Johns Hopkins survived a second half barrage from Duke to win the Blue Jays ninth NCAA Championship, 12-11, Monday in Baltimore. After being down 10-4 at halftime, the Blue Devils stormed back with a 5-0 run in the third quarter to turn the game into a thriller. But Duke’s prolific tandem of Matt Danowski and Zach Greer were kept in check as Hopkins stars Paul Rabil, Stephen Peyser, Jake Byrne, and Jesse Schwartzman shined on the big stage. Sitting at 4-4 halfway through the season, the Jays strung together nine straight wins to propel themselves into the tournament and through Memorial Day weekend as the champs.
Though Hopkins is known for more methodical offense, the Jays came out firing off the opening face. Peyser won cleanly, got the ball, swam through traffic, and initiated the fast break. Carrying into the box, Peyser whipped the ball to Jake Byrne at the point who ripped a shot between Duke goalie Dan Loftus’ legs. Peyser then won the next face and the trend at the X was set. Hopkins would dominate, winning 18 of 27 on the day, with Duke gaining most of their nine wins off of good groundball play or procedural penalties.
Schwartzman showed how he relishes the lime-light, making two good saves early on close range shots. He cleared the ball exceptionally well too, throwing some bombs 60+ yards down field to push transition.
“our goalie played like a senior that had no tomorrow,” Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said after the game.
While Rabil faced aggressive checking and tough D all day, he used his impressive vision to get his team going, notching five assists and a goal. The first came as he tried to work a dodge, got beat up and doubled, and pulled the ball back out. As the Duke defense focused on him, Kevin Huntley cut underneath from the wing. Rabil slipped a great look to Huntley on the doorstep who finished for the 2-0 Hopkins lead.
With Hopkins packing it in preventing Greer and Danowski from operating as usual, Duke’s midfielders were left to get the offense going. Ned Crotty and Brad Ross rose to the challenge. Working the ball around, Crotty found Ross with time and room up top. Ross caught the feed, set his feed, and unleashed a laser to the far-side top corner, putting Duke on the board. Crotty then got one for himself during a 1:00 man-up. Working around the wheel, Greer hit Crotty with a feed from X. Crotty pump-faked the shot to get room, then used another defender as a screen, shooting the ball over Schwartzman’s shoulder, tying the game 2-2.
Hopkins began to blow the game open with less than a minute to go. Peyser drove from the top of the box, got a step coming down the wing, and ripped a lefty shot high and hard beating Loftus stick-side. Then, 14 seconds later, Huntley got the ball on the wing and beat Loftus with another high shot with 20 seconds left in the quarter, giving the Jays a 4-2 lead.
Hopkins took over in the second quarter. Peyser and Jamison Koesterer continued their domination at the faceoff X resulting in multiple possessions and dictating tempo for the Jays. The lead grew to three as Rabil again drove, drew defensive attention, and pulled out to hit an open teammate. This time it was Peyser who caught the ball and continued carrying to his left, against his defender’s momentum, ripping a running 15-yarder low for the goal.
The ball rarely seemed to leave the Hopkins offensive end as they won faceoffs and tenaciously rode the Devils on clears. The Jays scored again, this time a man-up goal for Byrne. He got the ball at the point and fired a 95 mph cannon right past Loftus.
Peter Lamade, sensing lethargy in his team, took it upon himself to get Duke going. Lamade tried to dodge, found no space, but when his defender slipped, he rushed back at the cage, finding the twine with a shot up high.
Hopkins got the goal right back though off another fast break. Rabil snagged a pass out of the air, then raced down field to push the numbers he had. As he stepped into the box, Rabil found Byrne again who skipped a low shot right under Loftus. Another goal off a nice inside roll from Tom Duerr grew the Jays’ lead.
Crotty tried to rally his team again with an impressive solo effort. Getting the ball at the top of the box, Crotty looked to dodge or pass, but his man seemed to just drift off him during a switch. With sudden time and room, Crotty bounced a right-handed shot in for the goal.
Hopkins would again seize the last minutes of the quarter. Byrne got the ball low on the wing. Having almost no angle, he dropped his stick and somehow stuck a nice low to high shot. Then Rabil found Steven Boyle sitting at goal line extended. Boyle snagged the pass, took a step up field to gain the inside edge, and stuffed the ball into the corner of the cage.
Huntley got a good look with :01 left but put the shot over the cross bar. The half ended with Hopkins holding a commanding lead, 10-4. Good thing six goals isn’t much in this sport, particularly when you don’t lack firepower.
“I give our guys credit,” Petro said after the game, “We knew the run was coming, we hoped it wouldn’t be that big.”
Duke opened the second half like a new team. They seemed fresher and hungrier. They played aggressive and with urgency. Perhaps because they were so drained after Cornell, perhaps because they didn’t practice on Sunday, perhaps because they knew they needed to come alive to have a shot in this came, but whatever the reason the fans saw a spectacular second half effort from what looked like a different Blue Devils squad.
Duke started the scoring off some opportunistic inside play, something the Devils have capitalized on all season. Danowski whipped the ball inside to Greer who fired the quick turn around that somehow Schwartzman stoned, but Max Quinzani quickly grabbed the rebound and fired it past the sprawling keeper.
On Duke’s next possession, working the ball around the outside, Danowski passed down to Crotty on the wing who dropped his stick and found the top of the net. Then Ross added another as he caught a pass while running into the box and just kept coming at the cage beating Schwartzman with a ripper on the run.
While Danowski often looked like he was trying to do too much, sometimes forcing shots or drives, his teammates seemed more patient, still attacking, but letting good scoring chances happen instead of forcing them. Mike Catalino got on the board as he drove from behind, got the inside roll, and stuffed the ball past Schwartzman. Lamade added another as he fought through traffic, got a step of space, and released a ripper running across the face of the goal. Coming out guns blazing, Duke wracked up five goals in 5:29 to get the game to 10-9 at the end of the third quarter.
All Hopkins had to do in the fourth was keep pace to hold on. Rabil, sensing his team needed to reassert itself, did just that. Dodging, Rabil fired a shot on the run that beat Loftus to the stick side, showing that for a goalie, shot delivery can be just as hard to read as shot speed. But Duke got it right back off some tenacious riding. Quinzani forced a turnover and Lamade quickly scooped up the ball and hit Danowski standing alone in the box. Left one-on-one with Schwartzman, Danowski slipped the ball underneath the keep for the goal, his only tally of the day.
Schwartzman redeemed himself with two sharp saves, one on an inside roll from Crotty, and another on the quick stick from Greer. The teams exchanged penalties as some vicious stick checks were thrown. Duke was able to go two men up with less than five minutes to go, but the Devils couldn’t capitalize as Danowski’s ripper hit the post and bounced about 60 yards back up field.
Duke tied the game with some gutty play and a fortuitous tip. Longpole Nick O’Hara valiantly fought to gain possession of a loose ball. Pushing ahead in transition, O’Hara attempted to feed Quinzani cutting across the face of the goal. Qunizani’s stick got a piece of O’Hara’s pass, altering its course enough to deflect it past Schwartzman and knot the score at 11-11.
Hopkins kept the pace though, cashing in the go-ahead goal off of a loose ball melee in front of the Duke cage. Rabil fought his way to the loose ball, then looked up and saw Huntley alone on the crease. Huntley took the feed and stuffed the ball by Loftus giving the lead back to the Jays, 12-11.
Duke would come down and push two frantic possessions, one in which Ross took a great underhand shot that beat Schwartzman, but rattled off the pipe. Then off an errant pass, Hopkins got the ball back with 1:07 left. But an aggressive ride from Duke gave the ball back to the Devils who called a timeout with 40 ticks left on the clock.
On the ensuing possession, Duke worked the ball around looking for a good opening, but inexplicably never getting it to their big playmakers, Danowski and Greer. With time waning to about :17 left, Ross worked inside, tried to roll, but didn’t get a great shot. Regardless, Duke fired, and Schwartzman maked a great save off his foot that kicked the ball almost back to midfield. With about :05 left Duke quickly got the ball to Quinzani barely inside the box who jumped and fired, but his shot skipped wide as the clock ran out. The Jays survived an impressive second half comeback to take the game 12-11 in one of the most entertaining championships in recent memory.
Scoring only two goals in the second half, Hopkins got the job done the way they always do, with great defense. Petro’s defense held one of the most prolific scoring tandems in collegiate lacrosse history to just three points combined. At the other end of the field, the horses that usually pull Hopkins did just that, leading their team through the onslaught to protect the victory.
Schwartzman garnered the Most Outstanding Player Award with his 15 saves, his most important with 10 seconds left on the clock. The big man has savored the sports’ biggest stage, tying the Hopkins mark for career tournament victories. He was visibly elated at the end of the game, jumping about and howling, “This is awesome!”
For Hopkins, another championship bolsters the legendary reputation of the Baltimore area school. For Duke, consolation may come slowly with the many rough breaks they have been handed in the past 15 months, but the Devils fought gallantly and should return enough players to make a strong push next year.
After seeing two heart-pounding DI games eventually leading to an unexpected champion, fans in Baltimore can strongly make the claim that Memorial Day weekend is easily one of the most exciting and entertaining events in college sports.
