This is the first time since 2011 that both squads are ranked in the top five heading into the matchup. Last season, the Terps lost the first game to Hopkins as well as the famous crab trophy in a hard fought 12-11 game. However, in the Big Ten semifinals the Terps got their revenge over the Blue Jays and pulled out a 14-9 win.
Hopkins is led by Jacob Angelus and Garret Degnon on offense. Angelus leads the Blue Jays in total points scored with 52 off of 20 goals and 32 assists. Degnon leads the Blue Jays in goals scored with 37 while also tallying five assists. Angelus is the “quarterback” of the Hopkins offense. He has the vision that not many other attackmen in the country have and it helps him find his teammates for easy shots. Look for Terps star defender Ajax Zappitello to be on Angelus for most of the game to shut him down. In two of the three Hopkins’ losses, Angelus was held to three points or less. Shutting him down amplifies the pressure on Hopkins’ ability to move the ball around and get open looks. Degnon is an absolute sniper from the outside for Hopkins. If you give him any room to shoot from 15 yards or less there is a very good chance he will make the shot. If the Terps look to shut Degnon down and take away Angelus’ favorite target, they will need to have a stick on his hands every single time he touches the ball or else he will make the Terps pay. Hopkins turns the ball over 13.83 times a game. Turnovers will be massive in this game and if the Terps are able to turn the ball over for Hopkins constantly it will help their chances in pulling out the win massively.
On defense for Hopkins, they are led by their goalie Chayse Irelan. The Terps have a history with Irelan as he was the goalie for Cornell during the 2022 national championship game the Terps pulled out a 9-7 win. Irelan is saving 55% of shots this season and is only allowing 9.8 goals per game, but in all three of Hopkins’ losses, he posted save percentages under 52%. The Blue Jays’ top defender to look out for is Scott Smith. Smith was an honorable mention All-American last season and has backed it up with another impressive season. Smith is second on the team with 12 caused turnovers and is also second on the team in ground ball wins behind just the Blue Jays’ face-off man. The Blue Jays’ defense as a whole is a very big and physical group. They use their length to disrupt passing lanes and they will try and bully the opposing offense around to cause turnovers. The Terps will need to keep the ball out of Hopkins’ offensive side of the field and play a clean game if they want to control the game and pull out the win.
One big thing to watch out for is the battle at the face-off X. Hopkins has only won 47% of their face-offs this season. The Terps’ star face-off man, Luke Wierman, is winning at a 59% rate this season. If Wierman can dominate at the face-off X, it will be very hard for Hopkins to go on any long scoring runs with the Terps getting all the extra possessions.
I see this game being much of a copycat game of last season. It was very physical and very fast paced. If the Terps are able to slow the game down and play a clean game on offense, I like their chances at pulling out the win and earning a share of the Big Ten regular season title. I see this being yet another close game of “The Rivalry” with the Terps making it six straight wins over the Blue Jays at Homewood Field in an 11-10 slug fest.
Reward Recognition
This week, the Tewaaraton Award released the final 25 nominees of the 2024 season and the Terps’ Ajax Zappitello and Luke Wierman made the cut.
Zappitello, who became just the second Terps defender to don the famous #1 jersey as a Terp, was named a mid-season first team All-American by Inside Lacrosse and has proven to be the top defender on the field every game this season. This season, Zappitello leads the Terps with 18 caused turnovers as well as 23 ground balls picked up. Zappitello covers every opponent’s #1 attackman and every week he holds them to low scoring games.
Wierman is the school record holder in career face-off wins and is second in ground balls won with just 31 ground balls away from becoming the new record holder. This season, Wierman is winning 59% of his face-offs taken and was named an honorable mention mid-season All-American by Inside Lacrosse. Wierman has faced many face-off guys that are considered towards the top of the country and he consistently wins the battles from the face-off X every week.
Zappitello and Wierman will look to continue their dominance over their opponents and hopefully be named one of the five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award that will be announced at the end of the regular season.
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