Winning a national title was the farthest thing from the minds of players on both Johns Hopkins and Delaware?s men?s lacrosse team a little more than a month ago.
At that point, Hopkins was in the middle of its first three-game losing streak in 17 years, and Delaware was enduring a 1-5 slide. Both teams hovered around .500 with their postseason outlook in jeopardy.
But since then, Hopkins (11-4) and Delaware (13-5) have reeled off seven straight wins each, leading to today?s matchup in the first of two national semifinal games at M&T Bank Stadium. Face-off is scheduled for noon.
“Our backs have been against the wall for some time now, just like it is in the tournament,” said Delaware senior midfielder Dan Deckelbaum, an Owings Mills native. “It has virtually been ?win or go home? in every game we?ve been in.”
Today?s semifinal brings together two programs with very different lacrosse traditions.
Hopkins, in the Final Four for the 27th time, is seeking its ninth NCAA championship and 43rd title overall. Delaware, which beat the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the quarterfinals, is making its first national semifinal appearance in school history.
Twenty-nine of those years have been with coach Bob Shillinglaw at the helm.
“From the beginning of the season, we always knew that we had the potential,” said Shillinglaw, a Severna Park native. “We ran into a tough spot and suffered a number of injuries early on. We just kept the attitudes up and remained focused. We stuck to it, and now we have another week to go.”
For Hopkins, it has won in a variety of ways this season. The Blue Jays have excelled in one-goal games and have seen a number of different players rise to the occasion.
In last week?s quarterfinal win over Georgetown, junior midfielder Paul Rabil (25 goals, 21 assists) had a hard time finding the net but came up with three assists.
And while the Hoyas concentrated on Rabil, it opened up the field for players like attack Kevin Huntley, who had a career-high five goals and six points.
“Paul has been very involved in the offense for us,” Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said. “He was involved in terms of passing. As Paul would tell you, he wouldn?t care if he scored one goal, five goals. … He just wants to win.”
