A referee died after collapsing from a heart attack while officiating a Hopkins club lacrosse game against the University of Maryland on the recreation center practice turf this past Saturday, Feb. 25.
The referee, Joseph Cieslak, was promptly brought to Union Memorial Hospital, where he was found to have no pulse. The Hopkins Emergency Response Unit (HERU), Hopkins Security, the Baltimore City Fire Department and a Medic Unit all came to the scene, according to Ernie Larossa, Director of Athletic Communications at Hopkins.
Junior Stefan Kowalski, a team captain for the Hopkins club lacrosse team, was coaching on the sidelines when the event occurred.
"I was looking down at the side of the field where the ball was, and the referee was just backing up, and he [held] up his arm towards his chest and just fell over backwards," Kowalski said.
Within seconds of Cieslak's collapse, the police were called, and a lacrosse player, freshman Matt Meissner performed CPR until help arrived. HERU arrived approximately 15 minutes after being dispatched.
"He did an extremely good job, and I'm really proud of him for what he did to help," Kowalski said about Meissner.
The incident occurred at the beginning of the third quarter. After Cieslak was removed from the scene, the game, which was against the University of Maryland, did not resume.
"[It was] definitely a strange night. I think everyone handled everything the best they possibly could. . .It was just bizarre," senior Matt Rice, also a captain of the club lacrosse team, said.
Cieslak, 62, lived in the Baltimore area with his family. He was not hired by Hopkins Athletics or was associated with the university.
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