BALTIMORE, MD – The singer before Sunday's Johns Hopkins-Lehigh NCAA Men's Lacrosse First Round game didn't flinch when a lightning bolt danced across the sky above Homewood Field midway through her stirring rendition of the national anthem.  As it turned out, that was a fitting start to a game that saw two weather delays, a goal for each team disallowed, late-game runs for both teams, including a four-goal spurt for the Blue Jays in the final six minutes that sealed a 13-10 victory that propels them into the NCAA Quarterfinals for the second straight year.
 
Whew!
 
The Mountain Hawks (10-7) found themselves trailing 8-5 as the clock trickled past the midway point the third quarter.  Just over 15 minutes and a 5-1 run later, they were up 10-9 after a Scott Cole step-down capped the spurt that gave them their first lead since late in the first quarter.
 
Juts 59 seconds after the Cole goal, Johnathan Peshko slipped inside a defender to the right of Lehigh goalie Nick Pecora and picked the near post to ignite the game-ending four-goal run.  Matt Collison tucked one under the crossbar from the wing 46 seconds later off a feed from Dylan Bauer, Scott Smith scored from 55 yards out with Lehigh in a 10-man ride 90 seconds after that and Collison returned the favor to Bauer with 2:21 on the clock as he fed the senior midfielder for the insurance goal that locked up the victory.
 
The biggest difference down the stretch for the Blue Jays was the play of senior Tyler Dunn, who sparked the Blue Jays at the X in the final period as he won 7-of-9 faceoffs, including seven straight at one point, in the final 15 minutes.
 
After the initial weather delay to open the game, the teams battled evenly for the first 16:08 before the second weather delay halted the action with the scored tied at 2-2.
 
The Blue Jays (11-4) got goals from Jacob Angelus and Casey McDermott in the two minutes after play resumed early in the second quarter, but the Mountain Hawks scored two of the final three goals of the first half to make it a 5-4 game heading into an abbreviated halftime.
 
Grant Rodny opened the second-half scoring just 44 seconds after the break as he isolated from the wing and ripped a sidearm shot on the run past Blue Jay goalie Chayse Ierlan to make it 5-5.
 
Collison, Peshko and Jacob Angelus answered over the next seven minutes to give the Blue Jays the 8-5 lead, but an opportunistic goal from Aidan Decker, who swatted a loose ball into the goal after an Ierlan save, ignited the 5-1 run that bridged the third and fourth quarters and gave the Mountain Hawks the 10-9 lead.  Four different players scored during the spurt for Lehigh with Cole netting the second and fifth goals.
 
Cole's second goal in the run at the 6:41 mark gave Lehigh what felt like more than a one-goal lead, but Dunn's effort down the stretch sparked the game-ending four-goal run for the Blue Jays.
 
Inside the Box Score – Johns Hopkins
• Dunn was 11-of-20 at the X with 10 ground balls on the day.  The 10 ground balls are one shy of his career high.
• Collison matched his career-high for goals (4) and points (5).  He scored JHU's first two goals and what proved to be the game-winner late in the fourth quarter.
• Angelus (2g, 2a), Peshko (2g, 1a), Bauer (1g, 2a) and Garrett Degnon (2g) all added multi-point games for the Blue Jays.
• Ierlan finished with 12 saves, including one on a Quinn Armstrong offering that would have made it a two-goal game with just under two minutes remaining.
 
Inside the Box Score – Lehigh
• Armstrong and Andrew Kelly scored a team-high three goals apiece and Cole scored twice to lead the way for the Mountain Hawks.
• Sean Dow took all 27 faceoffs on the day for the Mountain Hawks and was 15-of-27 with 10 ground balls.  He was 7-of-11 in the first half and went 6-of-7 in the third quarter before winning just 2-of-9 in the final 15 minutes.
• Pecora finished with nine saves in the game, including four in the first quarter.
 
Notes of Interest
• Johns Hopkins improves to 73-39 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 47-5 at Homewood Field.
• The Blue Jays advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals for the 44^th time in 49 appearances in the tournament.
• Degnon extended his goal-scoring streak to 45 games with his two goals today and pulled into a tie for second place on JHU's career goal-scoring list with Ryan Brown '16 (159).  He also passed Paul Rabil '08 and Brian Wood '87 on JHU's career points list as his 179 points rank 15^th in JHU history.
• Angelus moved past Dave Marr '96 into 13^th place on JHU's career points list as his four points today give him 195 in his career.
 
Up Next
Johns Hopkins will take on Virginia in next week's NCAA Quarterfinals.  The Blue Jays and Cavaliers will meet on Sunday, May 19 at Towson (ESPNU).  The time of the game will be announced later tonight.