Johns Hopkins attackman Wells Stanwick (Boys' Latin) took a pass from Connor Reed and scored just seconds into the fourth quarter to give the Blue Jays a comfortable five-goal lead over the Michigan men's lacrosse team.
Stanwick raised his arms in celebration and soaked in the moment. After a season full of adversity, the Blue Jays finally could enjoy a day in the sun.
Hopkins secured at least the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten Conference tournament with a 16-9 victory before an announced 6,036 at Homewood Field. Stanwick finished with three goals and an assist for the Blue Jays, who close out the regular season at No. 3 Maryland next Saturday.
"It's definitely some weight off our shoulders," Stanwick said. "We've had some ups and downs, but all of our goals are still ahead of us. Now we are just looking forward to Maryland."
Hopkins (6-6, 3-1 Big Ten) has dealt with close games most of the year; nine of 11 this season entering Saturday had been decided by three goals or fewer. The Blue Jays' six losses have come by a total of just 12 goals, with each coming against a ranked team.
The Blue Jays initially appeared to be headed for another tough battle. But they ended the first half with goals by Shack Stanwick (Boys' Latin), Reed and Holden Cattoni in the final six minutes and led 8-5 at the break.
Then Wells Stanwick opened the second-half scoring with a transition goal 2:17 into the third quarter. Cattoni scored another man-up goal four minutes later, and Hopkins led 10-5.
Midfielder Kyle Jackson and attackman Will Meter sandwiched goals for Michigan around a score by Blue Jays attackman Ryan Brown (Calvert Hall). The Wolverines refused to go away, and midfielder Brendan Gaughan pulled Michigan to within three. But Brown scored again for the Blue Jays, the 100th of his career, and Hopkins took a 12-8 lead into the fourth quarter.
Wells Stanwick wasted little time once there, providing a five-goal margin just 19 seconds in. From there, the Blue Jays' depth began to wear down the Wolverines. John Crawley recorded his second goal with 7:31 left, and midfielder Joel Tinney scored twice to round out Hopkins' scoring.
Drew Kennedy came up big for the Blue Jays, winning 18 of his 24 faceoffs.
"I think we had a good week of practice preparing for Michigan," Kennedy said. "We always want to have a lot of possessions on offense."
Midfielder David Joseph led Michigan with a pair of goals. The Wolverines (5-7, 1-3) can make the Big Ten Tournament by beating Penn State next week.
"That's a huge game for us," Michigan coach John Paul said. "Our guys have to understand the opportunity in front of them. It's an opportunity a lot of people didn't expect us to have this year."
Johns Hopkins took a 3-1 lead in the first quarter with goals by midfielder Phil Castronova (Calvert Hall), Crawley and midfielder Patrick Fraser.
After a timeout, Michigan was much more effective in setting its offense and pressuring Johns Hopkins. Midfielders Mikie Schlosser and Mike Hernandez scored a minute apart to tie the game with three minutes remaining.
The Blue Jays changed goalies, replacing Will Ryan with Eric Schneider.
"I don't think it was Will's fault at all," Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said. "I just felt he wasn't moving as well as we hoped. Eric had a very terrific week of practice and a very good warmup. Both were going to play today. We just felt, at the time, we needed a little spark."
Johns Hopkins soon regained the momentum, as Wells Stanwick and long-stick defensive midfielder Michael Pellegrino provide a two-goal margin three minutes into the second quarter.
The Wolverines again responded, and David McCormack converted a rebound of his own missed shot before Mike Francia tied the game with an extra-man goal.
The Blue Jays scored three straight to end the half with an 8-5 lead.
"We grounded it out. I'm proud of our seniors, and this put us in the Big Ten tournament," Pietramala said. "I think we did a good job not allowing them a lot of looks. Now we have to turn around and get prepared for one of the best teams in the country."