ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  The 11th-ranked Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team (6-2, 0-0 Big Ten) used a 4-0 run between the third and fourth quarters en route to capturing a 12-9 victory over Navy (4-3, 1-1 Patriot League) Saturday evening at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. While Navy held the lead the entire first half, the third quarter featured three ties before the Blue Jays made their run to break the 7-7 tie and take the lead for the good.

"I just said to the guys in the lockerroom, we've got a great team," said sixth-year Navy head coach Joe Amplo. " I don't know what the season is going to look like the rest of the way in terms of results, but when you are building teams, you are trying to get young men to buy in to a standard of who you want to be, how you want to play and how you want to behave. And then you want them to do that not only through the week and through their time on and off the field, but you want it to show itself on the field. I've never been more proud of a Navy team than that display of affection. Truly affection for each other, the process, a commitment to a game plan. We lost the game, but we found out about ourselves tonight. We showed ourselves tonight. 

"Sometimes you lose ... to a really good opponent," added Amplo. "Those guys are excellent and they are going to continue to be excellent. They are going to give everybody they play fits and have a chance at this thing down the stretch. Now our guys believe they will too. It was a fun game, but sometimes you have to make a few more plays. I thought we could be a little bit cleaner in the clearing game to give us a chance. That was kind of our thorn in our side a little bit tonight. Given the circumstance at the faceoff "x" you had to be perfect at the clearing game and we just weren't."

William Goers (Fr / A / Chester, Md.) gave Navy the early lead and sparked a 3-1 run by the Midsafter splitting two defenders for the game's first goal at 10:48. Navy pushed its lead to 2-0 when Evan Conway (Sr / M / Charleston, S.C.) sent his pass across the field to Carter Ash (Sr / A / Leesburg, Va.) who went low on Johns Hopkins goalkeeper Oran Gelinas at 7:47.

Hunter Chauvette (So / A) put the Blue Jays on the board at the 6:25 mark in the first period after being left alone 3 yards in front of the goal.

Navy answered back when Jack Ponzio (Fr / M / Ronkonkoma, N.Y.) extended his scoring streak to seven-straight games by beating shorty Reece DiCicco and tucked his shot over the shoulder of Gelinas.

Johns Hopkins got the final say in the quarter, however, as Peter Milliman called a timeout with under 20 seconds remaining to draw up a play. The Blue Jays ran it to perfection as Brooks English (Jr / M) found Matt Collison (Jr / M) cutting to the middle for the goal.

Back-to-back goals by Conway and Ponzio gave Navy a three-goal advantage less than 4 minutes into the second frame. The goal by Ponzio, however, would be Navy's last in the half, as English scored the final two goals of the quarter to trim Navy's lead to one (5-4).

Johns Hopkins came out of intermission attacking the Mids, as back-to-back goals by Chauvette and Dylan Bauer (Gr / M) gave the Blue Jays their first lead (6-5) in the game less than 4 minutes into the the third quarter.

After nearly 16 scoreless minutes, Navy got a huge goal from Taylor LaFar (Sr / M / Charlotte, N.C.) who scored his first-collegiate goal off an assist from classmate Roman LaRocco (Sr / M / Mt. Airy, Md.) and knotted the game at 6 apiece.

Chauvette scored his third goal of the game when he pivoted to his right before spinning back to his left and threading his shot past Navy goalkeeper Dan Daly (Jr / Wayne, N.J.) to give Johns Hopkins the 7-6 lead with 9:34 to go in the third frame.

The Mids answered 36 seconds later with Conway fighting his way with a stick tucked under his chinstrap to send his shot past Gelinas' ankles.

Johns Hopkins began wearing down Navy's defense thanks in part to dominating the faceoff game and the Mids' offense would have few possessions over the next 16 minutes. During that timeframe, the Blue Jays went on a 4-0 run, getting goals from 4 different players, as they broke free from a 7-7 tie and led by 4 (11-7) with 9:58 remaining in the final frame.

As expected, Navy battled its way back into the conversation, scoring a pair of goals in under two minutes. Mac Haley (Jr / A / Shady Side, Md.) drove his way past starting defenseman Colby Weishaar and scored at 7:39, while Ponzio set up Conway for his third goal of the game to cut the Blue Jays' lead to 2 (11-9) with 6:18 to go.

What appeared to be an offside call on Johns Hopkins went the other way and the Blue Jays used the momentum to seal the victory thanks to an unassisted strike by Charlie Iler (So / A).

Six players accounted for the Mids' 9 goals, including Conway who recorded the second hat trick of the season and his career to lead the way for the Mids. Ponzio turned in a pair of goals and an assist, while Haley, Goers and Ponzio all extended their point-scoring streaks to seven-consecutive games.

Navy was once again without its top-two faceoff men, but Ryan Trafford (Fr / West Caldwell, N.J.), making just his second-collegiate appearance and first facing off, put forth a valiant effort and won 5 of the 21 draws he took in the contest, while David Graham (Sr / Littleton, Colo.) was 0-for-4.

The Mids were solid on the defensive end of the field, allowing the Blue Jays to put just 20 of their 48 shots on goal and holding them to a 25.0 shooting percentage (12G on 48 sh). Johns Hopkins came into the game ranked seventh nationally and #1 in the Big Ten, shooting better than 34 percent. Navy co-captain Ian McGullam (Sr / D / Centerport, N.Y.) was sensational defending two-time All-American Russell Melendez (Sr / A) who came into the game averaging 3.67 points per game, including 2.33 goals per game. Melendez put just 1 of his 5 shots on goal and was held without a goal, while contributing an assist on the Blue Jays' go-ahead goal.

Johns Hopkins had 4 players with 2 or more goals, including Chauvette who led the way with 3. Iler, meanwhile, finished with 2 goals and 2 assists for the Blue Jays.

Logan Callahan, who came into the game ranked 27th in faceoff winning percentage (53.7), won 20 of the 24 draws he took and grabbed a remarkable 15 ground balls in the victory.

Gelinas, who not only made his first-career start in goal for the Blue Jays but also made his first appearance in 2 years, finished the game with 14 saves.

Navy will play its final game of a four-game homestand when it plays host to Le Moyne on Tuesday evening. Faceoff is slated for 6:00 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with Joe Miller and Tim Nolan calling the action on ESPN+ and 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV.

Single-game tickets may be purchased by stopping by the Navy Ticket Office at Ricketts Hall, by calling 1-800-US4-NAVY, via the internet at www.navysports.com or at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on game day. Ticket prices for home games are $10 for adults and $5 for kids 12 and under, while groups of 20 or more will be offered a discounted ticket (in advance only, contact Jordan Albright at 410-293-8791 / grouptickets@usna.edu). Additionally there is a $10 charge (credit card only) to park at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for all games.

### Go Navy ###