Senior captain Andrew Miller looks to clear the ball. Miller has helped lead the Jays to an 8-4 record.

Men's lax defeats Towson, Mount St. Mary's

By: Mike Yuan

Posted: 4/30/09

In one of the most exciting games of the season, the #6-ranked Blue Jays walked off the field of Unitas Stadium at Towson victorious after four grueling quarters and two overtime periods. With just 7.2 seconds left in the second overtime period, senior midfielder Brian Christopher dodged into the middle of the field, spun past his defender and bounced in a tough shot for his third goal of the day and his second career overtime game-winner, to beat Towson 11-10 in a game in which the Blue Jays were never leading. The win brought the Jays' record to 7-4.

Towson had control the first three quarters until Hopkins decided to take charge. Facing a four goal deficit in the third quarter, back-to-back goals by junior attackman Chris Boland and sophomore attackman Kyle Wharton cut the Tigers' lead to two, to make it 8-6. Towson beat junior goalie Michael Gvozden with just 2.8 seconds left in the third quarter; heading into the fourth quarter, Hopkins faced a 9-6 deficit.

Less than two minutes into the fourth quarter, the Jays' comeback began. Senior midfielder Mark Bryan beat Towson goalie Rob Wheeler from six yards out, cutting the lead to two. After eight scoreless minutes, junior midfielder Steven Boyle fired a pass to senior attackman Josh Peck, who one-timed it past Wheeler. Hopkins finally tied it up 70 seconds later when junior midfielder Michael Kimmel found the back of the net. Towson responded just 32 seconds later with a quick goal, but Christopher scored his second of the day with 2:12 remaining, which proved to be the overtime-forcing goal.

Both goalies played impressively during the overtime periods, but Gvozden once again proved to be the better man. With just about a minute to play, Gvozden came up with two huge back-to-back saves. After a successful clear and a wide shot out of bounds by Wharton, Christopher took the ball with 7.2 seconds left and ended the game. The four-goal comeback win was their first since March 18th, 2005, when the Jays erased a 7-1 deficit to Syracuse.

Just five days later, the team traveled down to Emmitsburg, Maryland to take on Mount St. Mary's. They traveled back to Baltimore victorious, by a score of 12-5, led by Boland and Wharton. Wharton scored four goals and Boland added six points with two goals and four assists. With the win, the Blue Jays improve to 8-4 overall, and the Mountaineers fall to 5-9.

The Jays took a quick 2-0 lead off of goals by Boland and Peck in the first six minutes, from nice passes by Christopher and sophomore Mark Goodrich, respectively. The Mount didn't quit, though. They tied the game up at two apiece over a six minute span, and at the end of the first quarter, the game was tied.

Mountaineer goalie T.C. DiBartolo played remarkably well, stuffing the Jays for the first 10 minutes of the second quarter. Mt. St. Mary's held a one-goal lead for a bit in the second quarter.

After letting that one get past him, Gvozden stuffed the Mountaineers for the rest of the quarter. Late in the quarter, the Jays scored two goals back-to-back in a 19 second span and never had to worry about trailing again. Wharton ended the 21 minute drought and Boland ripped a shot past DiBartolo just 19 seconds later. Heading into halftime, Hopkins held a 4-3 lead.

It was 7-5 at the end of the third. Less than two seconds in, Kimmel found Christopher alone and he fired in a shot from 12 yards out. The Mount responded with a goal of their own, but Wharton beat DiBartolo again and Christopher beat him again just two minutes later.

The Jays ended any hope of a fourth quarter comeback by scoring three goals in the first six minutes of the period. Wharton and Peck each added another, and Boland hit junior midfielder Max Chautin with a nice pass, who fired it home. Wharton added another one late, and freshman attackman Will McCance finished the scoring for the day, making the final score 12-5, bringing the Jays' record to 8-4.

The game would have been a complete rout if not for the impressive performance by Mt. St. Mary's goalie T.C. DiBartolo, who posted 15 saves before leaving the game with nine minutes to go.

The Jays look to continue this five game win streak in their final regular season game vs. Loyola. The game will be at Homewood Field on Saturday at 1 p.m. The following week, the NCAA lacrosse playoffs begin, for which the Jays will most certainly qualify with a winning record and quailty wins as well.