Hopkins Has Renewed Sense of Oneness
by Brian Delaney | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
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Johns Hopkins has rediscovered its stroke in one-goal games, with Brian Christopher being a big reason why. The senior midfielder scored game-winning goals against Towson and Loyola in back-to-back overtime wins to close out the regular season. © John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com |
Brown beware -- Johns Hopkins is winning those one-goal games again.
The hazardous road to the fourth quarter and overtime may be filled with occasional lapses, but Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala has seen a maturation in the latter stages with this year's tested 9-4 group.
"I don't know if we're playing perfect lacrosse -- I don't think we are by any sense of the word -- but we've grown enough and guys have been able now to step up," he said. "They've kind of learned how to win that one-goal game, and that overtime game, and that's been interesting to see."
Hopkins, awarded the eighth seed in the NCAA tournament, will host Ivy League third-place finisher Brown (12-3) at noon Saturday in a first-round game. The Blue Jays are making their record 38th straight NCAA tournament appearance. Brown is back in the postseason for the first time since 1995.
Over the last three weeks, Hopkins has won a pair of double-overtime games. The Jays beat Towson on April 22, and Loyola last Saturday by identical 11-10 scores. Both times, senior midfielder Brian Christopher potted the game-winner.
A 10-9 victory over Maryland on April 11, held up by a Michael Gvozden save as time expired, snapped a two-game losing skid in one-goal games. The Jays and their "overachieving offense" haven't looked back, and the team enters postseason play on a six-game winning streak.
"The place everyone told us we were going to struggle was the offensive end," Pietramala said. "They said, ‘There's no way they're going to be able to score goals without [Paul] Rabil, [Stephen] Peyser and [Kevin] Huntley."
Pietramala credited assistant coach Bobby Benson with the development of an offense that boasts five players with point totals ranging between 34 and 40. Four of those players have double-digit assist totals. Kyle Wharton (31g, 9a) and Chris Boland (23g, 16a) have grown into go-to options, but guys like Christopher have left an indelible mark on this team's success.
"They've done a great job buying into the team-first, share-the-ball, be-unselfish, doesn't-matter-who-scores-the-goals mentality," Pietramala said. "They give up a 15-yard shot for a 10-yard shot, give up a 10 for a 5... I think we've overachieved and done a terrific job at that end."
In Brown, Hopkins faces a team with an All-American left-handed goalie in Jordan Burke (.617 save percentage) and three attackmen in Andrew Feinberg (40g, 16a), Thomas Muldoon (32g, 11a) and Kyle Hollingsworth (20g, 26a) that can play with anyone.
The Hopkins-Brown winner will likely face top-seeded Virginia, which drew Colonial Athletic Association champion Villanova in the first round. The Cavaliers were one of the two teams that, earlier this season, beat Hopkins in a one-goal game.
It will thus be Brown's, and any future postseason opponent's, priority to build and sustain a lead on the Blue Jays as that pivotal fourth quarter progresses.
The failure to do that may very well culminate in the same fashion as so many other Hopkins games -- with a loss.
"For the longest time, we've won a lot of one-goal games around here," Pietramala said. "It's something we've prided ourselves in, as any team does."
