No. 7 Maryland men’s lacrosse’s comeback falls short in 9-8 loss to No. 13 Johns Hopkins

Franklin Zessis
1 minute ago
3 min read

Maryland men’s lacrosse had struggled to mount second-half comebacks all season.

The Terps were 0-4 this season when trailing at halftime, but with under 10 seconds remaining in the game, Maryland had a chance to pull off a comeback. Johns Hopkins sent a double team at Leo Johnson, allowing him to find former Yale teammate Chris Lyons by the far post.

But Lyons' shot hit the post. The rebound was corralled by Johns Hopkins, resulting in No. 7 Maryland falling 9-8 to No. 13 Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field in Baltimore on Saturday. The loss prevents Maryland from securing the top seed in the Big Ten tournament and drops the Terps to the third seed.

In last season’s contest, Maryland struggled to score on Oran Gelinas. Johns Hopkins’ goalie made a career-best 20 saves on 31 shots on goal in a losing effort. The senior continued to thrive in his rematch against the Terps, making 14 saves.

Gelinas’ strong play was highlighted in the first half, as Maryland’s offense notched just two goals on 10 shots. The Terps (6-5, 3-2 Big Ten) frequently shot low on Gelinas, but his 6-foot-4 frame allowed him to seal off the bottom part of the net.

Maryland’s offense particularly struggled in the second quarter, as it failed to score in a quarter for the second time in three games and committed four turnovers. The prolonged scoring drought allowed Johns Hopkins (8-4, 3-2 Big Ten) to go on a 3-0 run and neutralize Maryland’s 6-3 edge in the faceoff circle.

Yet Maryland’s offense changed its offensive strategy in the second half. The Terps elected to place more shots into the upper half of the net and take chances in transition.

Both were eptimized on Maryland’s first goal of the third quarter. Senior long stick midfielder AJ Larkin rifled a shot into the upper region of the net eight seconds after Maryland’s defense collected a ground ball. The goal snapped a 17-minute-long goalless drought.

Aiding the Terps’ offense was the continued strong play of its faceoff unit. Maryland entered Saturday’s contest with a massive edge at the faceoff circle, winning 61.3 % of its faceoffs compared to Johns Hopkins 47.8%.

That advantage became evident in the final quarter.

Maryland won six of eight faceoffs, allowing its offense to string together multiple possessions at a time and pelter Gelinas with eight shots on goal.

The Terps converted on half of those shots in the quarter, but Gelinas’ final save of the game was the most influential. Gelinas made another save on a low shot from Maryland as graduate student attacker Eric Spanos attempted to finish on an open look.

The save by Gelinas allowed Johns Hopkins to advance on offense, where senior midfielder Matt Collison netted his third goal of the contest on the ensuing possession. The goal gave Johns Hopkins a 9-7 advantage.

The sequence proved costly for Maryland, as it mustered one goal the rest of the game.

The loss is significant not only for Maryland’s seeding in the Big Ten but also for its NCAA tournament standing. Maryland finishes the regular season with five losses and will need to make a deep run in the Big Ten tournament to have a chance at securing a spot in the NCAA tournament.

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