(Photo Courtesy of North Carolina Athletics)
The North Carolina Tar Heels put together a fierce comeback on the road at Homewood Field on Tuesday night to knock off the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays 11-7. The victory marked the third consecutive win over the Blue Jays for Joe Breschi’s squad and the program’s seventh straight win at Homewood.
North Carolina trailed 6-3 at the half and was shooting at just a 14% clip (3-for-21). The Tar Heels’ struggles came despite the fact that Andrew Tyeryar’s dominance at the faceoff dot gave the Tar Heels a significant advantage. He went 9-for-11 (81%) through the first two frames and ended the night with a 13-for-22 (59%) mark overall.
It was much of the same to start the second half for the Tar Heels as a long first possession saw the offense come up empty despite getting sox shots off. However, the Tar Heels would eventually be able to get things rolling. Harry Wellford ripped one from outside with a bounce from the left wing off a Lance Tillman feed to get his first goal as a Tar Heels. P.J. Zinger followed up with one of his own to make it a one-goal, 6-5, game with 6:45 remaining in the third.
A shot clock violation and a Matt Collison score to push Hopkins back ahead 7-5 only slowed the Tar Heels momentarily. Zinser put in his second of the day with 1:25 left in the third frame and would be the first of an eventual 6-0 game-winning run for North Carolina. Antonio DeMarco scored twice during that run while Sean Goldsmith and Dewey Egan each found the back of the net as well to also end the day with two scores.
While it was the North Carolina offense who got hot in the end, it was goalie Collin Krieg who was the man of the hour. Krieg stayed hot all night, making 14 saves with a 66.7% save percentage. That included five saves during the third quarter in which he helped turn away the Hopkins offense and turn the tide.
The Blue Jays committed eight turnovers (four caused) and went 9-for-12 (75%) in the clearing game during those final two frames; partially a byproduct of the Tar Heels having fresher legs and being able to push the pace more and outrun their opponent as time passed. North Carolina also won the ground ball battle 35-31.
Johns Hopkins’ Tim Marcille ended the day with 15 saves and a 57.7% save percentage. Nine of those saves came during the first half of play, where he also had the highlight of the night with a score from the other end to break the Tar Heels’ 10-man ride.
Matt Collison led the Hopkins offense with two goals while Jacob Angelus dished out two assists. Dylan Bauer, Brendan Grimes, Russell Melendez, and Garrett Degnon each found the back of the cage once.
Johns Hopkins moves to face crosstown rival Loyola on Saturday while North Carolina moves to face Ohio State on Sunday.
Notre Dame 21, Marquette 10
Eric Dobson got Notre Dame on the board less than 30 seconds into the contest and the Irish goals would not stop falling there. Transfer midfielders Brian Teviln and Jack Simmons each found the back of the net for their first goals while donning the golden domes. Chris Kavanagh would Bryce Walker for a score before putting one home himself, making it a 5-0 Notre Dame lead 9:55 left in the first quarter.
The Irish pushed their lead to 9-2 at the end of the first quarter, 13-7 at the half, and held a 16-7 advantage entering the final stanza of the contest. The Irish attack unit of Jefferey Ricciardelli (5G/1A), Chris Kavanagh (5G/2A), and Pat Kavanagh (6A) led the way with a combined 19 points and 10 goals on the night. The starting midfield line of Bryce Walker (2G), Eric Dobson (2G), and Quinn McCahon (1G) scored a combined five goals.
Will Lynch went 16-for-26 61%) at the faceoff dot for the Irish while Liam Entenmann made eight saves.
Bobby O’Grady stole the show on the Marquette side with four goals on the night. That included each of the first two goals for the Golden Eagles during the first quarter of play. Jake Stegman had five points off one goal and four assists in the effort.
Michael Alleri made 10 saves in cage for Marquette. Defenseman Mason Woodward has himself a night, causing one turnover, grabbing four ground balls, and scoring a goal.
Notre Dame moves to play Cleveland State on Sunday. Marquette will face Michigan next Saturday to wrap up its February slate.
Delaware 15, Mount St. Mary’s 6
The Delaware Blue Hens moves to 2-0 on the season on Wednesday afternoon with a victory over the Mount St. Mary’s Mountaineers.
A two-minute non-releasable crosscheck on the Mount’s Jake Wright at the 13:42 mark in the first quarter gave the Blue Hens the perfect opportunity to get things rolling, and they indeed would. Cam Acchione and Tye Kurtz each converted on the man-up and would give the Hens an early 2-0 lead which they would never relinquish.
The Blue Hens led 6-3 at the half with the Mountaineers’s scores coming from Jared McMahon and JT Gravante. The Blue Hens ended went on a 9-3 run in the second half to close things out and earn the victory.
JP Ward (4G/4A) led the way for Delaware with eight points on the day while Tye Kurtz (3G/1A) had four points. Roland Hockenbery went 12-for-23 (52%) at the faceoff dot and Matt Kilkeary made four saves. Kevin Lybch (2CT, 3GB) and Owen Grant (2CT,2GB) to lead the way in front of the cage.
Jared McMahon led Mount St. Mary’s with two goals and one assist for three points. Jeremy Wilson had two goals. Griffin McGinley made 14 saves in cage.
Lacrosse Bucket 