Benn pushes Hopkins past no. 9 Ohio State

Amid chants of “D-Fense!” from the roughly 1,400 in attendance, the ball went soaring into the air.

With 3:30 left in the third overtime, Ohio State coughed up a game-changing turnover. Cheers erupted from the stands as Hopkins called a timeout 15 seconds later.

When play resumed, sophomore midfielder Holden Cattoni found himself with the ball at the top of the box. He dished it out to last year’s leading goal scorer, senior attackman Brandon Benn and the Buckeyes’ fate was sealed.

Benn faked to his left, cut to his right and fired a laser past the helpless goalie. Game over. 10-9, Hopkins.

Benn, whose second goal capped a triple overtime thriller, shot a team-high 10 times but did not let his mistakes prevent him from putting the ball in the back of the net.

“In my four years I’ve been taught not to worry about the previous play because I didn’t shoot the ball well today at all,” Benn said. “I just decided to dodge the guy and shoot, and I guess I got a good result.”

Benn was one of eight different Hopkins players to score on the day as the Blue Jays showcased the much anticipated new-look offense.

The game began with a quick Ohio State goal just over one minute into the game before sophomore attackman Ryan Brown responded seven minutes later. The Buckeyes would tack on a second goal before the end of the first quarter.

Sophomore midfielder Connor Reed began the second quarter with his first career goal and tied the game at two. As Hopkins players bounced on the sideline and fans cheered in the stands, there was a very noticeable shift in momentum before the Blue Jays erupted in the third quarter.

“We just wanted to put it all out on the table and show what we’ve been working on all year,” junior attackman Wells Stanwick said of the offensive explosion.

The second half began with a goal from senior captain Rob Guida and just a minute later, freshman attackman John Crawley scored his first career goal to put Hopkins up two. After a 25 minute drought, Ohio State punched in a goal of their own. Cattoni responded one minute later with a goal of his own on an assist from Stanwick, who assisted each of the five Hopkins goals and matched his career high in the statistic.

After the teams traded goals, Benn scored his first of the day to put Hopkins up 7-4 and extended his goal streak to 17 games. After a Buckeye goal, a diving Stanwick scored his first of the day on an assist from Benn, who matched his assist total from all of last year on the play.

Hopkins would exit the third quarter with an 8-5 lead, as the Blue Jays outshot the Buckeyes a ridiculous 34 shots to 18 shots. The game, however, was far from over.

The fourth quarter began with the teams swapping goals before the defense collapsed. In a span of 3:45, the Buckeyes scored three goals to tie the game with 3:07 remaining. In that span, Buckeye midfielder Jesse King scored his fourth and fifth goals of the game. Head Coach Dave Pietramala acknowledged the exceptional performance from the Buckeye junior.

“We spent an awful lot of time talking about him,” Pietramala said.

After a remarkable save from senior goalie Eric Schneider, Brown had his third goal of the day taken back after the referees ruled he was in the crease. The game would go into overtime.

As the fans were screaming, “Let’s go Hop!” at the top of their lungs, junior midfielder Drew Kennedy won the overtime faceoff. A Stanwick turnover two minutes later gave Ohio State an opportunity. The Buckeye offense fired three times in succession, but Schneider kept the game alive, saving a dart shot by King.

An Ohio State turnover at the start of the second overtime gave the Blue Jays hope, but Benn’s shot went wide. Hopkins then turned the ball over and with 30 seconds remaining, senior defenseman Jack Reilly got called for slashing, putting Ohio State up one man. Another save from Schneider ensured Hopkins would play in just its second triple overtime game in the program’s history.

Though the Buckeyes began a man up, the turnover at 3:30 would prove to be fatal. Hopkins would go on to win the game 10-9 on Benn’s game-winning, triple overtime goal.

Though the Blue Jays won 19 of the game’s 24 face-offs, they lost 20 turnovers to Ohio State’s 14. Pietramala was adamant in pointing out the team’s need to “clean up” its play.

“Fortunate win with 20 turnvoers, that’s for sure,” Pietramala said. “That’s for sure.”

The Blue Jays improve to 5-0 all time against Ohio State and 20-10 in overtime games under Pietramala. They will now turn their attention to Towson, who will visit Homewood Field this Saturday at 4 p.m.