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Syracuse University
#2 Johns Hopkins
Hopkins Comes Back in the Fourth Quarter to Beat Syracuse, 9-8
3/16/2002 4:33:49 PM | Men's Lacrosse
March 16, 2002
Sophomore midfielder Kevin Boland fueled a furious Johns Hopkins comeback with two goals and two assists in the fourth quarter to help his second-ranked Blue Jays to a 9-8 victory against top-ranked Syracuse at Homewood Field. It marked the second-straight victory for Johns Hopkins against SU. Last season, the Blue Jays defeated the Orangemen, 11-10, at the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse (4-1) held a three-goal lead (7-4) going into the fourth quarter. Sophomore midfielder Steve Vallone (Corning, N.Y./Corning East) fired a shot from 15 yards out off a feed from sophomore attackman Brian Nee (Cockeysville, Md./Boys' Latin) at the 4:24 mark of the third period.
Hopkins' Kyle Harrison started the Blue Jay rally with an unassisted goal with 7:28 remaining in the game. Conor Ford pulled his team to within one (7-6) when he scored off a pass from Boland with 4:29 remaining.
The Orangemen pushed their lead again to two goals (8-6) when senior midfielder Brian Solliday notched his second goal of the game, a shot from the top of the box off a feed from linemate Pat Hogan (St. Louis, Mo./DeSmet Jesuit).
Boland had a hand in JHU's last three goals which won the game. He took a pass from Joe McDermott and curled around the SU cage to score on his former high school teammate, Syracuse goalie Jay Pfeifer (Towson, Md./Gilman) at the 2:31 mark. He then acted as feeder, setting up Bobby Benson's first goal of the game with two minutes remaining which tied the score at 8-8. Boland scored the game-winner by diving along the crease found the back of the net with 1:21 remaining in the contest. It was Hopkins' first lead of the game and it proved to be the game-winner. Syracuse had several chances to tie the game in the remaining minute. Nee caught a pass from sophomore attackman Michael Powell (Carthage, N.Y./Carthage) right outside the crease in front of JHU goalie Nick Murtha. His quick shot was saved by Murtha and the Orangemen were able to retrieve the rebound. SU called timeout with 30 seconds remaining in the game. Powell started with the ball and jogged to the top of the box on an isolation play. His shot was stopped by Murtha. With two seconds left to play, junior defenseman Sol Bliss (Tully, N.Y./Tully) threw a long shot from the center midfield line right on cage, but Murtha was there once again for the save.
The two goalies had exceptional games. Pfeifer finished with 15 saves, while Murtha had 18.
SU's starting attack was held to just three points. Powell was held without a goal for the first time since the SU vs. Hobart game last season. He finished with one assist against Hopkins. Josh Coffman (Carthage, N.Y./Carthage) and Michael Springer (Ridgewood, N.J./Ridgewood), SU's other two top scorers, had one goal apiece versus the Blue Jays.
Johns Hopkins remains unbeaten with a 3-0 record.
Syracuse plays its next game, its fifth-straight on the road, at Princeton next Saturday, March 23, at 1 p.m.
Johns Hopkins 9, Syracuse 8
Score by quarters:
JHU 1-3-0-5=9
SU 2-4-1-1=8
Syracuse Goals: Brian Solliday 2, Spencer Wright 1, Michael Springer 1, Sean Lindsay, Josh Coffman, Steve Vallone, Matt Bontaites.
Syracuse Assists: Spencer Wright, Tom Hardy, Michael Powell, Brian Nee, Pat Hogan.
JHU Goals: Kevin Boland 3, Conor Ford 2, Adam Doneger 1, Kyle Harrison 1, Bobby Benson 1.
JHU Assists: Kevin Boland 2, Peter LeSueur 1, Conor Ford 1, Joe McDermott 1.
Shots: Syracuse 39, JHU 37
Saves: Jay Pfeifer (SU) 15, Nick Murtha (JHU) 18
Clears: SU 15/17, JHU 15/18
Faceoffs: SU 11, JHU 10
Groundballs: SU 38, JHU 37
EMO: SU 1-4, JHU 2-5
Penalties: SU 7/4:30, JHU 4/3:00
Attendance: 6,276
