Johns Hopkins Four Earn All-Big Ten Honors, Milliman Named Coach of the Year 4/24/24

ROSEMONT, IL – The Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team placed four players on the 2024 All-Big Ten Team, head coach Peter Milliman was a unanimous selection as the Big Ten Coach of the Year and the Blue Jays placed one player on the Sportsmanship Team as the Big Ten announced the all-conference team and special awards today.  The four selections tie the program single-season record; this is the sixth time Johns Hopkins has placed four players on the All-Big Ten Team.

Graduate students Garrett Degnon (attack) and Chayse Ierlan (goalie) along with senior Scott Smith (defense) earned a spot on the first team, while graduate student Jacob Angelus (attack) was named to the second team.  In addition, senior midfielder Johnathan Peshko was named to the All-Sportsmanship Team.

Milliman has guided the Blue Jays to a 10-3 record, which includes a perfect 5-0 mark in the Big Ten as the Blue Jays grabbed their third overall and first outright Big Ten regular season title.  Johns Hopkins is currently ranked third in the nation and the 10-3 record has come against 13 opponents who are currently a combined 104-51 (.671) – this ranks as the second toughest schedule in the nation by opponent winning percentage.  Milliman’s selection marks the second time since the league added men’s lacrosse in 2015 that Johns Hopkins has produced the Big Ten Coach of the Year

Degnon makes the jump to the first team after earning second team honors in each of the last two years.  He currently leads the team in goals (39) and extra-man goals (5) and ranks second in points (44).  He is tied for ninth in the nation in goals per game (3.00), has scored at least two goals in each of the last 12 games and currently has a national-best 43-game goal-scoring streak to his credit.  With his selection, Degnon joins Shack Stanwick as the Blue Jays’ only three-time All-Big Ten attackmen.

Ierlan becomes the first Johns Hopkins goalie to earn All-Big Ten honors with his selection to the first team.  He currently sports a 9.42 goals against average and a .562 save percentage.  In five Big Ten games, he dropped his goals against average to 8.26 and raised his save percentage to .604; he has posted 12 or more saves in eight of Hopkins’ 13 games, including four of five Big Ten games.

Smith grabs All-Big Ten honors for the second consecutive season as he was a second team honoree last season. He has started all 13 games on close defense for the Blue Jays and counts one goal, 50 ground balls and 12 caused turnovers to his credit.  He ranks second on the team in ground balls and third in caused turnovers; among non-faceoff specialists, his 50 ground balls and 3.85 ground balls per game are both tops in the Big Ten.

Angelus is making his first appearance on the All-Big Ten Team with his selection to the second team.  He currently leads the team in assists (33) and points (55) and ranks second in goals (22) and leads the nation in shooting percentage (.524) among players who have taken at least 3.0 shots per game. Angelus ranks second in the Big Ten in points (4.23) and assists (2.54) per game.

Peshko has played in all 13 games with 11 starts and counts 14 goals and three assists for 17 points to his credit.  He was one of six Big Ten players named to the All-Sportsmanship Team with each of the six teams having one player honored.

Johns Hopkins (10-3, 5-0 B1G) is currently ranked third in the nation in both the USILA Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll and the victory against Maryland gave the Blue Jays the outright Big Ten regular season title while also locking up the top seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.  The Blue Jays will play the winner of the game between Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten Semifinals on Thursday, May 2 (6 pm / BTN).