Michigan
9-6
Johns Hopkins
10-4
Second-Quarter Surge Sparks U-M to Upset of Johns Hopkins, Trip to B1G Tourney Title Game
5/2/2024 9:35:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
» Michigan trailed 5-1 after the first quarter and 6-1 early in the second, but used an 8-0 run and held the Blue Jays scoreless for 22 minutes, leading by as many as three goals midway through the third quarter.
» Michael Boehm led U-M with six points, while Ryan Cohen and Bo Lockwood had three points apiece.
» The victory marks the second time in school history that the Wolverines have defeated the No. 2-ranked team in the country.
» U-M advances to the Big Ten Tournament championship game against either No. 2-seeded Maryland or No. 3-seeded Penn State on Saturday at 8 p.m.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Trailing 6-1 early in the second quarter, the fourth-seeded No. 17-ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team finished the quarter with six straight goals -- eight overall -- and sparked the Wolverines to a 10-7 upset of top-seeded, No. 2-ranked Johns Hopkins on Thursday (May 2) at OSU Lacrosse Stadium in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals.
U-M improves to 5-2 all-time in Big Ten Tournament play and advances to the Big Ten Tournament championship game for the second straight season. The Wolverines will take on third-seeded Penn State on Saturday (May 4) at 8 p.m.
The victory marks the second time in school history that the Wolverines have defeated the No. 2 team in the country (Maryland on April 1, 2023).
Johns Hopkins (10-4) got on the board first, with Brendan Grimes giving the Blue Jays at 1-0 lead at 11:58 of the opening quarter. Graduate Justin Tiernan brought the score level at 6:48, finishing inside on a helper from sophomore Bo Lockwood to knot the contest at 1-1. From there, Hopkins closed the quarter on a 4-0 run and held a 5-1 lead after the opening 15 minutes of action.
From there, Michigan (9-6) went on an 8-0 run and held the Blue Jays scoreless for 22 minutes, leading by as many as three goals midway through the third quarter.
Boehm keyed the run, scoring twice (12:17 and 9:12), as well as graduate Christian Ronda (11:48) and junior Ryan Cohen (5:57) to cut it to 6-5. In all, the Wolverines outscored the Blue Jays 6-1 in the second quarter.
The third began with consecutive Wolverine tallies from junior Aidan Mulholland (11:47) and Boehm at 9:25 as the Michigan lead grew to 9-6. A scoreless drought of nearly 22 minutes for the Blue Jays was snapped at 7:25 of the quarter as a tally from Russell Melendez cut the U-M advantage to 9-7.
The lead once again swelled to three at 5:24, as Boehm cashed in his fifth of the day and the Wolverines stretched the lead by three at 10-7. The score for the Ohio native proved to be the final marker for either side the rest of the contest; both teams were scoreless for the final 20:24 of the game.
The fourth quarter featured six penalties, three for each team, with sophomore goalie Hunter Taylor making a pair of stops and ended the night with eight saves total. Michigan lost the faceoff battle (7-of-20), but caused nine turnovers as the Blue Jays turned the ball over 17 times in all. Senior close defender Jack Whitney caused four turnovers and added a ground ball, while Boehm and Mulholland had four pickups apiece.
