Sophomore Wes DiRito

BALTIMORE – UMBC sophomore goalie Wes DiRito (Odenton, Md./DeMatha) made nine saves in his first career start, but No. 6 Johns Hopkins ran out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter and held off UMBC, 13-7, Friday evening at Homewood Field.

Senior Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia/Terry Fox) and freshman Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School Va.)) each scored two goals to lead the Retrievers while Zach Palmer recorded a hat-trick for Johns Hopkins.

After making his first career appearance just over a week ago at Loyola, DiRito got the call on Friday to start against the Blue Jays.

UMBC outshot Hopkins 35-33 and won the ground ball battle 34-28, but the Retrievers turned the ball over 21 times compared to just 13 for the Blue Jays.

Hopkins tested the sophomore netminder early and often and got on the board first just 2:30 into the first quarter as John Greeley opened the scoring with a man-up goal.  Palmer doubled the hosts' lead just over a minute later on an assisted effort. 

UMBC gained a foothold in the game and could have leveled it but junior Zach Linkous (Jarrettsville, Md./St. Paul's) and Jones both hit the post.

The Blue Jays made the most of opportunity and extended their lead to 3-0 with 6:53 left in the quarter as Ryan Brown converted an extra-man opportunity.  Then, with under 90 seconds to play in the period, JHU scored twice, building a 5-0 lead.  The two teams played evenly from there, trading goals back-and forth.

After a nearly ten-minute stalemate to open the second quarter, UMBC got on the board with 5:55 remaining in the half as junior attack David Campbell (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park) took a feed from Joe Lustgarten (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) and finished from the right wing. Less than two minutes later, Young made an acrobatic spin move at the top of the zone and beat Hopkins keeper Pierce Bassett from ten yards out.  Bassett finished the game with ten saves for the Jays.

Hopkins pushed right back though, and scored twice before halftime to restore its five-goal advantage, 7-2.

Out of the break, the Blue Jays continued their run as John Ranagan finished an unassisted opportunity, making the lead 8-2.  Freshman Nate Lewnes (Arnold, Md./St. Mary's) stopped the run for UMBC, scoring his fourth goal of the season off of an assist by Nick Doub (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary's).  Two JHU goals from Michael Pellegrino and Wells Stanwick extended the lead to 10-3 before Jones scored his first goal of the night, an extra-man effort assisted Linkous, with just 23 seconds to play in the third.

The Jones-Linkous combination proved fruitful again less than a minute into the final quarter as the Retrievers narrowed the lead to five, 10-5.  Ranagan struck for the Jays less than a minute later, making it an 11-5 game, before Stanwick closed his goal-scoring for the night at the 9:18 mark for a 12-5 lead.

Following the Stanwick goal, senior Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River) scooped up a loose ball from the faceoff, raced to the cage and finished from close range, once again pulling the Black and Gold within six, 12-6. 

After the Retrievers' seventh and final penalty of the night, Brown converted the opportunity for Hopkins before Young scored his second of the night to close out the scoring.

UMBC now has a week off before hosting High Point next Saturday evening, Mar. 16 at UMBC Stadium.  The opening faceoff between the Retrievers and Panthers is set for 1:00 p.m.