May 17, 2008

by Clare Lochary, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

ANNAPOLIS, MD - On his first shot of the game, Hopkins' Paul Rabil slipped inside the Navy defensive line and stuff the ball past goalie Tommy Phelan. The goal typified the economic shooting that lifted the Blue Jays to a NCAA quarterfinal 10-4 victory over the Midshipmen on their home turf at Navy Marine Corps Stadium.

"We wanted to be patient and really focus on maintaining possession of the ball," said Rabil. "It took a little bit to get going, but we kept plugging away. Getting that first goal was a big key in getting us going."

Hopkins scored 10 goals on just 23 shots, 16 of which were on goal. By contrast, Blue Jays defender Michael Evans shut out the Midshipmen's leading scorer Tim Paul and the Navy attack struggled to shoot accurately, putting only 17 of its 35 shots on goal.

"We took a lot of shots and only scored four. That's not a good percentage. I'm not a math major, but that's not a good percentage," said Navy attacker Nick Mirabito, who scored one goal on 10 shots.

Rabil led all scorers with three goals and an assist, setting a new school record for career postseason points with 42. Brian Wood, a Hopkins attacker from 1984 to 1987, held the previous record of 40 career postseason points.

"It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy," deadpanned Blue Jays head coach Dave Pietramala in response to the news that his former teammate's mark had been surpassed.

Less jokingly, Pietramala said today's game was one of his most exciting wins at Hopkins. Not only did was the school's the 35th consecutive victory over the Mids, but the win put his team in its sixth final four in seven years after a 3-5 start to the season.

"It has been a long road. There have been a lot of bumps and hiccups," said Pietramala. "We knew we were going to have to ground this one out. I am really proud of our guys. I think this is one of my prouder moments at Johns Hopkins."

Despite stellar shooting, Hopkins' day was far from perfect. The Blue Jays committed 22 turnovers and struggled at the X. Navy's faceoff specialist Mike Visgauss bested Steven Peyser, winning 10 of 16 contests, including six straight in the first quarter. Visgauss converted the last of those first-quarter face offs into a fast break goal at 0:54 in the first quarter, giving the Midshipmen a 3-2 lead just five seconds after Hopkins tied the game at 2 on a Steven Boyle (3g) goal.

But after Visgauss' goal, the Hopkins defense then shut out Navy for two straight quarters, allowing its attack to go on a 6-0 run that put the game out of reach.

"If they've got a three-goal lead, you've got to do a lot of stuff to cut that lead, and they've got to do some stuff wrong," said Navy head coach Richie Meade.

The Hopkins victory came before an NCAA quarterfinal record crowd of 17,017 fans, and advances them to the semifinal next Saturday against the winner of tomorrow's Duke-Ohio State match-up. The Blue Jays' senior class is 10-0 when playing in front of crowds of 10,000 or more.

"We love playing in front of big crowds. It is always a fun experience to play on lacrosse's biggest stage next weekend," said Rabil.