BALTIMORE, MD – Seventh-ranked Rutgers used an 11-2 game-ending run over the final 32 minutes to fuel a 15-9 come-from-behind win over 14^th-ranked Johns Hopkins in Big Ten men's lacrosse action at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon.  The win improves the Scarlet Knights' record to 4-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten, while the Blue Jays slip to 2-3 overall and 2-3 in the league.
 
Johns Hopkins led 7-4 late in the second quarter after back-to-back goals from freshman Brendan Grimes and junior Garrett Degnon before the Scarlet Knights grabbed some late momentum heading into halftime when Adam Charalambides scored in transition after a save from Colin Kirst.
 
The 7-5 halftime lead was down to one early in the third quarter when Kieran Mullins scored from in tight and Kirst stopped the Blue Jays' Joey Epstein on back-to-back point-blank shots in quick succession on JHU's ensuing possession to keep it a 7-6 game.
 
Mullins and Jonathan Dugerio then bookended goals around another Degnon strike in the final 5:26 of the period to account for an 8-8 game heading into the final quarter.
 
The fourth quarter was all Rutgers as the Scarlet Knights outscored the Blue Jays 7-1 in the final 15 minutes to pull away for the six-goal victory.  Connor Kirst needed just six seconds to open the fourth-quarter scoring for Rutgers and Charalambides checked the ball out of Blue Jay goalie Josh Kirson's stick and into an empty net 58 seconds later to give the 'Knights a two-goal lead.
 
The Blue Jays pulled within one 56 seconds after the Charalambides goal when junior Evan Zinn got his hands free on a sweep from the top and picked the low corner to make it 10-9 with 13 minutes remaining.
 
The Blue Jay defense came up with a big stop on Rutgers next possession, but the 'Knights quickly made the Blue Jays pay for a failed clear as Mullins beat Kirson from in-tight off an assist from Shane Knobloch to jump-start a game-ending five goal run that saw Mullins scored three times and assist on the other two.
 
Mullins had opened the scoring in the game just over one minute in, but the Blue Jays scored four of the next five to grab a 4-2 lead early in the second quarter.  Back-to-back extra-man goals from Cole Williams and Connor DeSimone in a 37-second span closed the spree for Johns Hopkins.
 
Rutgers was within one at 5-4 after a Knobloch goal on extra-man, but the Blue Jays answered with the Grimes and Degnon goals in a three-minute span late in the second quarter to grab the 7-4 lead with 2:30 remaining in the first half.  The three-goal lead didn't last long as Charalambides jump-started the 11-2 game-ending run with the first of his three on the day just 66 seconds after Degnon's goal.
 
Mullins led the Scarlet Knights with five goals and three assists and Charalambides added three goals and two assists.  Rutgers got 12 saves from Colin Kirst and the 'Knights outshot the Blue Jays 46-31 in the victory.
 
Degnon (3g, 1a) and DeSimone (2g, 2a) paced the Blue Jays offensively and Matt Narewski won 16-of-25 faceoffs with 11 ground balls.
                                                                                                                                                                                                            
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Sunday, March 28 when the Blue Jays head to Penn State.  Faceoff in State College is set for 2 pm with a live national television audience on ESPNU.
 
Notes:  Degnon extended his goal-scoring streak to 11 games; his four points today are a career-high and his three goals match his personal best. DeSimone's 21 points in five games are already a career high • JHU was 3-for-3 on extra-man and the Blue Jays are now 8-for-15 (.533) on the year • Narewski's 16 faceoff wins were one shy of his career high and his 11 ground balls tied his career high.