PROVIDENCE, RI – Johns Hopkins dropped a pair of close games to wrap up the Bruno Invite Sunday. Hopkins lost 17-12 to host and 20^th-ranked Brown and then fell 17-15 to Concordia-Irvine. The Blue Jays fall to 9-6 on the season.
 
Against Brown
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair, and Brown took a 4-3 lead into the break after a Roland Csendes six-on-five goal. Mason Hofmann opened the second with a five-meter goal to spark a three-goal Blue Jay run as they grabbed a 6-4 lead with 4:32 to play. The Bears answered with three straight of their own to go up 7-6 after two.
 
Brown picked up where it left off, scoring four straight to open the third and push out to an 11-6 lead. Hoffman got one back for Hopkins, but the goals from Csendes and Robert Norell put Brown up 13-7 with 1:10 to play in third. Luke Mendelsohn then bookended the quarter break with back-to-back goals to pull the Blue Jays within four with 7:13 to play.
 
Mate Tymcyna answered with a penalty goal, but Owen Bartlett and Hofmann scored twice in a 33 second span to cut the deficit to just three at the 4:56-mark. Griffin Tunney came right back with a goal for the Bears, but the Jays weren't done. Hofmann buried a five-meter goal at 3:20 to make it 15-12, but JHU could get no closer as Jaxson Tierney and Ramzi Megalli scored twice in a 15-second span to make it 17-12. '
 
Hofmann scored a career-best seven goals to go with an assist and three draw exclusions. Mendelsohn added three points (2g, 1a) while Ethan Babel handed out a pair of assists.
 
Against Concordia-Irvine
Just like the Brown game, the first quarter was back-and-forth, and the teams were tied at five after one quarter. Concordia opened the second with three straight goals to go up 8-5 with 5:25 on the clock. The teams then traded goals, with a pair from Hofmann and one from Max Blecher and it was 11-8 Eagles with 46 ticks on the clock. Jasper Hirt cut the deficit to two at the half with a five-meter goal with six seconds to play.
 
Alec Baker scored just 18 seconds into the third to make it a one-goal game. Nicolas Fuchs and Canyon Johnson answered with back-to-back goals for Concordia and the lead was three at the 5:21-mark. The Blue Jays called timeout and responded with three straight from Phillip Long and Hofmann to tie the game at 13 after three.
 
The Eagles used a 4-1 run in a five-minute span to push out to a 17-14 lead with 2:39 on the clock. Blake Lowe scored 73 seconds later to cut the deficit to two, but Concordia was able to hold off a late rally by Hopkins to secure the win.
 
Hofmann finished with five points (3g, 2a), two drawn ejections and a steal. Phillip Long notched a hat trick and blocked three shots. Bartlett (1g, 2a) and Baker (2g, 1a) added three points each. Bartlett also grabbed three steals and drew two ejections, while Baker had two steals and two drawn kickouts. Mendelsohn handed out two assists, drew two ejections, blocked two shots and picked up two steals. Sebastian Isaacs tallied 11 saves and an assist in the cage.
 
Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, October 10 at the McKendree Invitational, taking on Saddleback and McKendree.