The Men's Lacrosse team, buoyed by junior attackman Bobby Benson, managed to squeak past No. 7 ranked North Carolina 12-11, and handily defeat unranked Villanova, 10-7. The Jays are riding a three-game winning streak since their loss to Virginia.
Against the Tar Heels, the Blue Jays were able to jump out to large advantages quickly, but squandered them just as fast. Hopkins appeared poised for an easy victory Friday night as they opened with three goals in the first seven minutes. Junior midfielder Adam Doneger scored the first goal of the game, and sophomore midfielder Joe McDermott added the second to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead just three minutes into the game. Freshman attackman Kyle Barrie scored at 8:55 to increase the Hopkins lead to 3-0.
The Tar Heels finally got on the board, but the Blue Jays proved they would not relent. They matched each Tar Heel goal with one of their own, making the lead 5-2 following Barrie's second goal of the day. Adding to the lead, junior attackman Bobby Benson came alive with his first goal of the game, putting the Blue Jays at their biggest advantage of the game so far by being ahead by four goals.
From there, however, North Carolina rebounded by scoring three goals in the waning minutes of the first half to decrease the deficit from four goals to one. The half-time score was 6-5, favoring Hopkins. The second half began with both teams trading goals to make the score 7-6, but the fireworks that followed left both teams with a fighting chance late in the game.
First, the Blue Jays furthered their lead in a major way, going on a 4-0 run in a time span of just under four minutes to increase their lead to 11-6.
Sophomore midfielder Conor Ford began the scoring barrage at 6:16, making use of an assist by Benson. Then the magic commenced, as Doneger, freshman attackman Peter Lesueur and sophomore midfielder Kevin Boland all scored in under 1:30 to give the Blue Jays what appeared to be a commanding 11-6 lead.
Yet just as the Blue Jays went on a scoring run, the No. 7 ranked Tar Heels showed they were capable of the same. With 30 seconds remaining in the third period, North Carolina embarked on what would become a 5-0 scoring run with a goal by Tim Gosier. In just the first five minutes of the fourth quarter, the Tar Heels called upon Steve Will and Andrew Lucas to bring themselves within two goals of tying the Blue Jays. Gosier added another goal with 7:24 remaining to cut the Blue Jay lead to one. With just under five minutes remaining, Pat Jackson scored for the Tar Heels to tie the contest for the first time since the first half.
But before a raucous home crowd of over 5,600 the Blue Jays responded to the Tarheel's challenge. With 3:29 remaining, Benson scored what would become the game-winner off Boland's assist.
The goal gave Hopkins the slim advantage by the score of 12-11, and the Blue Jays were able to maintain possession and hold on to win the game.
In a strong performance, senior goalkeeper Nick Murtha recorded 13 saves in goal. Astoundingly, nine of those saves came in the fourth quarter as the Tar Heels began their comeback.
In another telling statistic, North Carolina managed to outshoot the Blue Jays, but they did so by the slimmest of margins, 39-38. Hopkins countered with a dominant performance in face-offs, winning 15-of-25, but hugely important was the fact that they won 13-of-18 in the final three quarters.
Despite their dramatic victory against North Carolina, there was little time for rest for the Blue Jays who next traveled to Pennsylvania to take on Villanova.
Hopkins prevailed 10-7, marking the team's third straight win. The game was also the 800th career victory for Hopkins, marking a milestone as it became the first collegiate lacrosse team to record 800 all-time wins.
Much like in the game against the Tar Heels, the Blue Jays sprinted ahead to an early 3-0 lead within the first 10 minutes of the contest. Barrie first put the Blue Jays on the board, and Boland and Ford each added goals to take the early advantage. Villanova finally scored, and the two teams traded two goals each to bring the score to 5-3 at the half.
Hopkins' freshman midfielder Benson Erwin scored his first career goal just 1:29 into the second half, but Villanova remained undeterred as they answered with another goal. Bobby Benson increased the Blue Jay lead, however, scoring two crucial goals that gave Hopkins its biggest lead of the game as they lead 8-4.
The Wildcats were able to mount a comeback, scoring two unanswered goals midway through the fourth quarter to cut the Blue Jay lead in half, but the two-goal deficit was as close as they would get. LeSueur scored off an assist from Doneger with 3:27 remaining to put the Jays ahead 9-6.
Villanova had one last chance, cutting the lead to two goals just seconds after LeSueur scored his goal, but that would be their final goal of the day. Boland scored an extra-man goal with 2:45 remaining to give the Blue Jays a victory by the score of 10-7.
In goal, Murtha was impressive, registering 13 saves for the second straight game as the Blue Jays outshot the Wildcats 33-29.
The win also allowed the Jays to keep their career-unbeaten streak against Villanova intact. Hopkins now holds a commanding 6-0 record in contests between the two teams.
The Blue Jays will next compete in their second straight away game when they travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
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