Hopkins lacrosse teams defeat Rutgers University

Men’s lacrosse vs. Rutgers University

The Hopkins men’s lacrosse team is on fire. After beating Rutgers, they improve to 9–3 and are now ranked fifth nationally overall.

The first quarter started strong for Hopkins, with an even split of shots connecting far more on the Rutgers goal. Hopkins was up 3–7 before Rutgers came back in the final two minutes to make the score a close 5–7, which seemed to stifle the Blue Jay’s momentum in later quarters. Interestingly, all seven Hopkins goals in the first quarter were from different players — a trend that would continue throughout the game, resulting in a season-high 11 different scorers within the match.

It was tough to reconcile the second quarter — the Scarlet Knights scored early off of the face-off, followed by a long slough of missed shots, ground balls and shot clock violations. Three more scores were made in the final six minutes: two for Rutgers and one for Hopkins, making the score tied 8–8 at the half.

What once seemed a one-sided game had become a struggle. Goals by Rutgers midfielder Justin Kim and attackman Ross Scott set the lead on the Scarlet Knights’ saddle, but scores from Hopkins midfielders junior Casey McDermott and freshman Brooks English tied the score again at 10–10. With two more efforts from junior midfielders Brendan Grimes and Jonathan Peshko, Hopkins was narrowly winning the extensive tug of war 11–12. 

The fourth quarter was all Hopkins, as has been the case all season. Graduate student attackman Garret Degnon scored his 100th career goal off of an assist from English, a feat that only 21 other Hopkins men's lacrosse players have achieved. 

In an interview with The News-Letter, Degnon commented on his achievement.

“This milestone definitely speaks volumes about the teams I have played with here at Hopkins. The culture we have on the lacrosse team is centered around selflessness,“ he said. “Over the last three to four years, the selflessness of our team has allowed me to score goals. My teammates tend to do a lot of the hard work, while I get credited with the goals at the end of the play. Current and past teammates deserve a lot of credit when reaching this milestone, and their hard work cannot go understated.”

Degnon emphasized the team’s momentum for the rest of the season.

“As far as the season going forward, we are confident. We are a hungry team who has faced a lot of adversity in the last five years. We attack each day trying to get better and are taking the season one game at a time. We're not focusing on the end of the season, but we are confident going forward,” he said.

In a climactic, triumphant fourth quarter, the Blue Jays’ four goals to the Scarlet Knights’ one made the final score 12–16, and Hopkins looks forward to playing at Penn State on April 8 at 7 p.m.

Women’s lacrosse vs. Rutgers University

While the final score shows a narrow victory for Hopkins (11–12), the Blue Jays were bleeding for most of the game. The team only managed two scores for each of the first three quarters while Rutgers came out strong.

In the first quarter, Rutgers zoomed through three unanswered scores, one off of a free position shot caused by a foul on Blue Jay sophomore midfielder Quinlan O’Brien. Hopkins finally responded with scores from attackmen sophomore Charlotte Smith and junior Campbell Case. The score going into the second quarter was 4–2, which kept the game within the Blue Jays’ grasp.

In the second quarter, the game really started to get away from Hopkins. Rutgers continued to score consistently throughout the quarter, putting up six scores while Hopkins struggled to score one off of a foul and another off of a ground ball pickup. Regardless, the deficit worsened with the score at 10–4 at the half.

A return from such a deficit is less than likely, but the game was far from over. The third quarter, however, did nothing to make the fleeting hope any closer. 

That isn’t to say there wasn’t an opportunity for Hopkins. Rutgers only scored once and was boxed out of the crease due to the staunch Hopkins defense, causing six turnovers in the third quarter alone. Despite this effort on the defensive side, the offense (once again) could not put more than two scores up on the board, the energy stifled by repeated fouls. The score was a defeating 11–6 at the end of the period.

Going into the fourth quarter, hope was at an all-time low. It took one turnover and three fouls before the Blue Jays’ first score with 12 minutes left to play — a modest start to a grand comeback.

For the remainder of the match, Rutgers remained scoreless, and Hopkins took full advantage. Scores from Case and midfielders sophomore Ashley Mackin and senior Bailey Cheetham tied the game up. Finally, with a skillful hug of the crease, junior midfielder Georgie Gorelick scored her second goal of the quarter and put Hopkins in the lead with 5:35 left to play.

Alejandro Ross, snare player for the Blue Jays Pep Band, was in shock, as was the rest of the crowd in the stands.

“I was worried about the score at first, until they just kept scoring and scoring in the last quarter,“ Ross said. “It was so fun to watch and cheer, and I’m so happy for the team.”

In the final five minutes, the two teams straightened up on defense, and Hopkins found a way to victory in an 11–12 match. As the Blue Jays look forward to their match at the University of Maryland on April 5 at 5 p.m., they hope this last burst of energy on offense will carry on.