This was the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team’s chance to turn around all this season’s frustration with one performance. The stakes couldn’t have been higher.

The Terps were coming off a last-second loss against Navy and an embarrassing defeat at Virginia. Their NCAA tournament chances were on the ropes. And then walked in their arch nemesis: No. 1-ranked Johns Hopkins.

From that point on, the Terps quickly fell back into their familiar habits. They shot poorly and failed to convert on game-changing opportunities.

Only 37 seconds into the game, Johns Hopkins pierced the Terp defense and the Terps’ playoff hopes. The Blue Jays controlled the game’s tempo and score, never allowing the No. 9 Terps to take the lead and eventually beating them 11-6 in front of 10,117 spectators at Byrd Stadium Friday, the largest regular-season crowd since the two teams met in 1995.

The Terps fell to 5-5 for the first time since 1994. They have lost four of their last five games and their last four meetings with Johns Hopkins (9-0).

“We looked at the schedule at the beginning of the season,” said junior midfielder Brendan Healy, shaking his lowered head. “You’ve got Virginia, Navy and Hopkins, the three biggest games of the year. And we lost all three of them.”

The Terps shot 17 percent from the field and missed on a couple of easy chances. The Terps top-three scoring threats — Healy, junior attackman Joe Walters and junior midfielder Bill McGlone — shot a combined 3 for 22.

On the other side, Johns Hopkins shot 28 percent and had balls ringing off the posts all night. The Blue Jays were led by a trio of newcomers to the rivalry. Freshmen Kevin Huntley, Paul Rabil and Stephen Peyser combined for seven goals and two assists. Each notched a score in a decisive four-goal run in the third quarter.

“We have to do the right things fundamentally in order to score, and I’m not sure we’re doing the right things fundamentally,” Terp coach Dave Cottle said. “Shooting is a reason that stops you from losing, but good teams find a way to win.”

After falling in an early three-goal deficit, the Terps rallied behind goals from Healy, Walters and junior attackman Xander Ritz to tie the game at 3-3. The Terps had some momentum for the first time all game.

But that quickly changed.

After sophomore defender Ryan Clarke caused a turnover, McGlone picked up the ground ball and took it into the Johns Hopkins zone, but he inexplicably tripped and dropped the ball. After a long scrum, McGlone prevailed with a second chance to take the lead.

But as he slowly approached, Johns Hopkins’ Greg Peyser poke-checked McGlone to free the ball. Peyser quickly fed a pass to sophomore attackman Jake Byrne for a devastating goal.

Johns Hopkins never relinquished that lead.

“I take full blame for that. Sometimes you lose some athleticism at a point,” McGlone said. “I feel like that kind of hurt us a lot. We had it at 3-3 and had some momentum. I was just trying to keep that momentum going.”

Ritz had an early opportunity to halt Johns Hopkins’ three-goal run but missed on an open fast-break shot. Senior midfielder Andrew Schwartzman had a one-on-one opportunity on his brother, Blue Jay goalie Jesse Schwartzman (17 saves), with about five minutes left in the second quarter but missed wide.

Despite the miscues, the Terps remained close. After the Blue Jays took a 5-3 lead into halftime, senior Dave Matz began the third quarter with a nifty goal, snatching the ball out of the air off a save and then flicking it past Schwartzman.

But the Blue Jays won four of five faceoffs in the third quarter and went on a four-goal tear to seal the game. Johns Hopkins scored on four of 14 shots in the quarter compared to only one of six shooting for the Terps.

“I thought they controlled the ball, and that’s what good teams do,” Cottle said. “When they have a team in the game, they make plays when the opportunities present themselves. … We had some good opportunities we just didn’t take advantage of.”