Epstein’s 6 goals lift Johns Hopkins
The senior attackman bounces back from a scoreless opener
Joey Epstein’s performance Friday night was two years in the making.
Before the start of the 2020 Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse season, Epstein suffered a sprained MCL in his right knee that severely hobbled him as he labored to compile five goals and four assists in five games.
A year ago, Epstein finished with 22 goals and 13 assists, but was still a shell of his former self. He had four one-point outings after finishing with only one in 2019, when he racked up 48 goals and 25 assists en route to being named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
After going pointless in Saturday’s season-opening 11-8 win against Jacksonville, Epstein, a senior attackman, scored five of his game-high six goals in the second quarter and added an assist in the fourth to propel No. 19 Johns Hopkins to a 16-12 victory over host Towson before an announced 3,309 at Johnny Unitas Stadium.
Senior midfielder Garrett Degnon amassed a career-best four goals and two assists, while sophomore faceoff specialist Tyler Dunn won 20 of 31 draws and picked up a game-best 10 ground balls as the Blue Jays improved to 2-0 for the first time since 2017.
The catalyst was Epstein, who became the first Johns Hopkins player to score five goals in a single quarter since May 13, 2018, when Kyle Marr scored five times in the fourth quarter of an eventual 10-9 overtime win against GeorgetowninthefirstroundoftheNCAAtournament.
“I thought we were moving the ball well as a unit,” Epstein said. “They jumped in and out of zone a bit, and that’s where a lot of my goals came from — on that right wing. But as you saw, Garrett had six points, [graduate student attackman Connor] DeSimone had [three], I think Angel [ junior midfielder Jacob Angelus] had five. It was a collective effort. It goes down the line.”
Epstein’s night began with 10:37 left in the first quarter when he was checked to the turf by Tigers fifth-year senior defenseman Koby Smith (Loyola Blakefield), bounced back to his feet and scored while absorbing an illegal body check from sophomore short-stick defensive midfielder Travis Maynard.
Epstein’s outburst helped the Blue Jays withstand a comeback attempt by Towson in the third quarter. Trailing 14-7 with 12:00 left in the period, the Tigers rallied for five consecutive goals over the final 10:23. The flurry was fueled by two goals from junior midfielder Kyle Berkeley and one goal and one assist from redshirt sophomore attackman Andrew Milani (St. Paul’s).
But in the final frame, Johns Hopkins shut out Towson and scored four goals to cement the victory and ride a wave into Sunday’s game at No. 4 Georgetown (0-0).
Milliman, who elected to replace graduate student goalkeeper Josh Kirson (four saves against six goals allowed) with graduate student and Amherst transfer Gibs Versfeld (three saves against six goals allowed) at halftime, acknowledged that the Tigers stole some of the Blue Jays’ thunder in that third quarter.
“They wrestled some momentum away from us coming out of halftime,” he said. “I think the fourth quarter was just a great version of our guys regrouping and staying focused. The leadership kept a consistent message, they kept an even keel, the mistakes didn’t derail them. I think that could have been a very easy scenario for them to fall apart, and
I don’t think they did.”
Navy15,Mercer5: Navy improved dramatically from its season opener to its second game. The Midshipmen were much sharper on the offensive end, connecting pinpoint passes and finishing high-percentage shots. Senior attackman Jack Sweeney did a superb job of finding openings on the interior and scored four goals to lead Navy to a convincing victory on a sunny Saturday afternoon in Annapolis. Junior midfielder Patrick Skalniak totaled five points on three goals and two assists for the Midshipmen, who jumped out to a 7-0 halftime lead and never looked back.
No. 16 Delaware 12, Mount St. Mary’s 6: Mount St. Mary’s started its season with an upset victory against Navy last week. On Saturday, the visiting Mountaineers landed with a thud, as the Blue Hens took an early lead and were never threatened.
Delaware (2-0) opened with a 5-0 run and led 6-1 in the first half. The Mount (1-1) regrouped in the second half, but the Blue Hens still outscored them, 6-5. Mount St. Mary’s got goals from Kyle DeCrispino (Mount Saint Joseph), Jake Krieger (John Carroll), Cormac Giblin, Brendan Lantieri and brothers Connor and Jared McMahon. Clay Miller had a hat trick for Delaware.
St. Mary’s 15, Guilford 5: Abe Hubbard scored back-to-back opening goals and the Seahawks (1-0) used a 6-0 run to down the Quakers (0-1) in a Division III game at Nansemond Suffolk Academy in Virginia. PJ Fenchak (Towson), Jack Brocato (St. Paul’s), Reece Small (Manchester Valley) and Noah Kellner (Archbishop Curley) each scored two goals for St. Mary’s.
State women
No. 9 Maryland 20, Saint Joseph’s (Pa.) 6: Aurora Cordingley (Johns Hopkins) scored a game-high five goals to lead the visiting Terps (1-0) over the Hawks (0-1). The last time Maryland scored 20 goals was a 20-3 win over Rutgers on March 30, 2019.
No. 20 Johns Hopkins 15, VCU 6: Shelby Harrison (St. Mary’s) scored four goals and Maeve Barker added three to lead the host Blue Jays (1-0) over the Rams (0-1). Hopkins finished strong on a 6-1 run in the fourth quarter. Kathleen Garvey made four saves for the Blue Jays.
Mount St. Mary’s 14, Towson 11: The visiting Mountaineers (1-0) scored six goals in the second quarter to take control and beat the Tigers (0-1) for the first time in school history. Dani Donoghue scored four goals and Alayna Pagnotta (Glenelg) had four goals and two assists for Mount St. Mary’s. Zoe Hurlburt (Fallston) and Erin Anderson (Westminster) each had two goals and an assist for the Mount.
UMBC 21, Longwood 3: The host Retrievers (1-0) opened with a 9-0 run and routed the Lancers (0-1). UMBC was led by Dymin Gerow with six goals and an assist, while Kolby Weedon (Catonsville) had four goals and an assist and Claire Bockstie (Maryvale) added three goals and an assist. Lexi Roberts (Fallston) had two saves and Isabella Fontana had three saves as they both played a half in net for the Retrievers.
Salisbury 15, Stevenson 5: The visiting Sea Gulls (2-0) turned up the pressure in the second half, outscoring the Mustangs 10-1 in a Division III game. Erin Scannell (John Carroll) and Delaney Hill (Mount de Sales) each had a hat trick and Meredith Price (North Harford) and Lily Cavallaro (Hereford) each scored two goals for Salisbury.
Caroline Murphy (Saints Peter & Paul) had a game-high four goals for Stevenson.