COLUMBUS, OH – Sophomore Matt Collison has scored four goals in the last two games.  To say he's made the most of those four would be an understatement.
 
For the second straight game, Collison netted the overtime game winner as he got just enough of his hands free under heavy pressure and beat Ohio State goalie Caleb Fyock to the far post to lift the Blue Jays to a dramatic 11-10 win over the Buckeyes.

FINAL
JHU-11, OSU-10

2nd week in a row ... Collison with the GWG in overtime. Jays clinch at least a share of Big Ten title. #GoHop #WeWantMore pic.twitter.com/ZXXAziREcA

— JHU Men's Lacrosse (@jhumenslacrosse) April 15, 2024

 
Collison's game-winner pushed the Blue Jays' record to 9-3 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten.  It also locked up at least a share of the Big Ten regular season title for the second straight season and secured a bye into the semifinals of the upcoming Big Ten Tournament.

Almost lost in all of that?  The Blue Jays captured their first win when trailing a game by five goals since topping Georgetown, 10-9, in the first round of the 2018 NCAA Tournament.
 
The Blue Jays trailed 7-2 in the first half and found themselves down 9-5 after Ohio State's Alex Marinier scored with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter.  By the time the Buckeyes scored again, it was them that needed a goal just to force overtime as the Blue Jays answered Marinier's goal with a five-goal run that turned the 9-5 deficit into a 10-9 lead late in the fourth quarter.
 
A Johnathan Peshko extra-man goal late in the third quarter jump-started the spree to trim the deficit to 9-6 at the end of the third and the three-goal margin was one just over three minutes into fourth quarter when Garrett Degnon blew home a runner and Collison dodged through the defense and got to the crease to score from in tight.
 
A Casey McDermott caused turnover at midfield led to another Peshko goal off an assist from Degnon with 8:39 on the fourth-quarter clock and he split a double team and beat the shot clock just under two minutes later to give the Blue Jays their first lead of the game at 10-9.

Q4 | 8:39
JHU-9, OSU-9

Statistically, that's 33 CT, 7 GB, shot 51 GOAL ... assist 40. We are EVEN! #GoHop #WeWantMore pic.twitter.com/4Ts6Z4BaKH

— JHU Men's Lacrosse (@jhumenslacrosse) April 15, 2024

 
Johns Hopkins had a golden opportunity to push the lead to two with an extra-man chance with just over five minutes remaining, but the Buckeyes held serve added a Marinier extra-man goal of their own with 84 seconds left in regulation.  The Blue Jays had possession late, but the Buckeyes forced a turnover in the final seconds to send the game to overtime.
 
Ohio State had the first possession of overtime and whistled three shots wide of the cage before Beaudan Szuluk caused a turnover that Brandon Aviles scooped up and cleared.  Fyock was equal to offerings from Degnon and Jacob Angelus before Collison swept across the top and worked his left hand free to net the game-winner.
 
The Buckeyes had jumped out to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter with three goals in a span of just over three minutes midway through the period.  Ed Shean shoveled one home from the doorstep at the 8:56 mark and Thomas Greenblatt struck just 47 seconds later to give Ohio State a quick two-goal lead and Jack McKenna floated one home from eight yards out with 5:42 on the first-quarter clock to account for all the scoring in the opening 15 minutes.
 
The Blue Jays trimmed the deficit to one with back-to-back Angleus goals early in the second quarter.  Isolating against a short stick on the wing, he got his left hand free and bounced one home on the run at the 12:48 mark to get the Jays on the board.  Just 49 seconds later, he lost his defender in the net behind the goal and came top side, where he faked low and went high to beat Fyock from in tight.
 
The 3-2 score held for more than five minutes before Blake Eiland shook free of a defender on the wing and scored on the run to ignite a four-goal Buckeye spurt that saw them bump the lead to 7-2.
 
The Blue Jays would get two back on late second-quarter strikes from Degnon and Hunter Chauvette to account for a 7-4 halftime score, but the Buckeyes answered a third-quarter-opening Degnon extra-man goal with back-to-back goals of their own, including the Marinier goal that made it 9-5.
 
The Blue Jays answered with the five-goal run that helped set the stage for Collison's second straight overtime dagger.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Szuluk collected three of JHU's nine caused turnovers and became Hopkins' career leader in CTs as his three tonight push his career total to 67, which is two better than Tucker Durkin's previous record.
• Angelus (2g, 3a), Degnon (3g, 1a) Peshko (3g) and Collison (2g) accounted for 10 of JHU's 11 goals and all four Blue Jay assists.
• Logan Callahan and Tyler Dunn combined to go 10-of-24 with seven ground balls at the X.
 
Inside the Box Score – Ohio State
• Fyock registered 11 saves in the game, including six in the third quarter and the two in overtime.
• Marinier led the Buckeyes with three goals and McKenna and Gannon Matthews both added two goals and one assist.
• Tommy Burke was 14-of-22 on faceoffs and had a team-high seven ground balls.
 
Notes of Interest
• Degnon became the fifth player in school history to top 150 career goals as his three give him 152.
• Angelus bumped his career totals to 71 goals and 113 assists and he became the fifth player in school history with 70 goals and 100 assists.
 
Up Next
Johns Hopkins welcomes Maryland to Homewood Field on Saturday, April 20 to close out the regular season with the 127^th renewal of the greatest rivalry in college lacrosse (4 pm / ESPNU).