By Chris Vaccaro
Though it’s not a rivalry comparable to that of the Red Sox-Yankees, the Pride and Johns Hopkins University men’s lacrosse programs always offer an intense battle to spectators. Both play a fundamentally sound game and are among the best teams in the country.
These important characteristics were evident last Saturday when the top-ranked Blue Jays gave the Pride its third loss of the season in an 11-5 contest at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md.
Coming off solid victories in their first two contests of the season against Princeton and University of Maryland-Baltimore County, the Blue Jays (3-0) have been a dominant force early on.
“We had prepared real well for this game,” Pride head coach John Danowski said. “The team had tremendous excitement.”
The enthusiasm was a constant throughout the game until the fourth quarter when the Blue Jays blew the game open.
Junior middie Greg Peyser scored the first of four Blue Jay goals when he ripped a shot past Pride junior goalie Matt Southard. Junior attacker Joe Benson was the next to score, his third of the game on an extra-man drive. Freshman middie Stephen Peyser and freshman attack Kevin Huntley scored the last two goals to end the onslaught.
Other than this one quarter, the Pride had played sufficient defense, which helped to keep a powerful Hopkins offense in check.
“We played better this week defensively,” Danowski said. “As a group we played well.”
The Blue Jays jumped on the scoreboard just 3:10 into the game when senior attacker Kyle Barrie scored his second goal of the season. Within only a couple of minutes the Blue Jays struck again, as senior attacker Peter LeSueur netted his only goal of the game, as well as his second of the season.
For much of its first two games, the Pride (0-3) had been forced to spend too much time on defensive concentration, which leads to a lack in scoring opportunities.
“We controlled the ball much better,” Danowski said. “But we still didn’t get as many touches as we’d like.”
It wasn’t long before the Pride was able to capitalize on an offensive chance and give the Blue Jays something to worry about. Just 2:28 after the second Blue Jay goal, Pride junior middie Jim Treubig assisted on sophomore attacker Athan Ianucci’s first goal of the season, a low laser shot.
Not allowing the Pride to catch up that quickly, the Blue Jays added another goal four minutes later, padding the score to 3-1 as Benson scored off a pass from Peyser.
In a rare occasion, Brett Moyer, a defender usually known for stopping others from scoring, scored the first goal of his career with 7:13 remaining in the first half. Once again the Pride edged within one goal of tying the score.
However, Benson and Peyser answered 50 seconds later with goals of their own for Hopkins. Peyser scored his fifth of the season, while Benson picked up a loose rebound and jumped on the score sheet for the second time in the game.
Just before halftime, Treubig kept the Pride within two when he scored on a wrap- around attempt, leaving the score at 5-3. The Pride scored its three goals on just seven shots.
The Pride couldn’t continue the flow they had in the first half, allowing the Blue Jays to score two quick goals at the beginning of the third quarter. A pair of Kyles-Barrie and Harrison-tallied goals, leaving the Pride with a small hill to climb at 7-3.
The remainder of the third quarter belonged to the Pride as they cut into the Blue Jay lead, scoring two consecutive goals. One was by Treubig, his second of the game, and the other was with ten seconds remaining by junior attacker John Keysor, his fifth of the season.
Two goals didn’t seem like much for the Pride to be able to chomp into, but in the fourth quarter they couldn’t stop the Blue Jays from scoring, let alone score any goals themselves.
Overall, the Pride was outmatched in many statistical categories. The Blue Jays took 18 of 20 face-offs, 13 of which were won by senior Lou Braun. They also had the advantage in shots and groundballs at 34-20 each.
From here on out, the Pride must focus on each game separately and try to earn its first victory. More offensive production is needed, but its defensive play must stay at a constant as well.
“We have to take each game at a time,” Danowski said when asked about how his team will approach the remainder of the season. “We’re going to continue to be deliberate on our offensive approach.”
The Pride will next be in action at home again this Saturday against No. 8 Princeton University at 1:30 pm. The Tigers (0-2) lost their first game of the season to the Blue Jays and dropped the other to the University of Virginia. This will be the second game of a four-game homestead, which also includes games against the University of North Carolina, Binghamton University and the University of Notre Dame.

Junior John Keysor leads the Pride with five goals so far this season. The Pride is 0-3 this season. (Photo Courtesy Athletic Dept.)
