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Maryland absolutely obliterated Johns Hopkins' soul today in an 11-5 hyrdaulic crushing. The final count, though, wasn't the biggest storyline of the day. That honor goes to Dave Pietramala, who probably never wants to play another game in Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Like, ever. In fact, if you could round up all the jerry cans you can find and ship them off to Homewood Field, I'm sure there's more than enough folks in Columbia blue and black that would appreciate the donation for their future arsonist efforts in Annapolis.
On the year, the Jays accounted for all of seven goals in 120 minutes of play at the Naval Academy. Hopkins' defense -- one of the strongest in the country all season -- time-warped to 2009 and yielded goals left and right (19 in two games) and probably just should've stayed on the bus and watched The Notebook on the DVD player or something. None of this makes any sense, and yet we're all still existing in reality. (As far as I know.)
It was a first-rate smoke show from the Terps today, dominating the possession game -- Patrick Stevens of The Washington Times estimates that time of possession was 40:38-19:22 in favor of the under armored -- and riding the back of tournament terrorist Drew Snider (three goals). There wasn't a statistic or eyeball analysis that John Tillman's club didn't crush on the day, save "Looking Drunk" which Johns Hopkins wrapped up without a serious challenge. The Jays had no answer for Maryland's patient undertaker offense and the Terrapins totally locked off Zach Palmer. (The Canadian had one goal on the day in an unsettled, transition situation, which is almost tragic from a make-heads-spin-around standpoint.) It was a perfect performance of pragmatism from Maryland and the Terps are rewarded with a trip to Gillette Stadium next weekend for a shot at the national title.
Now, Maryland waits to see who their opponent will be up in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Terps will draw the winner of the Colgate-Duke street fight tomorrow at PPL Park. Maryland is 1-1 against the Devils this season, losing to Danowski and Company, Ltd. in the ACC Tournament and pulling out a 10-7 victory in College Park in early March. The Terps are 0-1 this season against the Raiders, dropping a heart-breaker up in Hamilton, New York, to close their regular season.
KEY STATISTICS
Possession Margin: +2 (Maryland)
Unadjusted Maryland Offensive Efficiency: 33.33
Groundballs: Maryland -- 26; Johns Hopkins -- 15
Turnovers: Maryland -- 10; Johns Hopkins -- 14
Johns Hopkins Clear Rate: 66.67%