Maryland men's lacrosse downs Johns Hopkins, secures two-seed in Big Ten Tournament

John Gugs
Apr 19
4 min read

Maryland Men’s Lacrosse during their rivalry game against Johns Hopkins at Secu Stadium in College Park, MD on Friday, Apr. 18, 2025. Mackenzie Miles/Maryland Terrapins

In the annual “The Rivalry” game against Johns Hopkins, the Terps men’s lacrosse squad was able to bring the wooden crab trophy back home for the first time since 2022 in a thrilling 11-8 win over the Blue Jays.

In a game where neither team ever looked in total control of the game until the very end, it was the Terps that came out on top, thanks to a 3-1 edge in the fourth quarter over the Blue Jays. The Terps' defense only allowed the Blue Jays to get three shots on goal in the fourth quarter, a massive reason why they were able to pull ahead. Logan McNaney started the game shaky but bounced back in the second half with a 62.5% save percentage in the second half.

The first quarter was filled with scoring by both teams. The Terps came out to a 4-3 lead at the end of the first quarter thanks to goals from Daniel Kelly, Jonah Carrier, Aiden Aitken, and Braden Erksa. The first quarter was very back and forth with neither team leading by more than one goal.

In the second quarter, the Terps offense scored two straight, giving them their largest lead of the day with 11:11 to go in the first half, thanks to goals from Erksa and Zach Whittier. The Blue Jays would end up stopping the Terps three-goal run and adding another to their total before halftime, giving the Terps a 6-5 lead heading into the half.

A massive reason the score was so close was due to Johns Hopkins' goalie having a career day. Oran Gelinas, who started the season as the backup behind Luke Staudt who has missed the last few games due to injury, finished the day with 20 saves in the losing effort. While some of the Terps shot placement was not great during the game, Gelinas made some great saves and did everything he could to keep the Blue Jays in the game.

Like the first quarter, the third quarter was very back and forth, neither team scored two goals straight as the Terps managed to keep an 8-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Erksa and Jack Shultz were the two goal scorers for the Terps in the third quarter. Hopkins won every single face-off in the third quarter which was massive for keeping them in the game and not letting the Terps pull away.

Johns Hopkins would tie the game up just a minute into the fourth quarter, however, this would be the last goal the Terps would give up as they would start to pull away. Kelly took the lead for the Terps with 10:01 left in the game. Around the 7:50 mark of the fourth quarter, Will Schaller would win a gritty ground ball,l causing a turnover for the Terps, who would dish the ball off to Jack McDonal,d who would start a fast break for the Terps. McDonald passed it to Eric Spanos, who assisted Erksa for his fourth goal of the day. Erksa’s fourth goal of the day was a massive juice goal and was the goal that seemed to take all of the momentum away from the Blue Jays. Whittier would get his second goal on the day with just 3:18 remaining for the game-sealing goal.

The win over Johns Hopkins secured the Terps the number two seed in this year's Big Ten tournament and an automatic bye. The Terps will face the winner of the three seed versus six seed matchup on Thursday, May 1st in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Takeaways

The Great

The Terps defense held Johns Hopkins to just 16 shots on goal the entire game, including just three in the fourth quarter. Johns Hopkins only had 26 total shots as well only missing the net on ten of their shots. The Terps defense was giving the Blue Jays very few looks all game long and were a massive reason for the win.

The Great

The Terps offense outshot the Blue Jays 37 to 26 in the win. But the Terps dominated the Blue Jays in shots on goal only missing the net six times in the entire game. Anytime you get more than 30 shots on goal, you have to like your chance to pull out the win and the Terps did just that.

Needs Improvement

The Blue Jays won the day at the face-off dot going 14/23 on the day. A big reason Hopkins stayed in the game as long as they did was because the Terps were giving the Blue Jays extra possessions with not being able to win a face-off. The Terps will need to get better at the face-off if they want to make it to Memorial Day and bring their third ring in eight seasons home.

Three Stars

Braden Erska

Erksa finished the day leading the team in goals and total points with four goals and an assist on the day. Erksa also added a ground ball to his name in the win.

Jack McDonald

McDonald led the team in caused turnovers with three on the day while also leading the team in ground balls picked up with five. McDonald was a key piece in the Terps transition game and had the hockey assist on Erksa’s fourth goal.

Will Schaller

Schaller finished the game with two caused turnovers and a ground ball picked up in the win.

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