When Punxsutawney Phil failed to see his shadow on Groundhog Day, predicting an early spring, few people thought of lacrosse. At Hopkins, however, an early spring is defined by an early start to the lacrosse season -- starts that normally are greeted with wins.
On Saturday, though, in its earliest game in program history, the men's lacrosse team, which had been ranked first in the country, did something rare, losing its season opener at home to the SUNY Albany Great Danes, 8-7.
Under head coach Dave Pietramala, the Blue Jays had been 5-1 in season openers and had won their last five in a row. Nonetheless, when the two teams took to the field on Saturday afternoon, it was Albany that looked as if it was the national power, playing in what appeared to be mid-season form.
Matching the Blue Jays shot-for-shot and holding the ball for extended periods of time, Albany, which before the win was unranked, was able to get a few good opportunities toward the latter part of the first quarter. With three minutes left to play in the quarter, Great Danes attackers Merrick Thomson and Frank Resetarits scored within 35 seconds of each other.
When the second quarter began, Albany wasted no time picking up where it left off. A goal by Great Danes' midfielder Matthew Green was sandwiched in between another two Resetaritis goals, putting Albany up 5-0 halfway through the second quarter.
"Their early lead was due to a combination of one or two good plays on offense by them, and some mistakes we made down on the defensive end," co-captain senior defender Eric Zerrlaut said. "They held on to the ball pretty well early, and they wore us down a little bit."
Those five quick goals, paired with the lack of scoring from Hopkins, shocked the Homewood Field faithful, who, though loud and supportive early on, found little to cheer about at the second quarter's midway point. The teams' anticipated roles appeared to be reversed, as the Great Danes started off the game playing like the champions that many experts expected the Blue Jays to be.
Nevertheless, after that halfway point in the second quarter, the Blue Jays turned the game around, playing the way they had in previous seasons. At the 7:34 mark in the quarter, junior attacker Kevin Huntley finally ended any thought of a shutout, scoring the team's first goal of the season, unassisted. The goal, combined with a string of defensive stops, finally gave Hopkins some newfound life and much needed momentum as the end of the first half approached.
"We were down early, but showed character by fighting back," senior goalie Jesse Schwartzman said.
Co-captain senior attacker Jake Byrne soon followed Huntley's goal with an unassisted goal of his own, and, with only one second remaining in the half, freshman midfielder Michael Kimmel got the Blue Jays a little closer, scoring on a pass from a fellow freshman, attacker Steven Boyle. Even after what was, on the whole, a disappointing first half, Hopkins ended the second quarter on a positive note, down only two goals with thirty minutes left to play.
The Jays kept up the pace in the second half, as improved defense and four goals from co-captain senior attacker Drew Dabrowski, sophomore midfielder Mark Bryan, Boyle, and junior attacker Michael Doneger gave Hopkins a 7-5 lead in the fourth quarter.
"We started getting some good stops on defense, and our offense began to capitalize and play together a bit more," Zerrlaut said.
Just as things started to shift in Hopkins' favor, Albany made one last-minute push to try and upset the Blue Jays.
They succeeded.
Albany scored three goals in just over three minutes against a defense whose play resembled its earlier, lethargic version more than the one that had shut out Albany for approximately 30 consecutive minutes.
"Things got a little hectic out there," co-captain senior midfielder Brendan Skakandi said. "It really played into their favor."
"We just let down a little bit towards the end," Schwartzman added.
Even with the hectic play and a somewhat demoralized crowd, the Blue Jays had over a minute to try to get the game-tying goal, but two shots in the final ten seconds failed to find the net. The final whistle blew, and, for the first time in six seasons, Hopkins will enter Week Two of its season still seeking its first win.
The Blue Jays next game is on Saturday at noon against Princeton, one of two games in the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Classic in the Baltimore Ravens' M&T Bank Stadium.
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