In their inaugural season in the Big Ten conference, the Hopkins men’s lacrosse team has clinched a spot in the playoffs after a 16-9 rout of the University of Michigan Wolverines.
Captain Goalie Eric Schneider spearheaded an incredible defensive effort on senior day with a 13-save performance against the No. 25 Wolverines.
“As a unit, we just take it one possession at a time,” Schneider said. “Our focus is never on the score or what’s happening offensively but always on the next stop that we need to make.”
Offensively, senior Wells Stanwick led the way with a hat trick that put him in front of Major League Lacrosse star and Hopkins alumnus Paul Rabil and made him the 11th highest scorer in school history.
Along with a roaring and supportive home crowd of over 6,000, the Blue Jays also benefitted from senior Drew Kennedy’s strong face-off performance that yielded possessions in 18 of his 24 tries.
Nine other players also had multiple point games including junior attack Ryan Brown, who now sits at third in the nation in goals per game. Brown also becomes the 18th player in Hopkins history to reach 100 career goals.
The game rocked back and forth for the majority of the first half, with three ties eventually bringing the score to 5-5. Hopkins went on a 5-0 run extending into the third period to take a commanding lead at 10-5.
The push was sparked by four of Kennedy’s face-off wins and four of Schneider’s saves, making what turned out to be the deciding run a complete team effort.
Michigan’s junior Kyle Jackson began the opposition by stopping the Hopkins score streak on an unassisted strike with teammates senior Will Meter and redshirt sophomore Brendan Gaughan also pitching in. Junior Ryan Brown made sure to continue his 28-game goal streak with a pair of his own, bringing the score to 12-8.
Wells Stanwick completed his hat trick to open the fourth period before John Crawley netted his second goal of the day. Then freshman Joel Tinney scored consecutive goals to close out the offense for Hopkins while the Wolverines’ redshirt junior David Joseph added a late-game score to round out the final 16-9.
Junior Holden Cattoni, freshman Shack Stanwick and sophomore John Crawley added three point performances, combining for four goals and four assists while senior Phil Castranova pitched in a trio of groundballs and the goal that opened that game.
The victory gives Hopkins an impending opponent no worse than the No. 3 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament while also giving the Jays a shot at the conference title should they take down University of Maryland this Saturday at College Park. The matchup will be the 112th time the two teams meet, dating back to 1895.
“It feels good to clinch a spot in the Big Ten, but we need to continue to improve in practice,” Schneider said. “We are very excited to play Maryland this upcoming weekend. It’s awesome to be a part of this great rivalry.”
