BALTIMORE, MD – Host Loyola used a 6-1 run in the middle of the game to turn a 4-3 lead into a 10-4 advantage and the Greyhounds held off a late rally by Johns Hopkins to pick up a 10-7 non-conference men's lacrosse victory Saturday afternoon.  With the win, the 'Hounds improve to 1-1, while the Blue Jays slip to 1-1 in with the loss.                  
 
Up 4-3 late in the second quarter, Loyola jump-started its game-deciding run when Kevin Lindley cut to the middle, took a feed from Joey Kamish and beat Blue Jay goalie Ryan Darby from nine yards out to make it 5-3 at the half.
 
The Greyhounds padded the lead with unassisted goals from Aiden Olmstead and Adam Poitras in the first eight minutes of the second half and Lindley got his fourth of the game with 4:14 on the third-quarter clock to extend the lead to 8-3.
 
Johns Hopkins halted the run with 1:41 to play in the period as senior Forry Smith finished from 10 yards out after taking a nice feed from sophomore Garrett Degnon, but the Greyhounds would score twice in the first 3:23 of the fourth quarter to grab a 10-4 lead.  Peter Swindell had time and room from 10 yards out and ripped one home, while Ryan McNulty scored in transition two minutes later to make it a six-goal game.
 
The Blue Jays had the deficit down to four at 10-6 as Evan Zinn got to the goal just 56 seconds after McNulty's tally and he then drew a slide and found a wide open Connor DeSimone, who scored on a step down from 12 yards with just over 10 minutes remaining.
 
Johns Hopkins had a golden opportunity to make it a three-goal game just seconds after DeSimone scored as junior Kyle Prouty cleanly won the ensuring faceoff and streaked into the zone, but his offering was stopped by Loyola goalie Sam Shafter to keep it a 10-6 game.
 
Neither team scored over the next eight minutes and the Blue Jays killed off a pair of Loyola extra-man chances in that time, but the score held at 10-6 until Smith scored off a rebound with 94 seconds remaining and the 'Hounds held on for the win.
 
Loyola had a pair of two-goal leads in the first 25 minutes of the game as Lindley scored twice early to give the Greyhounds the early cushion, but Degnon scored with 3:35 remaining before the half to make it 4-3.  That set the stage for Loyola's 6-1 run that proved to be the difference.
 
Smith notched his fourth career hat trick to lead the Blue Jays with three goals and Zinn added the one goal and two assists.  Degnon added his second consecutive multi-goal game with two tallies and added the one assist, while Darby posted 11 saves in goal for Johns Hopkins.
Loyola got nine of its 10 goals from starters and Lindley (4g), Olmstead (2g, 1a) and Poitras (2g, 1a) led the way offensively.  Shafer posted 15 saves and Bailey Savio won 12-of-20 faceoffs and had eight ground balls for the Greyhounds.
 
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Saturday, February 22 when the Blue Jays welcome North Carolina to Homewood Field.