A crowd of nearly 10,000 erupted in cheers as the Blue Jays stormed onto Homewood Field last Saturday. The Jays were playing the role of massive underdogs and not-so-gracious hosts.
As the rival Terps paraded around the field waving their school flag, a chorus of boos exploded from the student section.
“It was an electric atmosphere, that’s for sure,” junior defenseman Rob Enright said. “You don’t get to see Homewood Field like that very often.”
The ninth-ranked Jays came into this game with an all time record of 69-40-1 against the third ranked Terrapins. Needless to say, the pressure was on.
“I guess most people wouldn’t want to say [that there was pressure to win this game], but there definitely was,” senior attackman Brandon Benn said. “It’s no secret that we had our backs against the wall and we needed this one. And that’s also how coach told us to play: like we had our backs against the wall.”
The game began with strong defensive play from both sides until sophomore midfielder Holden Cattoni found the back of the net for the game’s first goal. According to Benn, that goal was “huge.”
“This game was going to be a possession game,” Benn said. “They like to possess the ball and make the most out of their opportunities. They wait until they can get the right opportunity. We just felt like we had to score on a lot of our possessions and dictate the tempo, and I think Holden [Cattoni] starting that off was definitely huge.”
The defensive battle raged on, as Cattoni had the quarter’s lone goal. A second goal from freshman midfielder John Crawley began the second quarter and put the Jays up two when he roll-dodged past two Terps before finding the back of the net.
It was not until 20 minutes into the game that Maryland punched its first goal through to cut the lead to 2-1.
The stout Hopkins defense did not relent, while a goal from Benn and two from junior attackman Wells Stanwick sent the Jays into the half with a 5-1 lead. Still, Benn said the team had to keep its focus.
“We’ve struggled with going into halftime with the lead,” Benn said. “Coming out of halftime, for some reason something changes and we get tighter. I can’t even explain it. I wish I could, but it just felt different this time. We knew that we had to keep it going and they weren’t just going to roll over.”
The Jays did not roll over either, as Benn and Stanwick wrapped goals around one from Maryland in the third quarter. Through three quarters of play, the Jays held the third ranked Terps to just two goals.
“Coach Pietramala’s game plan, as always, was spot on,” Enright said of the defensive performance. “We knew a lot of what they were going to run before they had even begun to run it.”
The teams traded goals to begin the fourth before sophomore attackman Ryan Brown gave the Jays a 9-3 lead, their biggest of the day. Three goals in three minutes from the Terps made things close, but Hopkins buckled down to score the final two. At the end of an exhausting showdown between two bitter rivals, Hopkins came away with an 11-6 victory.
Senior goalie Eric Schneider finished the day with 12 saves and kind words from his teammates.
“He’s unbelievable,” Enright said. “There’s no one else I’d rather have in goal. I had the pleasure of playing with Eric in high school. He’s been playing really well, especially that game. He made some incredible saves. Some saves he just had no business making, but he did.”
The victory would be short lived, however, as the Jays visited Mount Saint Mary’s less than 48 hours later. Head Coach Dave Pietramala expressed his pride in the effort against Maryland, but made sure the Jays got right back to work.
“He told us, ‘I know you guys are sore,’” Enright said. “‘I know you guys are beat up physically and mentally but I can’t let that be an excuse. You guys can’t let that be an excuse.’”
After their rank rose to sixth in the nation, the Jays carried their momentum into Emmitsburg, Md., where they played arguably their most dominant game of the season.
Continuing its run of impenetrability, the Hopkins defense held the opposition scoreless for nearly the first 45 minutes of the game. It was the third game in a row in which the team has shutout its competition in the first quarter.
While the defense was playing hard, the offense was wreaking havoc, scoring eight goals in the first half. They tacked on four more to go up 12-0 before that first goal trickled through with four seconds left in the third quarter.
A quick Mountaineer goal was overshadowed by five more from Hopkins as the Jays dominated the game to the tune of 17-2. During the game, 11 different players would score, but the real star was Stanwick, whose six assists tied a career high. Additionally, freshman Jack Grass scored his first career hat trick as a Jay.
“He’s basically the quarterback of our offense,” Enright said. “He definitely gets guys where they need to be and has a great IQ. Probably the best IQ out of anyone I know. He always seems to find that open guy.”
The win moves Hopkins to 8-3 as the now fourth ranked Blue Jays prepare to visit Navy this Friday. They will be looking to push their winning streak to four and match last season’s games won.
“It’s no secret that we respect [Navy], but we don’t like them,” Benn said. “We’re definitely going to give our best effort.”
