After Navy suffered its first loss in 11 years to Army on Saturday, the Midshipmen hope to make up for lost time by ending nearly a quarter-century worth of frustration to another rival: Johns Hopkins.
The sixth-ranked Midshipmen never led against the 13th-ranked Black Knights, who claimed the annual Star game with a 9-6 victory at Michie Stadium in West Point in front of a crowd of 4,789.
It marked the first time in more than a decade the Midshipmen will not be presented with a star to wear on their letter jackets for defeating their fellow service academy.
“At the end of the day, I think they took advantage of our mistakes and turned them into goals and we didn?t,” Navy coach Richie Meade said. “I think [Army goalie Adam] Fullerton played pretty well in goal and turned away some of our shots, There?s a lot of lacrosse left for us.”
But there won?t be if Navy (9-3) plays like the way it did against Army (8-3). The Black Knights broke open a 3-3 tie in the second quarter by scoring five of the next six goals to end a 13-game losing streak to the Midshipmen with their first victory since 1997.
The Midshipmen don?t have time to dwell on the past. Fifteenth-ranked Johns Hopkins comes to Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Saturday at noon knowing it must extend its winning streak to 34 games over Navy to take a huge step toward solidifying an at-large spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Midshipmen, who haven?t beaten the Blue Jays since 1974, have come close in recent years, as the past four games have been decided a goal, the latest being 10-9 victory by Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field last season. The Blue Jays are coming off a decisive, 10-4 victory over seventh-ranked Maryland on Saturday.
But regardless of what happens Saturday, the Midshipmen can earn an automatic berth in the 16-team NCAA Tournament by winning the Patriot League Tournament on April 25 and 27. The Midshipmen have won the past four titles, including when they outscored Army and Colgate by a combined score of 27-10 last year in Annapolis.
But there?s a good chance the Midshipmen won?t have the comfort of playing in their own stadium this time. The Midshipmen would have hosted the event as the regular season champion had they defeated Army. Now, they need Army to lose to Lafayette (4-6) on Tuesday and Bucknell (9-2) to lose to Colgate (6-5) on Saturday to host the four-team tournament.
Tenth-ranked Bucknell will host the event with a win since it owns the tiebreaker over Army because it defeated the Black Knights during the regular season. Army?s win over Navy gives it the tiebreaker over the Midshipmen.
Army, which was led by senior attacker Justin Bokmeyer (three goals) and junior attacker Jason Peyer (two goals, two assists) is brimming was the confidence of knowing it has what it takes to defeat Navy ? finally.
“We have been working very hard for this and our time finally came,” Fullerton, who finished with 11 saves, told reporters after the game. “It was frustrating coming up short against Navy so many times, but it just forced us go back to work and try again and that?s what we did. And to finally get a win over them here in Michie Stadium on Senior Day, there is no better way to do it.”
