Despite tying the game early in the third quarter, the Towson University men's lacrosse team fell 15-7 in its 2020 season opener at No. 11 Johns Hopkins Saturday afternoon at Homewood Field. All-American Koby Smith finished with a career-best four points on two goals and two assists while Jon Mazza returned for the first time since the 2018 for a two-goal day. Brody McLean and James Avanzato each had one goal and one assist. Tyler Canto made 15 saves for the Tigers (0-1). Johns Hopkins (1-0) was led by a career-best seven points from Cole Williams, who had three goals and four assists. Connor DeSimone and Garrett Degnon had three goals apiece for the Blue Jays, who went 20-of-26 at the faceoff X. How it Happened Williams put the Blue Jays on the board first before Smith got an outlet pass from Bodden and roped his first shot of 2020 past Hopkins' keeper Ryan Darby, tying the game at 1-1. The Blue Jays strung together four goals from four sources to take a 5-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Towson responded in kind to open the second period with back-to-back goals from the unrelated Brody and Jake McLean. The former took a feed from Smith while the latter scored unassisted. Degnon broke up the run with 2:17 to play in the first half before Mazza scored his first point since March 24, 2018 with a goal at 1:12 of the frame. Towson trailed 6-4 at the break. Like the second stanza, Towson opened the third quarter with back-to-back goals, the first from Avanzato just 18 seconds in on a feed from Smith in transition again. Smith scored his second goal of the day less than a minute later to deadlock the game at 6-6 with 13:54 to play in the third. Hopkins put in separation with four unanswered goals, including a trio from Degnon. The Tigers broke up the run with a goal as Mazza scored an extra-man chance from Avanzato with 18 seconds to play. Hopkins scored 10 seconds later for an 11-7 score through 45 minutes. The Blue Jays scored four times in the fourth while keeping the Tigers off the board for a 15-7 finish. Behind the Numbers After struggling to clear last season, the Tigers were a perfect 22-for-22 in the season opener. Last season the Tigers were 16-of-20 in clearing against Hopkins. Towson struggled at the faceoffs going 6-of-26 in the game. Hopkins won all seven draws in the opening period. The hosts picked up 42 ground balls while Towson had 28. Towson got off 34 shots, while the Jays managed 46. The Tigers put 19 shots on goal in the game as Hopkins took 30. The all-time series against the Blue Jays continued its recent trend of the home team winning. Towson won the matchups at Johnny Unitas ® Stadium in 2015, 2017 and 2019 while the Blue Jays won at Homewood in 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020. Up Next for Towson The Tigers get a chance to play for the home crowd next weekend as Towson hosts in-state foe Mount St. Mary's. Game time is set for noon at Unitas ® Stadium and will be carried online through the Towson Sports Network.