Surging Hopkins Holds Off the Terps

BALTIMORE, April 11 -- To Johns Hopkins, its Day of Rivals victory over Maryland on Saturday at M&T Bank Stadium was less about animosity than it was about necessity.

The No. 9 Blue Jays held off the 13th-ranked Terrapins, 10-9, in front of 20,732, and they might be turning around their season, just as they did last April. After a three-game slide at the end of March, wins over Albany and Maryland have them on track to make their 38th straight NCAA tournament.

Maryland scored two straight goals to take its first lead at 8-7 with 5 minutes 30 seconds left in the third quarter. After Johns Hopkins (5-4) scored the next three, the Terrapins (6-5) pulled to 10-9 on Dan Groot's goal with 26 seconds remaining in the game. Maryland had a final shot from Grant Catalino off a feed by Ryan Young, but Michael Gvozden came up with a leg save.

"We had to stand up," said Coach Dave Pietramala, whose Blue Jays have won three in a row and seven of eight against the Terrapins. "We couldn't flinch today. Despite them going on that two-goal swing, we couldn't flinch."

A year ago, the Blue Jays lost five straight -- including their first one in April -- before winning eight in a row to reach the national championship game. Under Pietramala, they are 38-4 in April.

Maryland has two games left before the ACC tournament in Chapel Hill, N.C., later this month. The Terrapins were coming off a 10-4 loss at Navy on April 3.

"A lot of guys took [the Navy loss] personally," midfielder Jeremy Sieverts said. "Everyone knew we could play better. We played well, [but] things just didn't go our way."

Kyle Wharton had three goals and an assist for Johns Hopkins, while Groot scored three goals for Maryland. The Terrapins' Will Yeatman, who has 13 goals and 13 assists, was sidelined because of a sprained ankle.

-- NAVY 8, ARMY 4: In the rainy first game, the No. 12 Midshipmen avenged their 2008 road loss to the Black Knights and won for the 14th time in the past 15 games in the series.

"It's been a very long year for us, for me personally thinking about last year's game every day," Navy Coach Richie Meade said. "I felt like Army deserved to win last year's game in that they brought all the intangibles, they played with great emotion, they seized the lead in the game and then we never were able to overcome that. I thought we did that to them this year."

Navy (9-3, 4-2 Patriot League) clinched a spot in its conference tournament, while Army fell to 5-7, 1-5. Attackman Brendan Connors had three goals and two assists for the Midshipmen, taking the team lead in goals with 18 as 17-goal scorer Tim Paul missed the game with a sprained ankle. Goalie Tommy Phelan tied his career high with 16 saves and won for the third straight time since taking over as the starter March 28 at Georgetown.