BALTIMORE, MD – In a game that featured 26 goals, 77 shots, 30 turnovers and 27 saves, it was a drastic change in the results at the faceoff X that may have ultimately been the difference in Saturday's men's lacrosse game between 11^th-ranked Johns Hopkins and 15^th-ranked Michigan.
 
After losing all eight first-quarter faceoffs and 14-of-17 before the break, the Blue Jays (7-3, 2-0 B1G) spotted the Wolverines the first one of the third quarter, then promptly won seven straight.  The change of fortunes at the dot fueled a 6-2 Johns Hopkins spurt that turned an 8-7 Blue Jay lead at the half into a 14-9 lead that eventually became a 15-11 Blue Jay victory.

Beaudan Szuluk forced a Michigan (6-4, 1-1 B1G) turnover on that first possession of the third quarter, one of 13 caused turnovers on the day for the Blue Jays.  By the time the Wolverines had another offensive possession, the 8-7 lead was 10-7 courtesy of back-to-back goals from Matt Collison and Garrett Degnon in a 48-second span.  Both goals were assisted by Jacob Angelus and Michigan was never closer than two the rest of the way.
 
The 10-7 lead held for just under 10 minutes before a Michael Boehm extra-man goal snapped a 15-minute scoreless streak for the Wolverines.  As it turned out, this was the first of three times in the second half a two-goal spurt for the Blue Jays was matched by a single goal for Michigan; for Hopkins, trading two-for-one was a recipe for success.
 
After Boehm's goal, the Blue Jays bridged the third and fourth quarters with unassisted goals from Brendan Grimes and and Casey McDermott, then answered a Justin Tiernan strike with goals just 32 seconds apart from Johnathan Peshko and Degnon with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter to make it 14-9 with 5:02 on the clock.  The Wolverines would score two of the final three goals in the final 4:03 to account for the 15-11 final score.
 
While the two-for-one recipe fueled the second-half surge for the Blue Jays, it was a dominant effort at the X that helped the Wolverines cook up early leads of 4-1 and 6-4.
 
After the teams traded goals in the first four minutes, Michigan scored three straight in a span of just over two minutes midway through the first quarter to sprint to the early three-goal lead.  Bo Lockwood bookended the three-goal run for the Wolverines and Ryan Cohen assisted on the first and second of those three.
 
The three-goal lead was down to one quickly as it took just 26 seconds for Hopkins to pull within 4-3 late in the period.  A Hunter Jaronski goal in transition and an extra-man strike from Russell Melendez accounted for the one-goal game at the end of the first quarter and Degnon scored off a failed Michigan clear 4:32 into the second quarter to pull the Blue Jays even.
 
After going scoreless for more than 13 minutes against Blue Jay goalie Chayse Ierlan and the Hopkins defense, the Wolverines needed just nine seconds to turn the 4-4 tie into a 6-4 lead.  Tiernan got free in the slot and scored from seven yards and Boehm scored off the ensuing faceoff to give Michigan the two-goal cushion.
 
As quickly as Michigan built the two-goal lead, it was gone as Hopkins scored four times in a span of 87 seconds to grab a lead it would ultimately never relinquish.  Back-to-back Melendez goals, including a behind-the-backer from in tight, just 31 seconds apart pulled the Blue Jays even and Pesho and Hunter Chauvette struck just 27 seconds apart to give Hopkins an 8-6 lead.  Cohen scored an extra-man goal late in the half to account for the 8-7 score at the half.
 
From there, the change of fortunes at the faceoff X would propel the Blue Jays to their second straight Big Ten victory.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Szuluk and Brett Martin both collected three caused turnovers to account for six of the 13 CTs in the game for the Blue Jays.  The 13 CTs are one shy of the JHU single-game record.
• Ierlan posted 15 saves, including seven in the second half when the Blue Jays held Michigan to just four goals.
• The Blue Jay starting attack unit of Angelus (1g, 4a), Melendez (3g, 2a) and Degnon (3g, 1a) combined for 14 points on seven goals and seven assists.
• Degnon extended his goal-scoring streak to 40 games with his three goals today.  The 40-game run is tied for the longest active streak in the nation.
• Peshko scored three goals on three shots.  In all, nine different players scored goals and 11 different players had at least one goal for the Blue Jays.
 
Inside the Box Score – Michigan
• Tiernan scored a team-high three goals, while Boehm (2g, 3a), Cohen (2g, 3a) and Lockwood (2g, 2a) combined for six goals and eight assists.
• Justin Wietfeldt won 17-of-25 faceoffs and had 11 ground balls and one assist.
• Hunter Taylor registered 12 saves in goal for the Wolverines, including four in the first quarter and seven in the second half.
• Fueled by an 18-11 advantage at the X, Michigan won the ground ball battle 26-24.
 
Notes of Interest
• JHU is 10-2 in games played on March 30 since 1955 and 11-1 all-time against Michigan.
• The Blue Jays scored at least three goals in all four quarters today.  On the year, JHU has scored three or more goals in 24 of 40 quarters.
• The Blue Jay defense held Michigan scoreless for stretches of 12:50 and 15:46.  In 10 games this season, the Blue Jays have held the opposition scoreless for a stretch of 10 minutes or longer 18 times.
• Angelus moved past Bill Morrill (1957-59) and Del Dressell (1983-86) into 16^th-place on JHU's career points list (177).
• Degnon moved past Steven Boyle (2007-10) into 20th-place on JHU's career points list (165).
 
Up Next
Johns Hopkins will return to Homewood Field on Saturday, April 6 as the Blue Jays welcome Penn State to Baltimore.  The game will air live on ESPNU (2 pm) with Senior Day and Homecoming activities also taking place.