BALTIMORE — No. 5 Maryland men’s lacrosse had a chance to clinch a share of the Big Ten regular season title against No. 3 Johns Hopkins on Saturday. The Terps were matched up with their in-state rival, a team they defeated in six of the past seven meetings.
But Maryland fell into a pair of three-goal deficits and couldn’t dig itself out of them. The Terps fell to the Blue Jays at Homewood Field, 7-5.
Maryland’s (8-4, 3-2 Big Ten) offense struggled throughout the day. The unit scored two or fewer goals in every quarter, with its best stretch coming courtesy of a three-minute man-up advantage. The Terps only struck just three times beyond the stretch.
“I felt like at times we just got a little antsy and needed to take what they gave us,” coach John Tillman said. “I felt like we were playing slow at times. The ball was dying in sticks.”
Most of Maryland’s early possessions resulted in poor shots or turnovers. The Terps’ best opportunity came when they had an initial man-up opportunity midway through the first quarter, but they failed to capitalize.
The Terps finally struck thanks to a Blue Jays penalty. Colin Burlace was hit hard on an attempted clear late in the opening period, drawing a three-minute non-releasable personal foul. Maryland took advantage with goals from Jack Koras and Daniel Kelly to trim the deficit to two.
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The Terps’ first-half offense beyond the man-up stretch was dismal, as they scored just once more to enter halftime with three goals. The unit shot 13.6 percent, with only nine of its 22 looks on goal.
“I just think it was hard for us to get into a flow at times,” Kelly said.
One bright spot for Maryland was Kelly, who scored his second goal of the day less than two minutes into the second quarter. The attacker remained in the starting lineup despite the return of Daniel Maltz, who missed the Terps’ last two games.
But Maryland’s offense went scoreless over the remainder of the first half. The Terps entered the break trailing 6-3.
Ryan Siracusa broke the scoring drought just over a minute into the third quarter. The graduate student has been a steady force for Maryland throughout the season, scoring at least one goal in every contest.
The Terps’ offensive woes remained after Siracusa’s goal. They only registered one more score in the second half.
Jacob Angelus started the scoring for Johns Hopkins (10-3, 5-0 Big Ten). The attacker took advantage of a matchup against a short-stick defender, firing a shot into the net late in the shot clock. He added another first-quarter score with 4:36 left in the frame to extend the Blue Jays’ advantage to 3-0.
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Angelus, Johns Hopkins’ leader in assists, recorded his first of the day on Matt Collison’s man-up goal at the 10:32 mark of the second quarter. Collison was one of three Blue Jays to strike in a two-minute span early in the frame to push their lead back to three.
Garrett Degnon, who entered the day tied for ninth among all Division I players in goals per game, scored twice in the first half for Johns Hopkins. Degnon and Angelus either scored or assisted on five of the Blue Jays’ six first-half goals.
The Terps’ defense excelled to start the second half. Johns Hopkins only registered four shots over the first 12 minutes of the third quarter, nearly matching that output with its three turnovers. A Johnathan Pesko goal was the Blue Jays’ lone score of the frame.
Maryland remained strong defensively in the fourth quarter, holding Johns Hopkins scoreless. But the Terps’ offense didn’t take advantage, unable to score themselves and get closer than within two in the fourth quarter.
The loss sealed Maryland’s spot as the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.
“I think it’s just gonna keep us really hungry,” defender Ajax Zappitello said. “It’s obviously really unfortunate but at the same time it’s just going to give us that motivation that we need going into this bye week.”
