With time running out in the third quarter Saturday night, Terrapin men’s lacrosse goalkeeper Niko Amato dropped to the ground in a split, twisting his stick so it blocked a hard bounce shot from Johns Hopkins midfielder John Ranagan, who had streaked down the right alley unguarded.
Then, in an instant, Amato’s play went from dazzling to detrimental.
As the redshirt freshman attempted an ensuing outlet pass with nine seconds left on the clock, Johns Hopkins attackman Chris Boland, hovering just outside the crease, simply stuck his stick in the air and intercepted the feed before easily putting a shot past a regretful Amato.
The score trimmed Johns Hopkins’ deficit in the game to two goals and was part of a 9-2 Blue Jay run that spanned the third and fourth quarters. But perhaps more pertinently, it highlighted the No. 6 Terps’ (8-3) deficiencies on a night when they took a five-goal lead into halftime and seemed primed to walk out of Byrd Stadium with a season-defining victory.
“There were just a lot of self-inflicted wounds,” coach John Tillman said.
The Terps committed multiple mistakes on the rain-soaked night, turning the ball over 15 times, many of which came off unforced errors such as wayward passes. Ten of the team’s turnovers — including Amato’s poor outlet pass that lead to Boland’s goal — came in the second half, contributing to the No. 2 Blue Jays’ (9-2) comeback in their eventual 12-11 win.
With each turnover, the Terps were forced back to their defensive end, tiring out their own players while giving the Blue Jays opportunity after opportunity to score.
“We would throw the ball away or get pressured,” Tillman said. “We would have a little bit of an opportunity to maybe press the goal that wasn’t quite there and we’d make an errant pass or we’d slip. The possession part of the game swung so far in their favor. If you give a team like that so many chances … they’ll capitalize or at least generate some shots.”
And as the Terps struggled in the second half, Johns Hopkins began to click. Even with constant pressure from the Terps’ defense, the talented trio of Blue Jay attackmen — Boland, Kyle Wharton and Zach Palmer — combined to score nine goals and continually found different ways to beat Amato, who finished with a middling .500 save percentage in addition to his two costly turnovers that lead to goals.
Amato’s first misstep of the night proved just as forgettable as his second. Early in the second quarter, Amato attempted a long outlet pass from far outside the crease. Palmer intercepted the normally accurate goalkeeper, took a couple steps forward and looped in a shot from 35 yards out that skipped past a last-ditch dive from Amato into the crease.
“We made some opportunistic plays,” Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said. “To beat a team like this, you have to.”
The Terps’ turnover woes haven’t been a serious issue this season — the team averages fewer turnovers per game than 73 percent of Division I teams — giving Tillman and his players reason to believe they won’t persist as the season goes on.
Shortly after the Terps’ mistake-prone loss, Tillman also specifically defended Amato, who until Saturday had been consistently strong in his distribution from goal.
“Like any young goalie — and everybody on our team, whether it’s coaches or players — we’re going to make some mistakes, but we’re going to make some good plays, too,” Tillman said. “He’s learning as he goes. There are some things he can improve upon. We’ll keep fixing it and working at it.”
TERP NOTE: In a somber development, attackman Ryan Young’s mother Maria, who had been battling pancreatic cancer for the past four years, died Sunday night. The Terps have worn purple ribbons on their helmets all year to honor Maria and raise awareness for the Lustgarten Foundation, a nonprofit organization aimed at advancing research about the disease. Young also wears a piece of tape on his helmet with “MOM” written on it.
Young was at home in New York yesterday and returned to the campus today, according to a team spokesman. With Maria’s funeral scheduled for Monday, it’s uncertain whether Young will play Friday against North Carolina in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
jengelke@umdbk.com
