Faceoff specialist Charlie Raffa scoops a ground ball during the Terps’ 15-12 loss to Johns Hopkins at Byrd Stadium on April 25, 2015.

The Terrapins men’s lacrosse team had made a habit of grinding out close games in recent weeks. After thrashing Penn State in a 12-5 win April 4, the Terps captured three consecutive one-goal victories against Loyola, Rutgers and Ohio State.

But after three quarters of lacrosse Saturday night, the Terps couldn’t continue the trend. Ground balls trickled just out of reach. The Blue Jays captured 7 of 8 faceoffs. And star attackman Ryan Brown scored four of his eight goals in the final 15 minutes to power Johns Hopkins to a 15-12 win over the No. 2 Terps.

After watching the Blue Jays clinch a share of the Big Ten regular-season title with the Terps and watching them hoist the ceremonial ‘Crab Trophy,’ senior midfielder Joe LoCascio couldn’t hide his disappointment.

While reporters fired questions at coach John Tillman and his players, LoCascio looked up at the ceiling and grinded his teeth. The Terps’ 11-game winning streak had come to a close to their biggest rival.

“They out-Terp’d the Terps,” LoCascio said. “They won the ground ball battle, which is something we preach every day. They came out with more emotion.”

After not playing since suffering an injury during the Penn State game, faceoff specialist Charlie Raffa started at the X and went 12 of 20. With the help of long pole Matt Neufeldt and defensive midfielder Isaiah Davis-Allen, Raffa captured the game’s first two faceoffs, which attackman Matt Rambo turned into two goals.

As the game progressed, though, the Blue Jays’ physical style wore on Raffa, and his effectiveness dwindled. On one occasion, faceoff specialist Hunter Moreland leveled him after he pursued a loose ball near the sideline in the second quarter.

“They were getting a lot of the tough ground balls,” Tillman said. “There were a lot of 50-50 grounders. And give them credit, I think they come up with the majority of them.”

The Blue Jays captured the first two faceoffs of the fourth quarter, and Tillman opted to pull Raffa from the game. Faceoff specialist Jon Garino Jr. took three draws in the final period. Midfielder Andrew Walsh took two. But neither was effective as they won a combined one faceoff, and the Blue Jays pounced on the Terps with six unanswered goals in the final period.

With the increased possessions, the Terps’ top-ranked defense turned in an uncharacteristic performance and had no answer for Brown. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Tewaaraton Award nominee had buried his 51st career of the season.

“If you go and put all your focus on Ryan Brown, they have other guys that are going to step up as well,” Dunn said. “You got to give credit to Ryan tonight, he had an outstanding game, shot the ball very well. But with a team that’s that talented, you have to focus on the bigger picture and game plan, execute better than we did tonight.”

There were positives for the Terps, though. They recorded their highest scoring output in four games, midfielder Bryan Cole tallied a career-high four assists, and attackman Jay Carlson turned in a highlight-reel worthy goal when he spun away from multiple defenders and scored to push the Terps’ lead to 10-9.

But at the end of the game, it was the away team that sprinted onto the turf in celebration, the winners of the first conference meeting between longtime rivals.

For LoCascio, it was clear why the Terps suffered their first loss in more than two months: the Blue Jays came out with more energy.

“Almost every game since I’ve been part of this rivalry, the team that was maybe a little bit more of an underdog, or ranked a little bit lower, I think has won every game that I’ve been part of,” Tillman said. “They certainly played like that.”