[MEDIA RELEASE]
BALTIMORE, MD – The seventh-ranked and third-seeded Maryland men’s lacrosse team outscored fifth-ranked and second-seeded Johns Hopkins 11-5 in the second and third quarters combined as the Terrapins knocked off the Blue Jays, 14-9, in the Big Ten Semifinals at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. The Terps improve to 10-4 on the year and will meet Michigan, a 17-15 winner over top-seeded Penn State in the other semifinal, in the Big Ten Championship game on Saturday at Johns Hopkins (5:30 pm).
After spotting the Blue Jays (11-5) an early 3-0 lead, the Terps scored six of the next seven goals to grab a 6-4 halftime lead. Five different players scored during the run for Maryland, which still trailed 4-2 midway through the second quarter after an extra-man goal from Johns Hopkins’ Matt Collison. A Ryan Siracusa goal at the 8:36 mark of the second quarter was the first of four straight Maryland (10-4) would score to close the half and grab the two-goal halftime lead.
The Blue Jays scored three of the first five goals of the second half to pull within one at 8-7 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. Goals from Brendan Grimes, Jackson Raposo and Garrett Degnon were wrapped around Terp goals from Owen Murphy and Eric Spanos before the period was six minutes old to make it a one-goal game.
After Degnon’s goal, which came off a nifty feed to the high slot from freshman Brooks English, the Terps scored three straight in a three-minute span to push the one-goal lead to 11-7. An unassisted goal from Zach Whittier and back-to-back strikes from Murphy accounted for the three Maryland goals.
An unassisted Degnon goal with 90 seconds left in the third trimmed the deficit to 11-8, but Maryland would score three of the final four goals of the game over the final 16:30 to account for the 14-9 final score.
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Degnon paced the Blue Jays with three goals and one assist and extended his goal-scoring streak to 28 games. The 28-game run is tied for the second-longest active streak in the nation.
• Collison rang up three points on one goal and two assists and Russell Melendez added two goals, but no other Blue Jay registered a multi-goal game.
• Senior Tim Marcille posted 10 saves in goal and classmate Matt Narewski was 12-of-25 on faceoffs and had five ground balls on the day.
Inside the Box Score – Maryland
• Whittier had a game-high four points (2g, 2a) and Murphy paced the Terps with a game-high three goals.
• In addition to Whittier and Murphy, Maryland also got two goals from Braden Erksa, Jack Brennan and Siracusa.
• Luke Wierman took all 26 faceoffs for Maryland was 13-of-26 at the X with five ground balls.
• Brian Ruppel posted 11 saves in the victory, including 10 over the final three quarters.
Up Next
Johns Hopkins will now await the announcement of the bracket for the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The bracket will be announced on Sunday, May 7 at 9:30 pm on ESPNU.