TOWSON, Md. – Looking to gain some momentum heading into next week’s Colonial Athletic Association men’s lacrosse tournament, the Tigers (8-5) jumped out to a 5-4 half-time lead against fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins (7-4) at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium on Saturday afternoon. However, a strong third quarter by the Blue Jays was too much for Towson to overcome as Hopkins pulled out a 9-7 victory in the 35th all-time meeting between the two teams.

Freshman attackman Steven Boyle (Pinkerton Academy/Derry, N.H.) scored two goals and added two assists to lead the Blue Jays to their 12th straight victory over the Tigers, dating back to the 1996 season.

After junior midfielder Adam Hagelin (Boy’s Latin School/Havre De Grace, Md.) gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead less than two minutes into the opening period, junior attackman Kevin Huntley (Calvert Hall College H.S./Towson, Md.) scored back-to-back goals to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 advantage with 9:06 remaining in the stanza.

However, the Tigers responded by holding Johns Hopkins scoreless for over 15 minutes and scored three straight goals for a 4-2 lead with eight seconds left in the first quarter.

With 8:53 remaining in the second half, junior midfielder Paul Rabil (DeMatha H.S./Gaithersburg, Md.) ended the Blue Jays’ scoring drought with his 16th goal of the season, an unassisted marker which cut the margin to 4-3. Junior midfielder Brian Vetter (Annapolis H.S./Annapolis, Md.) responded by scoring his second goal of the game with 3:51 left in the first half before Boyle tallied an unassisted goal with nine seconds left, cutting the Blue Jays’ deficit to 5-4 at the intermission.

Led by a goal and two assists from Boyle, the Blue Jays opened the third quarter with four straight goals and held Towson scoreless to take an 8-5 lead. With 11:50 left in the fourth quarter, the Tigers ended a 22-minute scoring drought on a goal by junior attackman Jonathan Engelke (Farmingdale H.S./Massapequa, N.Y.) off a feed from senior Keith Obloj (Farmingdale H.S./Farmingdale, N.Y.). Senior attackman Bobby Griebe (Boy’s Latin School/Bel Air, Md.) cut the margin to 8-7 with 6:46 remaining before Rabil sealed the victory with an unassisted goal with 1:03 remaining.

Boyle was one of four Johns Hopkins players to score two goals as Rabil and Huntley each added a pair of goals along with an assist. Junior midfielder Stephen Peyser (Cold Spring Harbor H.S./Lloyd Harbor, N.Y.) posted two goals while winning 12 of 15 face-offs.

Vetter led the Tigers with two goals and an assist in the loss while Engelke recorded a pair of goals. Junior goalkeeper Matt Antol (Loyola Blakefield H.S./Baldwin, Md.) made 10 saves for the Tigers. “We didn’t play a very good third quarter,” Towson Coach Tony Seaman said. “[Johns Hopkins] scored four goals and we had none. It was really a great game, but again for us, it’s a bitter taste at the end.”

The Tigers, who clinched the CAA regular season title with last week’s victory against Drexel, will host Hofstra University in the semi-finals of the CAA Championships on Wednesday evening at 7:30 p.m. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays will travel to Mount St. Mary’s on Monday afternoon before ending the regular season against Loyola.

Towson vs. Johns Hopkins

Towson

7

Scoring
Brian Vetter	(2, 1)
Jonathan Engelke	(2, 0)
Keith Obloj	(1, 1)
Adam Hagelin	(1, 1)
Bobby Griebe	(1, 1)

Saves
Matt Antol	10 (0.526)

Current Record
Towson	8-5

Johns Hopkins

9

Scoring
Steven Boyle	(2, 2)
Paul Rabil	(2, 1)
Stephen Peyser	(2, 0)
Kevin Huntley	(2, 0)
Jake Byrne	(1, 1)
Mark Bryan	(0, 1)
Michael Kimmel	(0, 1)

Saves
Jesse Schwartzman	9 (0.563)

Current Record
Johns Hopkins	7-4