TOWSON, MD – The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team jumped out to a 12-6 halftime lead and held off a second-half rally by host Towson as the Blue Jays improved to 2-0 on the year with an 18-12 win at Unitas Stadium Friday night.  The Tigers slip to 0-1 with the loss.
 
After a back-and-forth first quarter that saw the Blue Jays build a 5-4 lead, Johns Hopkins blew the game open in the second quarter on the hot shooting of senior attackman Joey Epstein, who scored the first give goals of the quarter in the first eight minutes of the period. After opening the period with an unassisted goal, he added four assisted goals in a span of less than six minutes.  Up 8-4 after the first three of those Epstein tallies, the Blue Jays pushed out to a 10-4 lead when he scored twice in a 20-second span midway through the period.
 
Kyle Berkeley and Andrew Milani sandwiched goals around a Connor DeSimone strike in the final three minutes of the period to account for the 12-6 halftime score.
 
The Tigers jumped back in the game with a five-goal run to end the third quarter as they held the Blue Jays scoreless for the final 12 minutes of the period. A Milani goal ignited the spree at the 10:23 mark to make it 14-8 and Berkeley scored back-to-back goals before Ryan Swain and Nick DeMaio capped the run late in the period to turn what was once a 14-7 deficit into a 14-12 game entering the final period.
 
After Towson peppered the Blue Jays with 20 shots in the third period, Johns Hopkins got the all-important first goal of the fourth when Jacob Angelus dodged from behind the goal and scored unassisted just over two minutes into the period.  That ignited a game-ending four-goal run for Hopkins that included the third of the game for Brendan Grimes and late goals from Jack Keogh and Scott Smith that sealed the win for the Blue Jays.
 
What It Means
• The Blue Jays improve to 2-0 on the year and earned the 999^th win in program history.
• JHU scored its first win at Towson since 2013.  This is the first time the road team has won in the series since that 2013 victory by the Blue Jays.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Epstein's six goals were one shy of his career high.
• Epstein's five goals in the second quarter mark the first time a JHU player has scored five in a quarter since Kyle Marr did it against Georgetown in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
• Garrett Degnon scored a career-high four goals and had a personal-best six points.
• Tyler Dunn was 20-of-32 faceoffs and had 12 ground balls.  All three of those totals are career highs.
• The Blue Jays' starting attack and first midfield combined for 17 goals and 11 assists.
• The 18 goals are the most for Johns Hopkins since the Blue Jays topped Syracuse 18-7 on March 10, 2018.
 
Inside the Box Score - Towson
• The Tigers got four goals from Berkeley and three each from DeMaio and Milani.
• Towson took 20 of its 36 shots in the game in the third quarter.
• Shane Brennan registered 13 saves in goal for Towson, including 10 in the first half.
 
Up Next
Johns Hopkins will return to action on Sunday, February 13 when the Blue Jays make the trip to Georgetown to take on the Hoyas (1 pm).