No. 7 Maryland men’s lacrosse’s comeback effort falls short in 9-8 loss to No. 12 Johns Hopkins

Photo courtesy of Kevin Snyder/Maryland Athletics.

Leo Johnson had the ball in his stick with 10 seconds remaining in the final quarter with the game between No. 7 Maryland men’s lacrosse (6-5, 3-2 B1G) and No. 12 Johns Hopkins (8-4, 3-2 B1G) on the line. 

Johnson found his former Yale teammate Chris Lyons right on the doorstep, but his game-tying shot attempt hit off the far post, ending the Terps’ regular season with an agonizing 9-8 loss on the road against their in-state rivals. 

That final shot felt like the finishing touches of a shooting performance that didn’t go the Terps’ way. They struggled all game putting the ball in the back of the net – whether it was an arid shot or Johns Hopkins goalie Oran Gelinas, who has had Maryland’s number for two straight years. 

Gelinas had 20 saves in the game between the Terps and Johns Hopkins a season ago. He tallied 14 more today. 

Maryland struggled to put shots on goal. The Terps tallied 41 total shots, but only came away with eight goals – and 22 of the 41 were actually on net. 

The game was back and forth, but the three goal run Hopkins went on in the second quarter created a hole that Maryland couldn’t climb out of. 

The Terps did everything they could late, out-shooting the Blue Jays 17-3 in the fourth quarter. It just wasn’t enough. 

Maryland did a lot of things right – keeping a talented Hopkins offense under 10 goals would normally be a recipe for success. 

Brian Ruppel tallied 12 saves on the day and continued to look more comfortable in the cage, and the Terps dominated on the dot, winning 13-of-21 face offs. 

Leo Johnson had his eighth multi-goal game on the year with a hat trick offensively, and the rest of the Terp offense all contributed similarly. 

Blue Jays stars Matt Collison and Gelinas were too much for Maryland to handle. 

Coming into the afternoon, the Terps sat at number nine in the NCAA’s top 10, according to the NCAA selection committee. 

With five losses, it’s uncertain what needs to be done in order to see the Terps play May lacrosse – something they’re accustomed to. 

They’ll have the number three seed in the Big Ten tournament, slated to take on No. 6 Rutgers in College Park on April 25th for the first round – with potentially the future of Maryland’s season on the line.