Box Score May 24, 2003
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BALTIMORE, Md. -- With the threat of rain hanging in the air all day, it was the Johns Hopkins offense that opened the flood gates as top-seeded Hopkins used a stunning 14-0 run that extended from the final minute of the first half until the final minute of the game as the Blue Jays rolled past Syracuse, 19-8 in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Semifinals at M&T Bank Stadium. The win is the 11th straight for Hopkins, which is now 14-1 on the year. Syracuse suffered its worst NCAA Tournament loss ever and ends the season at 10-6.
"A lot of people are probably thinking Hopkins is satisfied just to get to the championship game, but the answer to that question is far from yes," Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala stated. "We played a great Syracuse team today. We had to grind it out for 60 minutes and (after we fell behind early) we had to stay the course."
The course got a lot smoother in the second half.
With Syracuse leading 7-5 late in the second quarter, the Blue Jays began their run with a Kevin Boland goal with 1:01 remaining in the period. The Blue Jays nearly tied the game as the buzzer sounded to end the first half as Bobby Benson's apparent goal off a restart with just one second left on the clock came just after the clock hit 0:00. Still, Hopkins, which had trailed 3-0 and 4-1, was just getting started.
The Blue Jays pulled even with an unassisted goal by Kyle Harrison just 25 seconds into the second half and the score remained tied until the 5:51 mark when Conor Ford gave Hopkins its first lead of the game with his second goal of the game off an assist from Kyle Barrie. Benson and Barrie both scored in the final 3:30 of the period to give Hopkins a 10-7 lead entering the final quarter.
The Blue Jays wasted little time putting the game away in the fourth quarter as they scored six goals in the first six minutes of the period to make it 16-7 and ensure themselves a spot in the championship game. Peter LeSueur, Joe McDermott, Harrison, Barrie, Benson and Ford all scored during the spree for the Blue Jays, who posted their second-highest scoring total ever in an NCAA Semifinal game. Two more Benson goals were sandwiched around a Barrie tally to make it 19-7 with just over four minutes remaining before a Brian Nee extra man goal with just 55 seconds left on the clock finally halted the run.
"We took a lot of momentum out of their game in the second half and put the ball in our stick," Boland noted at the post-game press conference. "Once we got the jitters out and had the momentum, there was no turning back."
Syracuse, which was making its 21st consecutive semifinal appearance, appeared much more at ease at the beginning of the game as the Orangemen took a 1-0 lead just 28 seconds into the game when Jarret Park scored a transition goal. Back-to-back goals by Michael Springer and Greg Rommel less than three minutes apart midway through the quarter made it 3-0 and it was 4-1 after McDermott and Nee traded goals late in the first quarter.
Hopkins trimmed the deficit to 4-3 with back-to-back goals by Barrie and junior long stick middie Corey Harned just 14 seconds apart early in the second quarter. Syracuse would hold the lead until halftime as the teams traded the next six goals, with Boland's tally off a dodge from the side of the goal with 1:01 remaining closing out the first half scoring. That sent the game to the half with the score 7-6 and no one in the record crowd of 37,823 could have seen the Blue Jay avalanche that was coming.
Barrie and Boland had five points each to lead the Blue Jays as Barrie had four goals and the one assist, while Boland had the run-starting goal and four assists. Benson added four goals, while Ford had three goals and one assist. Senior goalie Rob Scherr registered 15 saves in goal for the Blue Jays, including eight in the second half without allowing a goal (SU's last goal was scored against freshman goalie Scott Smith, who played the final 2:33).
Syracuse was led by Nee's two goals, while Liam Banks added a goal and two assists. Powell, who assisted on two of the first three SU goals, finished with just those two assists. No other Syracuse player had more than one point in the game. Jay Pfeifer registered 12 saves in goal for the Orangemen, but just five in the second half, when Hopkins outscored the Orangemen, 13-1.
"We felt like we had a pretty good week of practice and we felt that Rob (Scherr) was doing a good job in goal," Johns Hopkins sophomore defender Tom Garvey noted in the post-game press conference about the difference between the two halves. "It wasn't a one-man show...we had everybody helping out. In the second half, we felt like a lot of the pressure was taken off us (the defense) because the ball was on offense so much."
Johns Hopkins will play Virginia, a 14-4 winner over Maryland in the other semifinal, in Monday's championship game. This will be the 12th time the teams have met in the NCAA Tournament, including the third time in the championship game. The Cavaliers defeated Hopkins, 13-12 in the 1972 NCAA Championship game, while the Blue Jays took a 9-8 double overtime decision in the 1980 title game.
Syracuse (10-6) 4 3 0 1- 8
#4 Johns Hopkins (14-1) 1 5 4 9- 19
Goals:
S: Nee-2, Banks, Springer, Lindsay, Park, Rommel, Olson.
J: Barrie-4, Benson-4, Ford-3, LeSueur-2, McDermott-2, Harrison-2, Boland, Harned.
Assists:
S: Powell-2, Banks-2, Perritt.
J: Boland-4, Harned-2, LeSueur-2, Barrie, Erwin, Ford, McDermott, G. Peyser.
Saves:
S: Pfeifer-12
J: Scherr-15, Smith-2
Shots:
SU - 44.
JHU - 41.
EMO:
S: 1-for-5.
J: 3-for-5.
Attendance: 37,823.
