Oh, how the mighty have fallen.
The ACC apologists will need to take a timeout after Notre Dame, Syracuse, Duke, North Carolina and Virginia all suffered defeats this week — the latest setback courtesy of resurgent lacrosse blueblood Johns Hopkins.
The eighth-ranked Blue Jays scored three unanswered goals to start the fourth quarter and held on to beat the second-ranked Cavaliers 16-14 at Klöckner Stadium in Charlottesville.
Midfielders Matt Collison and Jonathan Peshko (pictured above) scored four goals apiece for Hopkins, which won its fifth straight game and first over Virginia since 2018.
The Blue Jays (5-1) trailed 10-8 at halftime and 12-10 late in the third quarter. Collison cashed in on an extra-man opportunity to pull Hopkins within one and then helped jumpstart the Blue Jays’ fourth-quarter surge with an assist to Peshko for a goal that tied the game at 12.
Garrett Degnon gave Hopkins its first lead since the first quarter, converting a feed from Jimmy Ayers. Collison made it 14-12 Blue Jays a minute later.
Neither team led by more than two goals at any point in the game. Virginia kept it close in the fourth quarter thanks to Tewaaraton candidate Connor Shellenberger. He scored on a free possession for Virginia with a flag down, absorbing a hit in the middle of the field as he shot the ball past Hopkins goalie Chayse Ierlan to pull the Cavaliers within one with non-releasable penalty on deck for the Blue Jays.
The most critical turn of events came thereafter. Logan Callahan won the man-down faceoff, and with Virginia pressing out to double team the ball, Peshko found Jacob Angelus cutting behind the defense for a shorthanded goal to put Hopkins ahead 15-13.
The insurance goal proved pivotal, as the Cavaliers came right back to score six seconds later. Thomas Colucci plunged forward with a faceoff win, drew a slide and hit Shellenberger at the point for a time-and-room shot over defenseman Jacob Stoebner’s shoulder and past Ierlan to make it 15-14 with 5:39 remaining.
Ierlan got the stop on Shellenberger on Virginia’s next possession. A couple of errant attempts by McCabe Millon and Ryan Colsey led to a shot clock violation, and Collison delivered the dagger on the other end with his fourth goal of the game.
Both goalies settled in after allowing a combined 10 goals during a 5-5 first quarter. Ierlan outdueled Matthew Nunes, making 15 saves in the final three quarters. It was also the rare game in which the Cavaliers were at a disadvantage in ground balls, with Hopkins scooping 44 to Virginia’s 35.
All five ACC teams have lost at home in the last six days, upending the narrative that Notre Dame, Duke and Virginia, in particular, were a cut above everyone else. Georgetown took down Notre Dame in overtime last Sunday, Army beat Syracuse in overtime Wednesday, Penn stunned Duke and Princeton dominated North Carolina last night and now Hopkins has defeated Virginia for the first time in five years.
There’s still Sunday, of course. Undefeated Maryland plays at Notre Dame with a win potentially securing the No. 1 national ranking. Duke and North Carolina also return to action, hosting Princeton and Penn, respectively.
