For the Maryland seniors, they finally beat Hopkins. With so many family ties to Maryland Lacrosse, losing all 4 match-ups against their arch-rival was just not an option. The starting attack unit of Travis Reed (2G, 1A), Ryan Young (1G, 2A), and Tewaaraton Nominee Grant Catalino (2G, 1A) combined for 9 points. Each player had 3 points to lead a well-balanced Maryland offense.
The main story of the day was how well the EMO units fared. Maryland's defense committed 6 penalties in the first half, yet they did not allow Hopkins to capitalize. For the entire game, the man-down unit held the Blue Jays man-up offense to 1-7. Offensively for the Terps, it was the same old story. Adam Sear got his 6th EMO goal of the season and the Terps were 4-4 on those chances.
The defense, led by senior keeper Brian Phipps, held Hopkins scoreless for a 23 minute stretch at one point. They picked up the intensity in the second half, after losing the groundball battle 15-12 in the first 30 minutes. The 3rd quarter was the difference in the game. Maryland won 10 of the 13 groundballs and out-hustled Hopkins.
Maryland now has 3 wins against JHU since Dave Pietramala took over and is the only team from the state of Maryland to beat a Pietramala led team. Will Yeatman returned to action after breaking his thumb in the first week of April. He missed the game against Navy and once he stepped onto the field, the Terps played with a much higher energy level. Yeatman easily had the play of the game in the second half when he baited two Hopkins defenders towards the edge of the box on the near sideline. He slowed down, turned his broad shoulders and raced towards the goal with a great change of pace. A 3rd defender checked him to the ground, but it was too late...Yeatman shot low and got the ball past Bassett for his lone goal of the game. Every fan was on the edge of their seat and the Hopkins contingent went quiet after that showing.
Maryland went up 10-7 late in the 4th and tried to stall for the last 3 minutes, when freshman keeper Pierce Bassett was forced to play defense to help cause turnovers. The strategy seemed to work for Hopkins because they got two turnovers and two quick goals to come back within 1 goal of the lead. It seemed as though the Terps would lose yet another 1-goal game. However, as Brian Farrell and his team have said all year...they finished strong. Just like the last time at Ravens Stadium, when Duke scored with :19 seconds left to force OT, the Terps kept their composure and Bryn Holmes, the "toughest son of a booger" that coach Dave Cottle has ever seen, was able to run out most of the final minute.
Although Steven Boyle had a hat trick and MIchael Kimmel had 2 goals and 2 helpers, the defense did a tremendous job, as Brett Schmidt held Tom Palasek without a shot the entire game. Phipps stopped 8 Hopkins shots and now has 414 saves in his career to move past Pat McGinnis for 5th all time on the saves list.
Grant Catalino now has 126 career points, moving him into sole possession of 25th place on the all-time scoring list.
Maryland will now play UNC in the ACC-Semifinal on Friday night at Byrd Stadium. The winner of that game faces off on Sunday against Duke or UVA, in their rematch of the Blue Devil's 5th straight win over the Cavaliers (13-9 at UVA on Saturday night). They outscored the Wahoos 8-3 in the second half and are the hottest team in D-1 Men's Lacrosse. At 82 (1-2), Maryland picks up another quality win for their tournament resume and the monkey is off the back of Coach Cottle...the first of many as they try to make their way back to the Final Four for the first time since 2006. Go Terps!
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