It had been sixty years since Johns Hopkins defeated Virginia by a 12-goal margin.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA -- Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala had seen this script before in Charlottesville; a big early lead, the crowd into it from the start and a lopsided score at the end.
Unlike the previous versions of this screen play, it was Pietramala's Blue Jays who jumped out to a 7-1 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back in topping host Virginia 19-7 in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament.Johns Hopkins (10-6) advances to the quarterfinals, where the Blue Jays will carry their six-game winning streak into a game against either Syracuse or Marist.
By the time Hopkins had pushed its 7-1 lead to 13-2 at the half, the historians were scrambling through the Hopkins record book. Here's a little of what they found:
The last time Johns Hopkins had scored 19 goals against Virginia? 1995, when the Blue Jays won 22-13.
The last time Johns Hopkins had scored 19 on Virginia in an NCAA tournament game? Never, in 15 previous meetings.
The last time Johns Hopkins had beaten the Cavaliers by 12? 1955, when the Blue Jays handed a first-year coach named Bob Scott his first road victory.
There were a lot of other notes passing through the Klockner Stadium press box as the Blue Jays scored on 13 of 24 first-half shots en route to building the 11-goal lead at the half.
After Cody Radziewicz and Greg Coholan traded goals in the first six minutes of the game, the Blue Jays took control with a stunning 11-goal run that gave them a 12-1 lead late in the second quarter. Hopkins held Virginia scoreless for more than 22 minutes during its 11-goal spree.
It took less than five minutes after Coholan's strike for the 1-1 tie to become a 5-1 Blue Jay lead as John Crawley scored twice on dodges from behind the goal and Ryan Brown and Joel Tinney added goals on assists from Connor Reed.
When brothers Wells and Shack Stanwick both scored highlight reel goals in the final 3:12 of the first quarter -- Wells on an unassisted back-to-the-goal move from in tight and Shack on a great catch in the slot that he fired home with one second on the clock -- Hopkins had a six-goal lead.
The run continued in the second quarter with the final five goals in the 11-goal run. A Holden Cattoni extra-man goal opened the second quarter scoring for Hopkins, which ended its run with a hidden-ball extra-man tally by Shack Stanwick, who was on the back-end of the trickery pulled off by Ryan Brown and Wells Stanwick.
The Cavaliers (10-5) scored two of the first three goals of the second half, but a four-goal Blue Jay run that included two goals by Tinney and the second of the day for Wells Stanwick and Radziewicz pushed the margin to 18-4 early in the fourth quarter before Virginia scored three of the final four goals in the game to account for the 19- 7 final score.
The 19-goal outburst by the Blue Jay offense stole the headlines, but Hopkins also got another strong outing from Eric Schneider in goal. Schneider posted 14 saves and allowed just five goals in 56:44 before giving way to junior Will Ryan.
The Blue Jays' starting close defense of seniors John Kelly and Nikhon Schuler and sophomore Nick Fields helped limit Virginia's starting attack to five goals on 20 shots, while the rope unit of Michael Pellegrino, Phil Castronova, Joe Carlini and Kelton Black helped hold Virginia's first midfield to two goals on 13 shots.
The Blue Jays got 14 goals and 12 assists from its starting attack and first midfield with Brown (4g, 2a), Reed (6a) and Shack Stanwick (3g, 2a) leading the way.
Not to be outdone, the Blue Jays' second midfield of Radziewicz, Crawley and Kieran Eissler combined for five goals and one assist and freshman Hunter Moreland continued to excel on faceoffs as he was 15-of-23.
Coholan and Ryan Lukacovic paced the Cavalier offense with two goals and one assist each, while fellow attackman Owen Van Arsdale added one goal and one assist, but two Virginia goalie combined to make just six saves as Hopkins got to good spots on offense and took advantage of its opportunities.
