COLLEGE PARK — Johns Hopkins' 15-12 victory at No. 2 Maryland might have been an upset, but just how the Blue Jays left Byrd Stadium on Saturday night with the win was no mystery to Terps senior midfielder Joe LoCascio.
"I was just thinking in my head that they out-Terped the Terps," he said. "They won the ground ball battle [34-28], which is something that we preach every single day. They came out with more emotion."
Asked to explain the meaning of "out-Terped," LoCascio said: "They just came out with more energy, and simple."
According to coach Dave Pietramala, the Blue Jays (7-6, 4-1 Big Ten Conference) played with less pressure. Assured of ending up as no worse than the No. 3 seed in the conference tournament, Johns Hopkins executed in a pivotal fourth quarter in which it outscored the Terps 6-2.
A 16-9 rout of Michigan on April 18, which clinched a berth in the Big Ten tournament, "was important, because we were able to come down and play with a little less pressure and play a little bit more freely without that pressure on our back," Pietramala said. "This is a huge marquee win. This is a playoff-berth win. It's that kind of win against this kind of team. This is a terrific [Maryland] team. So with that, we now have that on our resume and an ability to compete for an [automatic qualifier]. So we do give ourselves a bit of an opportunity."
Terps coach John Tillman said Johns Hopkins played with a sense of urgency, adding: "I really thought they were pretty darn hungry, and it reflected in their play and especially with some of their older players."
Blue Jays junior attackman Ryan Brown (Calvert Hall), who tied a career high with eight goals Saturday night, didn't entirely agree with Tillman's assessment.
"I don't know if we were any hungrier than they were," Brown said. "It's one of the best rivalries in lacrosse. These are the games that you come to these schools to play. So I think we were excited to get this W."
Circling back to "Three Things to Watch" …
1) Staying composed. Johns Hopkins, which entered the game tied with Manhattan for the most extra-man opportunities in Division I with 66, got just two chances Saturday, converting in the third quarter and failing in the fourth. Maryland's own man-up offense came on four times, going 2-for-2 in the first half but missing on two extra-man opportunities in the third quarter.
2) Finding weaknesses. The Terps scored 10 goals through the first three quarters, but their largest lead was three in the first quarter and two in the second and third. Johns Hopkins continued to fight back and tie the score at 6 and 7 in the first half. An offense that entered the game leading the Big Ten in scoring with 12.2 goals per game finally caught fire in the fourth quarter against a Maryland defense that had surrendered a national-low 5.8 goals per game. Tillman said the Blue Jays were too tough to contain.
"Their offense is really good," he said. "It's been good all year. They've got a lot of skilled players, and that's really been the strength of their team. They really put you under the gun. They were getting a lot of the ground balls. There were a lot of tough 50-50 grounders, and I think they came up with a majority of them."
3) Starting strong. Maryland avoided trailing at halftime for the third game in a row, but the team was unable to create separation in the fourth quarter. Key for Johns Hopkins was the play of freshman Hunter Moreland (Boys' Latin), who won 60 percent (15 of 25) of his faceoffs, including seven of eight in the final period. Pietramala credited assistant coach Dave Allan with making the switch from senior Drew Kennedy (one of five) to Moreland.
"We got a few in a row, and that happens because you win some faceoffs," Pietramala said. "To Hunter's credit, Hunter did a good job. When you score a goal and get the ball back, it allows you to get into a bit of a run, and it allowed us to get into a rhythm offensively and build some momentum. … I thought that was a big part of the fourth quarter."