Men's LAX 9-7 win over Towson

Fans were at the edge of their seats last Saturday as the fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team faced fifteenth-ranked Towson. At the tail end of the season, where each game elicits playoff potential, the Jays seem to have hit their stride. The Jays topped the Tigers 9-7, scoring with four different players and tallying their third straight win.

However, it was not smooth sailing from the get-go for the Blue Jays. In the last few minutes of the first half, the team trailed 5-3, until freshman attack Stephen Boyle scored the goal that would make the difference. Boyle's goal ended the half with Towson ahead 5-4, but would also spark a 5-0 rally that would push his team over the edge to win the game.

Junior midfielder Stephen Peyser and senior attack Jake Byrne scored a goal each early in the second half to pull the Blue Jays ahead 6-5. The pair soon recorded two more at the end of the third quarter, completing the 5-0 rally and making the score 8-5 going into the fourth quarter. Towson, however, came out strong in the fourth, as junior attack Jonathon Engelke squeezed one past Hopkins' senior goalie Jesse Schwartzman, making the score 8-6. Until Engelke's goal, the Blue Jays had prevented Towson from scoring for 22:01. Towson's Bobby Griebe ran with the momentum of Engelke's goal and scored a quick one from the crease after scooping up a loose ball. It became a one-goal game and Towson was back in it. Griebe's goal, however, would be Towson's last of the game.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Blue Jays possessed the ball and attempted to run out the clock, but Towson forced a turnover, calling a timeout with 1:48 left on the clock. The ball went to Towson's junior midfielder Brian Vetter. Vetter, however, was quickly met with a strong double-team from senior long-stick midfielder Brendan Skakandi and junior long-stick midfielder Matt Bocklet. They forced the ball loose and scooped it up for a quick clear, calling a time-out at the top of the restraining box. Junior midfielder Paul Rabil blasted one between the pipes with 1:03 remaining to seal the victory for the Blue Jays. However, despite the goals scored, it was ground balls and face-offs that saved the Blue Jays. Hopkins won 14 out of 20 face-offs and picked up 29 ground balls against Towson's 20. The Blue Jays head to Emmitsburg, MD on Monday, April 30 to face unranked Mt. St. Mary's College, Hopkins' only game against an unranked team all season.