With the victory, Johns Hopkins advances to the championship game to be played at 1 p.m., Monday, also at M&T Bank Stadium, which is the home of the National Football League's Baltimore Ravens.
The Fightin' Blue Hens fell behind 1-0 after the first quarter, with goalkeeper Tommy Scherr making several key stops to keep the score close. Johns Hopkins scored again in the second quarter for a two-goal lead before UD's Curtis Dickson placed the ball between the legs of the goalkeeper to cut the margin in half going into the break.
In the third quarter, Johns Hopkins again extended the lead, going up 3-1, but the Hens quickly struck back on a score by J.J. Moran and kept things tight until under one minute left when Johns Hopkins scored twice to make it 5-2.
The Blue Jays, carrying play in the fourth quarter, extended their lead to 8-2 before UD's Dan Deckelbaum found the net to stop the Johns Hopkins run.
With an assist on Moran’s goal in the third quarter, UD senior Jordan Hall extended his streak of consecutive games with a point to 31 straight games. During the streak, Hall scored 42 goals and had 30 assists. Scherr finished with 11 saves.
“I thought our kids played hard for four quarters all year and today was no exception,” UD Head Coach Bob Shillinglaw said. “I thought both teams battled it out but their goalkeeper (Jesse Schwartzman) played exceptionally well and closed the door on us. Our guys were thinking twice about their shots. Obviously Hopkins has an outstanding defense.”
"As the game went on, they really wore us down,” Scherr said. “We were playing a lot of defense in the first half and did a great job. But in the second half, we struggled a little bit on the ball and they were able to take advantage of it.”
UD All-America Alex Smith, the NCAA all-time leader in face-offs, won just 7 of 15 draws in the game. “I’m proud to represent my school in the Final Four and be a member of this team,” Smith said. “We lost this game, but just being here was such a great thing for our program and for the University of Delaware.”
UD, which was making its first NCAA men's lacrosse Final Four appearance, finished the season 13-6.
