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eThe Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team scored its highest output of the season, but Ryan Brown didn't have a hand in it.
The senior attackman's streak of 37 games with at least one goal came to a sudden end in the No. 13 Blue Jays' 17-7 demolition of visiting Princeton before an announced crowd of 2,082 at Homewood Field in Baltimore on Saturday.
The last time Brown, a Sykesville resident and Calvert Hall graduate, had not scored in a game was April 27, 2013, when, as a freshman midfielder, he took just two shots and committed three turnovers.
But Brown showed no sadness or regret over the streak's demise as the Blue Jays snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 2-2.
"It's not a big deal," said Brown, who posted two assists (his first multiple-assist outing of the season) and still leads the team in goals with 11. "I'm not really thinking about it that much. If we're going to win games by 10 goals and I'm not going to score a goal, that's fine. I'll keep doing that."
Brown said Tigers junior defenseman Bear Goldstein never strayed from shadowing him. Princeton coach Chris Bates said the defenders were constantly aware where Brown was on the field.
"It's hard to feel good when you get posted for 17 [goals], but you've always got to locate him," he said. "We knew where he was. We have a ton of respect for him. I think offensively, the offensive guys at Hopkins do a good job. They find him, and we knew where to locate him. There were not a lot of surprises. So we were prepared. But we got beat in transition, and we got beat in a lot of other ways."
Despite Brown's absence in the scoring, Johns Hopkins got goals from 10 different players. Junior attackman Wilkins Dismuke – who entered the game with one goal in his first three starts – led with four goals, and senior midfielder Holden Cattoni added three goals. Sophomore attackman Shack Stanwick had a game-high five points on two goals and three assists.
Coach Dave Pietramala was pleased to see production come from sources other than Brown.
"Offensively, we got production from a lot of people and some people that we hadn't been getting," he said. "It's exciting to know we can score 17 goals and not have Ryan Brown score one. One of the things I've been talking about in the early season is we need more from others. Today, we got that. They decided they were going to shut[down] Ryan a little bit and not allow him to be a part of it. So it was important that we got contributions from others and we did."
The Blue Jays broke a 3-3 tie early in the second quarter with a 5-0 outburst over 13 minutes, 11 seconds spanning the second and third periods. The offense, which finished with 46 shots, went on a pair of 4-0 runs over 10:55 and 6:41 in the last two quarters.
The defense was similarly dominant, shutting out the Tigers (1-2) over spans of 15:40, 11:54 and 9:53. Princeton – which played without junior midfielder Zach Currier, who served a one-game suspension for throwing a ball at an official after Saturday's 11-10 overtime loss at No. 9 Hofstra – took just 27 attempts, and its starting attack of senior Ryan Ambler, junior Gavin McBride and sophomore Riley Thompson combined for just two goals on 14 shots and two assists.
Johns Hopkins senior defenseman Nick Fields said the unit was inspired after Sunday's 15-11 loss to No. 10 North Carolina.
"What we really harped on this week was playing with a lot of energy and a lot of juice," said Fields, who limited Ambler to two assists. "Of course coming off last Sunday, we're always just looking for the next battle, the next opportunity to play. We really just grinded this week. We wanted to play with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, and I think as a defense, we stepped up and played well today. So it was a good team win."
The Blue Jays dominated nearly every statistical category, winning 22 of 30 faceoffs, picking up 32 ground balls to the Tigers' 14, and converting 5 of 6 extra-man opportunities.
The final score could have been even more lopsided if not for a career-high 20 saves from sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Blaisdell. Sophomore midfielder Austin Sims was the only multiple goal scorer for Princeton, finishing with two.