April 19, 2008

Box Score

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Senior attack Kevin Huntley pitched a first quarter hat trick, while fellow attackman Michael Donegar added a pair of goals to lead the seventh-ranked Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team (5-5) to a 12-5 victory over No. 10 Navy (9-4) Saturday afternoon in front of 16,042 fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The win not only pushed the Blue Jays' record to .500 this year, it also marked the 34th consecutive victory over the Midshipmen.

"We needed to play at a much higher level today than what we did," said Navy head coach Richie Meade. "Johns Hopkins played well, in particular in the first quarter. They are the best team we have played all year and the best team I've seen on tape. Keep in mind they were picked to win the National Championship and I would say all of you who have seen them play this year would probably agree that this was probably their best performance this season.

"They shot the ball well and we really didn't," added Meade. "When we did, their keeper made some good stops. You don't have a big margin of error when you are playing against a team like Johns Hopkins. You can't give up fastbreak goals and two rebound shots."

Hopkins jumped out to a 4-0 lead by the 4:48 mark which featured back-to-back goals by Huntley in the opening minutes. He put the Blue Jays on the scoreboard less than two minutes into the game when Paul Rabil's shot was saved by Navy keeper Tommy Phelan (Towson, Md.) and bounced out in front of the crease. Huntley outmuscled the rest of the players and sent a wicked shot over his left shoulder and into the net.

Hopkins was afforded two extra-man opportunities that resulted in the final two goals of the 4-0 run, including a goal by Steven Boyle who converted off a pass from from none other than Huntley after a delay of game call against the Mids with 4:48 remaining in the opening quarter.

Among the four-goal flurry, Hopkins took seven shots, four resulted in goals, two were saved and the seventh hit the post.

Navy, however, mounted a small run of its own as sophomore attack Tim Paul (Parkton, Md.) punched in back-to-back goals 49 seconds apart, including a nicely placed shot in which he misdirected his defender and shot past Hopkins keeper Michael Gvozden with 2:23 to go.

Johns Hopkins, though, won the ensuing faceoff and with just seven seconds having elapsed, Huntley fired in his third goal of the first quarter to give the Blue Jays a 5-2 advantage at the end of the first period.

All-American Paul Rabil got by Navy long pole Zack Schroeder (Deer Park, N.Y.) early in the second quarter, putting his left-handed shot over the shoulder of Phelan to push Hopkins' lead to four.

Navy closed the gap to three when middie Patrick Moran (Annapolis, Md.) found Nick Mirabito (Binghamton, N.Y.) behind the cage and Mirabito bent around the right side to stick in his 20th goal of the year. While the goal clipped the lead to 6-3 at the half, little did Meade know it would be his team's last goal until under four minutes to play in the game.

Johns Hopkins scored the first five goals of the second half, including a goal just seven seconds into the third period, to open up an 11-3 lead and put the game out of reach for the Mids.

It wasn't until Gregory Clement's (Dallas, Texas) goal off a saved Sean Standen (South Hadley, Mass.) shot that Navy was able to snap Hopkins' goal scoring streak with 3:14 to play. The Mids and Blue Jays traded goals in the final two minutes and was capped off by a Standen goal with 1:03 remaining.

The seven-goal loss was the largest margin of defeat suffered by the Mids since Johns Hopkins handled Navy, 17-3, in Baltimore on April 19, 2003. It was the worst loss at home since Hopkins dealt Navy an 18-11 loss in 1996.

"There are peaks and valleys every team goes through during the season," said Meade. "I've stressed the importance of poise and confidence to our players. Everything is in front of us right now. We have the Patriot League Tournament ahead of us and I know we will be prepared and will play well."

The Mids, who have won four consecutive Patriot League Tournament titles, will play in the 2008 Patriot League Tournament next weekend with the semis beginning on Friday. Navy's opponent and the site of the tournament, however, have yet to be determined. Those questions will be answered tonight when Colgate travels to Lewisburg, Pa. to face Bucknell.

If Bucknell defeats Colgate, Bucknell will be the host and top seed of the tournament and will face Colgate in the opening round, while second-seeded Army will battle the Midshipmen. However, should Colgate steal a win against the Bison tonight, the tournament will be played at Army with the Black Knights and Bucknell squaring off in the 1-4 game, while Navy would be the second seed and face Colgate.