2018 NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Tournament: Johns Hopkins Defeats Georgetown 10-9 In Overtime Thriller At Homewood

In arguably the best contest of the weekend, Hopkins stormed back after being down by as many as five goals late in the game to push the Hoyas into overtime and then defeated Georgetown in extra time thanks to a Shack Stanwick goal with 29 seconds left in OT.

The story for the the first 3/4ths of the game was the Hoyas defense. Hopkins sprinted out to an early 3-0 with 5:57 left in the first period, however, Georgetown choked out the JHU offense for the next thirty-plus minutes and went on a 8-0 run that spanned from late in the first quarter to 7:59 in the third quarter. Going into the final frame it looked like it was going to be another first round waking nightmare for Hopkins fans. Indeed, I certainly was having nasty flashbacks of getting blown out by Brown & Duke in 2016 & 2017, respectively. The Jays didn’t score their 4th goal of the game until the 1:35 mark of the 3rd quarter, and given the way Georgetown’s goalie Nick Marrocco was playing at the time, it didn’t look Hopkins had much of a chance in the final period.

However, Kyle Marr had other ideas in mind. The Hopkins junior caught fire in the 4th quarter and dropped FIVE goals on the Georgetown defense, a defense mind you, that through three quarters had held the entire Hopkins attack without a goal for the game. Marr’s Ruthian effort helped Hopkins get the game into overtime, which set the the stage for JHU senior Shack Stanwick to send everyone home with unassisted game-winner with less than 30 seconds left in OT.

Hopkins was led in scoring by Kyle Marr who finished the day with 7 points (5 Gs & 2 As). Shack Stanwick had only one goal, but his 4 assists helped fuel Hop’s fourth quarter run. Indeed, Shack’s three assists in the fourth to Kyle Marr were key to the Jays winning today. Georgetown goalie Nick Marrocco was a brick wall for much of the game and face-off man Peter Tagliaferri was crucial to Georgetown’s early game dominance of the Jays. Had the ball bounced one way or another, the Hoyas might be going to the Quarterfinals right now.

It may have been an ugly game for Hopkins, but all that matters in the BBQ is getting the W, not how you looked doing it. The Hoyas were a more than worthy adversary and their defense was no joke today. Hopkins was very fortunate to escape with the win. Georgetown finishes the 2018 season 12-5. Hopkins (12-4) advances to play Duke in the Elite 8 next Sunday in Annapolis, MD.