With its three-game losing streak now in the rear-view mirror, the seventh-ranked Johns Hopkins men?s lacrosse team can now refocus on earning its 36th straight bid to the NCAA tournament following its 10-9 come-from-behind win Saturday against visiting Navy at Homewood Field.
The Blue Jays (6-4) go into this Saturday?s game at No. 17 Towson having won two straight one-goal games while No. 9 Navy (9-3) goes into this weekend?s Patriot League tournament as the top-seed despite having lost three of its last four games.
Hopkins junior midfielder Paul Rabil said securing the school?s 33rd straight win over Navy helped settle the team down. But the Blue Jays have also not forgotten about their recent losing streak, which tied the team?s longest since 1990.
“It?s tough playing at a program like this where we set the bar so high,” said Rabil, who finished the game with three goals. “We work really hard as a team in practice and when we don?t get the result we want it kills us. We basically sleep, eat and drink lacrosse during the season and when things aren?t going well it can really take a toll. So, these last two games have been really good for us mentally and what we?re trying to do now is build on them.”
As for Navy, coach Richie Meade laid the majority of the blame on himself for the loss as the Midshipmen struggled again to clear the ball. Navy converted just 10 of 19 clear attempts while also losing 15 of 23 face-offs. Hopkins junior midfielder Stephen Peyser did most of the damage in that category against Navy as he won 14 of 17 face-offs and had 12 groundballs, both career highs
That combination forced Navy to play defense more than half the game, something Meade knows can?t continue if his team wants to get back to the NCAA championships for the first time since 2004.
“Just about everything we thought was going to be a strength for us wasn?t,” Meade said. “I thought one of the most important things in this game was ball possession.”
Meade continued: “When you fail to clear nine times in a game when you?re not being pressured that much it?s just a lack of understanding. I feel badly that I let our team down. When you look at the amount of defense that we had to play as a result of not clearing the ball and losing face-offs, it impresses me our team played as well as it did.”
Lacrosse notes
» Midfielders Paul Rabil and Michael Kimmel each scored three goals to lead Hopkins.
» Attack Tim Paul and midfielder Billy Looney scored three and two goals, respectively for Navy.
» Navy, after going 6-0 in the Patriot League, will host the conference tournament and face Army at 4 p.m. Friday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
