BALTIMORE, Md. - Midfielder Patrick Moran (Annapolis, Md.) paced Navy with three goals, while attackman Andy Warner (Corning, N.Y.) turned in a career-high four assists, but it wasn't enough to counter an offensive outburst by ninth-ranked Johns Hopkins (6-4) as the Blue Jays earned a 15-7 win over the No. 11 Navy men's lacrosse team (9-4) Saturday afternoon at Homewood Field. Not only did the Hopkins win snap Navy's three-game winning streak, the Blue Jays extended their strong hold over the Mids, winning their 36th in a row in the series.
The game plan according to Moran was to score early and often as to allow the team to settle the ball. And while the Mids did a good job of putting their shots on goal in the opening minutes of the game, they would be hard pressed to follow through the rest of the game.
Moran put the Mids on top just over two minutes into the game when he picked up a loose ball in the middle of the box and punched in his first of three goals on the afternoon. Hopkins, though, won the ensuing faceoff and defensive middie Dave Spaulding won the foot race to score his first goal of the season and knot the game up at one after just 11 seconds.
Navy pulled ahead at the 11:10 mark when senior Bruce Nechanicky (Montgomery Village, Md.) spotted midfielder Basil Daratsos (Niskayuna, N.Y.) cutting across the field. Daratsos caught the ball on the run and stuck in just his second goal of the year. Once again, the Blue Jays had the answer when just six seconds later as attackman Kyle Wharton scored off the faceoff win.
The Mids closed out the opening period with the lead as Nechanicky darted from behind the goal around the right side, beating keeper Michael Gvozden to give Navy its final lead of the game.
Though Navy outshot Hopkins 10-9 in the first quarter, the Blue Jays possessed the ball for a good portion of the remainder of the game. Hopkins outshot Navy 18-4 in the second quarter and 13-5 in the third building a 40-19 advantage in shots by the end of the third period. Twelve of Hopkins' 18 shots in the second were on goal, while nine of the 13 in the third were potential goals.
Senior middie Brian Christopher made a spectacular play for the Blue Hays early in the second quarter when he spun Bobby Lennon (Westminster, Md.) to the left and came back to toss in a right-hander to even the score at two apiece. Hopkins took the lead for good when midfielder Mark Goodrich's shot was originally saved by Phelan, but the ball bounced up in the air and Goodrich swatted it in.
Phelan pointed to the Goodrich goal as the turning point in the game for the Mids.
"Looking back, as a goalie you are the last line of defense and you want to do everything you can," said Phelan. "In the second quarter when I made the save and it popped up and they scored, I think we started to lose the edge."
It proved to be true as Navy was outscored 11-2 in the second and third quarters and Hopkins had built a nearly insurmountable lead at 13-5 with 15 minutes to play in the contest.
The fourth quarter was a wash, as each team turned in a pair of goals, including the first career goal by Navy rookie Ryan O'Leary (East Meadow, N.Y.).
One bright spot for the Midshipmen in the game was the play of junior faceoff specialist Robby Battle (Herndon, Va.), who had made just one previous appearance in a varsity game. He came away winning eight of the 14 draws he took, both career highs.
The eight-goal victory by the Blue Jays was the largest defeat the Mids have suffered since April 19, 2003 when then No. 1-ranked Johns Hopkins dropped the Mids, 17-3, in Baltimore. The 15 goals are the most Navy has surrendered since that same contest.
"We just gave them too many easy goals," said Navy head coach Richie Meade. "We knew coming into the game that Johns Hopkins would be the best offensive team we have seen to date, but it was disappointing because our focus wasn't totally there today. We gave up a couple of goals off of faceoffs and transition and even off a substitution. We didn't cover man to man as well as we have been. I don't want to make excuses for us, but I do think that the inexperience of our defense showed up today. But I do have to give Johns Hopkins credit, they take advantage of their opponent's mistakes.
Added Meade, "The mistakes we made were not the typical ones we've been making. But we've been playing with the lead and your margin for error decreases when you are trailing."
While the defense as a whole struggled, Phelan put together his fourth consecutive gave with 15 or more saves. Stopping 15 of the 30 shots on goal, Phelan was awarded the Chris Gardner Player of the Game Award. Gardner, a former Hopkins lacrosse player who would have been a senior in 1999, succumbed to cancer in 1997. Each year Johns Hopkins donates proceeds from one of its games to the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, where Gardner received treatment for his illness.
Steven Boyle paced Hopkins with a career-high seven points on three goals and four assists and featured his 100th collegiate point. Meanwhile, 12 of the Blue Jays' 15 goals were scored by starters, as an additional four player turned in multiple goals to complement Boyle.
Navy will be back in action next week when it takes part in the four-team Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell knocked off Colgate, 19-11, on Saturday to win the Patriot League regular season crown outright, while also earning the opportunity to host the tournament. The top-seeded Bison will play a team yet to be determined at 3:00 pm, while the No. 2 Colgate Raiders will face the No. 3 Mids Friday at 5:45 pm in Lewisburg, Pa. Last season it was the third-seeded Raiders who sent the Mids packing in the semis with a 12-9 win and eventually won the tournament title with a 13-9 win over Bucknell.
Lehigh and Lafayette battle Saturday evening in the final Patriot League game of the year. A Lehigh win would put the Mountain Hawks into the tournament as the No. 4 seed. A multiple-goal win by Lafayette puts the Leopards in, while a one-goal win by Lafayette would send it into a three-way tie between Lehigh, Lafayette and Army. Should that take place, Army would win the tie breaker due to goal differential in all Patriot League affairs.
Meanwhile, next Sunday's Patriot League Championship Game will be played at 3:00 pm. Both semifinal games, as well as the championship contest will be televised live by CBS College Sports.
### Go Navy ###
