Coming off of a tough loss to Virginia, the Hopkins men's lacrosse team was hoping to bounce back against the No. 15 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill by getting off to a solid start and finishing the game strong. The Blue Jays did manage to accomplish one of those goals -- the former of the two -- yet a furious first half of scoring proved to be futile by the conclusion of the contest. The Jays fell to the Tar Heels, 13-10, at Chapel Hill. The loss puts the team at 4-3 this season.
With a combination of good play between the attackers and the midfielders being complimented by contributions from the defenders and senior goalie Jesse Schwartzman, Hopkins started off very well against the Heels. Still, even by taking twice as many shots (12) as the Heels (6) did, the Blue Jays did not get on the board early. In fact, the Jays first found the back of the net with two minutes left in the opening quarter. Having finally drawn blood, the Jays kept at it on route to scoring three goals in the final two minutes of the first quarter and the first two minutes of the second quarter combined.
It was co-captain and senior attacker Jake Byrne who got things rolling. His goal, the first of the game, came off of an assist from sophomore midfielder Austin Walker. Byrne's goal was his tenth of the season, putting him in double-digits in that category for the third consecutive season. Freshman midfielder Michael Kimmel soon followed with his ninth of the season, only 12 seconds before the first quarter whistle blew. Fewer than two minutes into the second quarter, Byrne added another one, putting the Blue Jays up, 3-0.
"We were moving the ball really well early on, which gave us a lot of good shots from good places," said co-captain and senior midfielder Brendan Skakandi. "One thing our offense has been working on is getting better quality possessions and better ball movement to help get some open, easier looks at the goal."
Meanwhile, the defense held its own, virtually shutting down North Carolina's attack. Helped in part by some careless Tar Heel turnovers and a dearth of offensive opportunities for the Heels, the Schwartzman-led the 16th-ranked Pioneers.
"Watching film and pointing out those little things after the [Penn] game definitely opened our eyes to what was happening and thank goodness they were all easily fixable problems," Janice said.
Hopkins stormed Denver with a six-goal barrage in the first 10 minutes. Key provided the ignition for the Jays' first offensive blaze on Sunday. The perennial Tewaaraton Trophy candidate returned to form, ending her day with five goals and four assists, while continuing to climb the list of all-time NCAA points leaders, rising to the sixth spot this week.
The Pioneers didn't allow the Jay's comfortable lead early in the game to last, countering soon after with five consecutive goals.
"Denver is a very good team and we had to fight hard for the win. We jumped on them early, but knew they wouldn't go away," Tucker said.
The Jays tacked on three more before the half, with Key sandwiching two goals around freshman attacker Samantha Schrum's 18th goal of the season. Schrum scored in each of her first eight career games and is looking like a phenom and future leader on this Blue Jay squad --- not unlike what Key is right now.
"[Samantha] has a ton of potential," Tucker said. "There will never be another Mary Key -- but Sam is on the right path to making a tremendous impact on this program."
The game carried on in similar fashion into the second period. Though the Jays never forfeited the lead, the Pioneers never fell behind by more than four goals and nearly closed the gap a number of times in the half.
"The team kept their composure and put a good Denver team away," Tucker said. "It was a big win for us."
The Blue Jay defense that was widely touted in the preseason gave yet another semi-lethargic performance; again, barely able to keep their competitors at bay in a close match.
"We have strong defenders that play their hearts out, but have been up and down with our ability to shut teams down," Tucker said. "I see positive adjustments being made every day on the defensive end of the field and we are on track to put it all together from here on out."
The offense has picked up the slack to the best of their ability, but with only half the team playing at their expectations, it will be difficult for the Lady Jays to come out on top in the end.
A grueling stretch of games lies ahead, including a match-up against the defending Division I champions -- Northwestern -- in the next few weeks.
"If we want to be one of the top teams, we have to play the top teams," Tucker said. "We will prepare as always - lots of film, a strong scouting report and intense practices. Hopefully we will have good officiating crews and execute on game day."
This Sunday, the Jays will head to Tennessee to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores.
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