The Navy Midshipmen arrived at Homewood Field Friday afternoon on two large buses in preparation for the following day’s matchup. While the men from Annapolis became accustomed to the Hopkins field, it seemed as if the Midshipmen weren’t 100 percent focused, as some of the players were seen chasing each other around as the team boarded the bus. Roughly 24 hours later Navy stepped back on their bus with a sure sense of disappointment.
The Hopkins men’s lacrosse team utilized an 11-0 game ending run to sink the Midshipmen 15-4. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, the trio of Well Stanwick, John Kaestner, and Brandon Benn combined for nine goals and eight assists while helping hold Navy scoreless in the final 28:02.
Navy drew first blood when Gabe Voumard tallied his 13th goal of the season less than two minutes into the first quarter. The unphased, visibly motivated Hopkins team immediately responded and the back and forth play continued throughout the first half.
Benn gave the Blue Jays a 3-1 lead off of a Kaestner dish but Navy quickly countered. In the midst of a 20 minute scoring drought, the Midshipmen netted two goals in 83 seconds. Voumard found the back of the goal again along with T.J. Hanzsche.
Despite the Jays undoubtedly outplaying Navy in the opening half, Hopkins found themselves in a 4-4 tie after Voumard secured a hat trick with a missile into the top corner to start the second half.
“Very frustrating first half” said Blue Jays head coach Dave Pietramala. “Felt like we had played pretty well offensively and generated somwhye quality looks and I thought there goalie did a great job. He was a kid we recruited and thought a lot of. He showed that today with his 12 saves. We just felt like we were doing a good job but were coming away empty.”
Junior attackman Benn quickly broke the tie on a precise pass from Stanwick to notch his own hat trick.
“I thought as the half progressed we got a little tighter” Pietramala said. “We started gripping our sticks, we were hesitating on some of our shots. Coach Benson told them to relax and just pull the trigger.”
The seemingly simple suggestion turned out to be sage advice. The remainder of the game would be all Hopkins as the Blue Jays wasted no time in striking again. Kaestner scored seven seconds later off another assist from the charitable Stanwick and then found the back of the net again to give Hopkins a 7-4 lead.
“Obviously when you’re going on runs like that it makes it a lot easier on us” said Stanwick. We had a tough first half, we came in here at halftime and said just keep working, they will start to fall.”
The Blue Jays soared the remainder of the quarter, expanding the lead to 10-4. Standout freshman Ryan Brown added his 14th goal of the year on another smooth feed from Stanwick. Along with Stanwick, senior John Ranagan netted a goal in the final minutes to give Hopkins a comfortable six-goal lead heading into the final quarter. “It’s exciting to know that you’re contributing to the team and you’re doing a good job for them, it feels great” Ranagan said.
The Blue Jays remained relentless scoring four goals in a fast paced two minute spurt midway through the fourth quarter, as Benn added his fourth and fifth scores of the game.
On the day Benn tied a personal best five goals, while Kaestner had a career high three goals and three assists. Stanwick also added one goal and a career best five assists. The unsung hero of the day was senior Mike Poppleton who won 15 of his 17 faceoffs. The coaching staff continually preaches the importance of winning the possession battle and Poppleton is always a key contributor to the fight.
For Navy, Voumard was the only multi-point scorer while senior goalie Nolan Hickey saved 12 shots on the day.
The clouded focus of the Midshipmen proved costly in the end.
“We played a good first half and came out and scored the first goal of the second half, but from there it went all downhill,” said second-year Navy head coach Rick Sowell. “It comes down to being undisciplined and that’s on me."
On the other hand, Pietramala ensured that his team stayed mentally focused throughout the game, even when the Blue Jays suffered some unfortunate breaks in the first half. Pietramala’s innate ability to make instrumental changes at halftime provided the fuel for Hopkins’ second half rampage.
Luckily for the Hopkins faithful, the Blue Jays are getting hot at the right time. After suffering three losses in a disappointing four game stretch, Hopkins is beginning to find their groove. The team knocked off #1 Maryland last weekend, and once again proved their merit with a commanding win over a talented Navy squad.
“We are starting to play to our capability. We expected this group to be further along sooner but regardless it’s a good time of year to put it together” said Pietramala.
While Navy’s season comes to an end, the road does not get any easier for Hopkins as defending national champion Loyola travels to Homewood Field for the annual Homecoming game. Loyola will look to seek revenge after the Blue Jays 10-9 overtime victory last season.
Pietramala said, “We are going to be put to the test this week, quick strike, lots of transition. We are going to be challenged. We will find out how far we’ve come in the goal and defensively on Saturday.”
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