BALTIMORE, MD – Sometimes, the story of a game is all in the numbers.  Such was the case on Sunday afternoon as the fifth-ranked and sixth-seeded Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team rolled past Bryant, 22-8, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.  With the win, the Blue Jays improve to 12-5 and advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals, where they will take on third-seeded Notre Dame.  The Bulldogs end the season at 12-5.
 
After battling evenly (3-3) through 15 minutes, the Blue Jays took over and, as noted, the numbers tell the story:
 
9 – The Blue Jays outscored the Bulldogs, 9-0, in the second quarter.  The nine goals tied a Johns Hopkins NCAA Tournament record for goals in a quarter (2003 vs. Syracuse/4Q).
 
16 – Johns Hopkins outscored Bryant 16-1 in the second and third quarters combined.
 
22 – The 22 goals are the most for the Blue Jays in any game in exactly 18 years (22-6 win over Marist in first round of the NCAA Tournament on May 14, 2005).
 
13-11 – The Blue Jays harassed the Bulldogs into more turnovers (13) than they allowed shots (11) in the middle two quarters combined.
 
29:21 – After Aidan Goltz scored with 7:07 remaining in the first quarter, the Blue Jays held the Bulldogs scoreless until the 8:32 mark of the third quarter, a span of 29:21
 
+13 – JHU held a 47-34 advantage in ground balls.
 
There were more numbers, many more, that helped push the Blue Jays to their largest margin of victory in an NCAA Tournament game since that that win over Marist in 2005 and the largest margin in any game since a 17-2 win at Mount St. Mary's on April 14, 2014.
 
After Brooks English polished off his first-quarter hat trick to knot the game at 3-3 late in the first quarter, it was a goal off the opening faceoff of the second quarter from senior Matt Narewski that jump-started the game-turning second quarter for the Blue Jays.  The 4-3 lead was 6-3 after strikes from Cam Chauvette and Garrett Degnon before the quarter hit the midway point, but Hopkins scored six times in the final 5:01 to push the lead to 12-3 at the half.
 
Back-to-back goals from Russell Melendez in a 60-second span jump-started the half-ending spree and senior Jacob Angelus bookended the final four of those six goals with tallies at the 2:59 mark and later in transition with just 1.1 seconds left before halftime.  Degnon and Jakson Raposo also scored during the run for the Blue Jays, whose 12 first-half goals were a the most for Hopkins in a half in an NCAA Tournament game since a 13-goal outburst at Virginia in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
 
Any hopes for a Bryant comeback were dashed in the first six minutes of the third quarter as the Blue Jays scored the first five goals of the second half to put the game away.  Melendez, who scored five goals on the day, scored twice and Brendan Grimes, Alex Mazzone and Matt Collison all scored during the run as the Blue Jays pushed the lead to 17-3 before Johnny Hackett scored midway through the third quarter to break the long Bulldog scoreless drought.
 
Johns Hopkins would lead by as many as 15 in the final 23 minutes of the game (19-4 & 21-6); the Bulldogs would match their scoring output of the first three quarters (4) in the final period to account for the 22-8 final score.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Melendez set a school record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game (9) as he tallied five goals and four assists.
• Angelus added two goals and five assists and Degnon chipped in with two goals and one assist as the Blue Jay starting attack unit totaled nine goals and nine assists for 18 points.
• English finished with three goals on three shots; his three goals today match his season total entering the game.
• Narewski won eight faceoffs and added the one goal, one assist and four ground balls.
• A season-high 14 different players scored at least one goal and 16 different players had at least one point in the victory.
• The 38 points (22g, 16a) are the most in a game for the Blue Jays since they had 42 in a 31-7 win over St. Joe's in 1999.
• The 16 assists are the most for the Blue Jays since they had 16 in a win over Navy on April 19, 1997.
 
Inside the Box Score – Bryant
• Goltz scored a team-high three goals and finishes the season with a team-best 45 on the year.
• Brothers Timmy & Johnny Hackett, who entered the game with 62 goals and 35 assists between them, combined for three goals and one assist.
• The Bulldogs' leading scoring, Kevin Groeninger, who entered the game with 68 points, was held scoreless by the Blue Jay defense.
• Teagan Alexander posted 12 saves in goal and Nathan LaLiberte and Jacob Alexander combined to win 18-of-33 faceoffs and combined for 11 ground balls.
 
Up Next
The Johns Hopkins-Notre Dame game will take place on Sunday, May 21 at Navy. The time of the game will be announced later tonight.