Leading up to its game with the Maryland men’s lacrosse team Saturday, Johns Hopkins stressed the importance of shooting quick, but also shooting smart.
Yet for the much of the contest, attackman Ryan Brown knew his unit hadn’t adhered to the team’s game plan. So during a timeout with the Blue Jays down four with less than two minutes remaining, Brown reinforced this strategy.
The Blue Jays responded, as Brown fed midfielder Patrick Fraser for a goal and notched his fifth point of the game about 10 seconds after the two squads broke their respective huddles. Still, the production arrived too late.
Despite starting possessions on defense after 17 of the 22 faceoffs, the Terps’ backline held Johns Hopkins’ attack to eight scores — nearly five below coach Dave Pietramala’s team’s season average — to end the regular season on an 11-game winning streak.
“Their defense is more about playing collectively as a group instead of saying ‘All right, our guy versus your guy,'” Brown said. “They played a good team defense.”
Coach John Tillman and his eighth-ranked defensive unit knew the Blue Jays’ frontline would pose a threat.
Johns Hopkins boasts seven players with double-digit goal totals, and attackman Shack Stanwick, who was high school teammates with Maryland’s leading scorer, attackman Colin Heacock, entered the bout with 50 points. Brown, meanwhile, had already accumulated 33 goals in 2016.
Last year, that Blue Jays duo teamed up for a combined 13 points in the regular season and national semifinals matches against the Terps.
“Shack — every time he has the ball back there — if you give them just any little room, he’s going to carve you up,” Tillman said. “And obviously, Ryan’s a terrific shooter.”
Brown tallied a game-high five points on three goals and two assists Saturday, but the Terps limited the openings on his 11 shots. The defense didn’t let the senior find the back of the net on his Senior Day until the 12:17-mark in the second quarter.
At that point, Brown had already taken four attempts, including two in a seven-second span toward the end of the first frame, Defender Matt Dunn also forced the Calvert Hall product into one of the Blue Jays’ eight first-half turnovers.
“We harped all week on, you know, playing sharp, being clean,” Pietramala said. “We had to really limit our mistakes because they are a team [in] the way they play. They pounce on your mistakes.”
The Terps’ defense made their share of miscues, too. They endured five man-down situations for the second time this season and allowed Johns Hopkins to score on three of those opportunities. Entering the match, the Terps staved off shorthanded scenarios 76.9 percent of the time.
Still, Pietramala lamented his squad’s offensive approach. He felt the Blue Jays held onto the ball too long on offense. Though his team converted two goals after officials started the 30-second stall-warning clock, the 16-year coach wanted a faster pace.
“We wanted to dodge right away, so they couldn’t set up,” Pietramala said. “We didn’t feel like we played super at either end or not well enough to beat a team like this.”
The Terps defense looked on as the Blue Jays executed that plan midway through the second quarter. After midfielder Tim Rotanz dished a pass to attackman Dylan Maltz to put the Terps up, 5-3, Johns Hopkins faceoff specialist Craig Madarasz grabbed possession and fed attackman Wilkins Dismuke for a score in transition six seconds later.
But when Johns Hopkins tried to run the same sequence after defender Mac Pons’ cross-checking penalty on the ensueing faceoff, the Terps forced two shots wide. They held the Blue Jays scoreless for the remainder of the period en route to claiming the conference crown.
This atmosphere is one of the coolest environments to play college lacrosse,” said Terps goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr, who made seven saves. “We were excited, but we were also poised.”
