Navy?s men?s lacrosse team thought if anything Saturday, it would control the face-offs in its game at Johns Hopkins, considering senior midfielder William Wallace entered the game with the second-best winning percentage in the country.
None of that mattered to Hopkins junior midfielder Stephen Peyser, who nearly single-handedly took Navy?s offense out of the game with a career day that included winning 14 of 17 face-offs and gathering up 12 groundballs in a 10-9 Hopkins win.
Peyser?s day was grueling. He ran on the Blue Jays? first midfield and rarely got a break from face-off duties since the team?s other specialist, Jamison Koesterer, was limited due to injuries. Despite that, Wallace, who entered the game with a .704 face-off winning percentage, won just 2 of 10 face-offs for Navy (9-3).
“That was all No. 12,” said Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala, referring to Peyser?s jersey number. “No. 12 had a spectacular day. Stephen, from the opening face-off, seemed to be having success, so you go with the hot hand. … To Stephen?s credit, he played his butt off today, and we gave out one game ball today and it went to him for the groundballs and the effort he gave in the face-off X.”
Peyser has now won 53 of 97 face-offs (.546 percentage) this season after missing the first eight games in 2006 with a broken jaw he suffered in the team?s final preseason scrimmage.
For his career, Peyser has won 132 of 247 face-offs (.534). Prior to Saturday, his career-high for wins came last April 29 against Towson when he went 13 for 16 against the Tigers. Coincidentally, Johns Hopkins (6-4) plays at Towson (8-4) this Saturday as the Blue Jays go for their third straight win after losing their previous three.
“There?s something when you play on this team ?it doesn?t matter how tired you are or how exhausted you are,” Peyser said. “There?s something else that keeps you going. Maybe it?s your teammates. Maybe it?s something inside of you. But you just don?t think about it. I just got my wind when I could and played as hard as I could when I got the chance.”
