Hidden-ball trick lifts JHU in OT
team’s season-opening 15-8 victory over then-No. 11 Navy on Feb. 7. But this one surpassed that goal in terms of importance.
It was a play called by offensive coordinator Bobby Benson after he noticed something in Loyola’s defense when the Blue Jays ran it in the second quarter.
“We saw that they jumped the pick,” Tinney said. “So when Coach had called it in overtime, we had talked about faking it just because we knew they had been jumping picks all day, and they were getting us in the first half. They were jumping when we weren’t quite ready for it and stuff like that. So we came out like that, and the attack happened to know what I was thinking and they had given me all this space, and it just happened to work out perfectly.”
Through 60 minutes of regulation, Tinney had hidden in the background as he failed to score on his first three shots and committed a turnover, but did collect a team-high five ground balls.
The Blue Jays got four goals and one assist from junior attackman Shack Stanwick (Boys’ Latin) and two goals each from sophomore attackman Kyle Marr and freshman attackman Forry Smith. But before Tinney’s heroics, Hopkins led the game only once, at 11-10 with 2:35 left in the third quarter when Smith scored on a curl around the left post.
“I think the thing I walk away with is, we talked about this game is about toughness,” Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala said. “That was the first key on the board, and I think our toughness was challenged to have to come from behind at 4-1 and then we were down three another time. So our guys showed a lot of character.”
Graduate goalie Gerald Logan made only eight saves for Hopkins, but his biggest stop came in overtime before Tinney’s gamewinning goal. Loyola sophomore attackman Pat Spencer skipped a pass to redshirt senior midfielder Brian Sherlock at the left point, but his high-to-high blast was stopped by Logan, who quickly outlet the ball to set up Johns Hopkins’ final possession.
“When I saw him starting to wind up, I knew I needed to stop this,” Logan said. “All of the guys were counting on me. I didn’t play that well during the game, but my confidence began to build as the game went on. When I saw the shot coming, I just knew.”
Sherlock, who had four goals and one assist, chastised himself for not changing the level of that shot.
“Pat put me in a great position,” Sherlock said. “Unfortunately, I didn’t make it happen. Shot high, should’ve went low. Opportunities like that, you’ve got to finish it, and unfortunately I didn’t. Next time, I’ll make sure that I do.”
Spencer added one goal and four assists for Loyola, and attackmen Zack Sirico and Alex McGovern chipped in two goals and one assist each. Stover finished with 14 saves, and senior faceoff specialist Graham Savio won 19 of 31 draws, scooped up a game-high 10 ground balls and scored his third goal this season.
Despite Loyola dropping to 0-2 for the first time since 2007, coach Charley Toomey said the experience should help as the team prepares for its Patriot League opener against Lafayette on Saturday.
“The good news is there’s still a lot of lacrosse in the season,” he said. “We’re disappointed with the result. … You kind of bull your neck and learn from our mistakes.” Loyola 3 2 0 — 13 Johns Hopkins 5 2 1 — 14 Goals: JH—Sherlock 4, McGovern 2, Sirico 2, Dennis, Duffy, Perkins, Savio, Spencer; JH—Stanwick 4, Marr 2, Smith 2, Crawley, Eissler, Fraser, Madarasz, Tinney, Wilkins. Assists: JH—Spencer 4, Duffy, McGovern, Sherlock, Sirico; JH—Carlini 2, Concannon, Stanwick. Saves: JH—Logan 8; L—Stover 14.