JU Men: Dolphins Defeated by Nationally Ranked Johns Hopkins 11-8
The 16th ranked Johns Hopkins Blue Jays took an early lead and never looked back, as it defeated Jacksonville in the season opener Saturday afternoon, at Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md.
Connor DeSimone’s hat trick and Jack Keogh’s five-point performance fueled the Blue Jay offense. Josh Kirson made eight saves in goal for Hopkins (1-0).
Max Waldbaum’s four goal showing paced the scoring for the Dolphins (0-1). Jacob Greiner assisted the JU attack with a hat trick of his own, while Jeremy Winston rounded out the scoring for Jacksonville with his fourth quarter goal. In his Dolphin debut, Luke Millican stopped 17 shots between the pipes.
Hopkins never trailed in the contest, as the Blue Jays scored the contest’s opening two goals. Waldbaum responded netting his first goal in a JU uniform with 11:21 left in the opening quarter, off an assist by freshman Jackson Intrieri.
Back-to-back goals by Johns Hopkins extended their lead to three, 4-1, however two-straight goals by Greiner would trim the deficit to one, 4-3, entering the second quarter.
The programs would trade goals in the second quarter, as Waldbaum knotted the match at four, with 12:39 remaining in the frame. Following a Hopkins man-up score, Waldbaum would once again tie the contest finding the back of the net. Just before the half, the Blue Jays would break the tie, taking a one-goal advantage into the intermission, 6-5.
DeSimone found the back of the net for Hopkins to begin the second half, but Greiner followed with one of his own, with 9:24 remaining in the period. After back-to-back Blue Jay scores, Waldbaum found the scoring column for the fourth time in the afternoon, with 1:22 remaining in the third. A Hopkins goal with one second remaining in the frame would extend the Blue Jays lead to three, 10-7.
DeSimone would complete his hat trick to begin the fourth for Hopkins. Winston’s goal with 8:27 remaining in the contest would complete the scoring for both programs on the afternoon.
Head Coach John Galloway‘s Comments
“We are leaving Baltimore with a lot of mixed emotions. Obviously, we had every expectation to leave here with a win. We don’t schedule games unless we believed our team is prepared. With that said, we also walked away incredibly proud of our fight and organization on February 5th. There is so much we are going to learn from this that we wouldn’t have been able to do with just a practice. Now the challenge is to show up tomorrow and get to work. Just because we are close doesn’t mean we are going to get it done the next time. Our leaders know that, and they ran the locker room after the game. It is a sign that this really is their team.”
“I would be crazy not to mention some special individual performances today. Luke (Millican) and Max (Waldbaum) made a huge splash in their first game in the green and white. I also thought we weren’t in that game without Troy Hettinger and Colin Hinton. Now we will go back to the whiteboard to get prepared for another top-20 opportunity next Sunday.”
Game Notes
– Saturday was the first meeting between the two programs. Hopkins is the 41st program the Dolphins have faced in the program’s 13-year history.
– Waldbaum’s four goal showing was his 11th career contest at the college level with four or more goals, his first at the Division I level.
– Millican’s start in goal was his first since Feb. 10, 2018, versus Furman when he was a member of North Carolina. Millican’s 17 stops was a career-high, his previous best in that same contest versus Furman.
– Saturday was Winston’s 42nd career game with a point.
Up Next
The Dolphins are back in action next Sunday, as Jacksonville travels north to face the third ranked Duke Blue Devils in Durham, N.C.
