College Crosse NCAA Tournament Recap: Notre Dame Defeats Johns Hopkins 16-9

Box Score: Notre Dame 16 vs. Johns Hopkins 9

Notre Dame jumped out to a 6-1 first quarter lead and were never really threatened the rest of the way. The Fighting Irish expanded their lead to 10-2 before going into halftime on their way to a pretty comfortable 16-9 victory over Johns Hopkins. The Jays had a spirited third quarter where they scored five goals and at one point cut Notre Dame’s lead down four points (10-6) with 8:47 left in the third quarter. However, the Fighting Irish then scored three of the next four goals in the third quarter to go into the final period up 13-7. Hopkins kept fighting in the final period, but the Jays were never able to get closer than five goals as Notre Dame powered through for the 16-9 victory.

Notre Dame’s Morrison Mirer led the team in goals with four tallies. While Quinn McCahon (1G, 3As), Bryan Costabile (3Gs, 1A), & Ryder Garnsey (3Gs, 1A) all had four points each tonight. This was the first game of the season for Garnsey, who made the most of his opportunity, in what was obviously an emotional return for the talented senior. All together, nine different Notre Dame players registered at least one point tonight as the Fighting Irish offense came alive after having only scored four points in their last outing versus Virginia on May 4th. Additionally, Charles Leonard had a good day at face-off for Notre Dame winning 17 of 29 attempts, including 10 of 14 in the first half.

Joey Epstein had a very good night for Hopkins as he finished with six points on the evening (3Gs, 3As). Cole Williams (2Gs, 1A) and Forry Smith (3Gs) both had three points each as well. Ryan Darby started the game in goal for Hopkins, but after giving up six goals in a little under 13 minutes, he was pulled for Jacob Giacalone. Given the situation he was in, Giacalone played well in relief, as he finished with nine saves & helped Hopkins creep back into the game in the third quarter with some very nice saves. But in the end, Notre Dame’s halftime lead was too great for the Jays to overcome.

The Fighting Irish will now take on Duke in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. Notre Dame split the two previous games with the Bule Devils, losing to them in the regular season 14-8 and then coming back to beat Duke in the ACC Tournament 12-10.