The talk surrounding Notre Dame’s matchup with Johns Hopkins at Arlotta Stadium focused on a hot Blue Jays team that had beaten Maryland twice and took Penn State to the wire. The Irish, who made the ACC final and fell to Virginia, entered into a game that looked the part of a toss-up.
Notre Dame showed why it earned the No. 7 in the NCAA tournament and a chance to host in the first round on Sunday night. It got contributions from a number of role players — including senior Ryder Garnsey, who returned to the field for the first time since last season after being ruled academically ineligible — to jump on Johns Hopkins early and hold on for a 16-9 in South Bend, Ind.
Although the Irish were clicking on offense before he entered the game, Garnsey made his presence known. He was ruled academically ineligible for the spring semester in January, but according to Inside Lacrosse, he was in good academic standing through the end of the semester and was reinstated prior to Sunday’s game.
He entered the game in the first quarter and showed the lacrosse world why he was a star for the Irish in years past. He finished with three goals and an assist, including this amazing highlight in the second half.
NEWS FLASH Ryder Garnsey is back and making cool plays again.
— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 13, 2019
Check out the #SCTop10 highlight from Garnsey. @NDlacrosse leads 13-7. pic.twitter.com/LS8eE0rilS
Morrison Mirer, who had four goals on the season before Sunday, matched his season total to lead the Notre Dame offense.
Notre Dame wasted no time grabbing the offensive momentum in the first half, scoring six of seven goals in the first quarter. Mirer and Bryan Costabile each had two goals in the quarter.
Garnsey got his first goal in the second quarter, and Mirer made it a hat trick, fueling a 10-2 lead at halftime.
Johns Hopkins needed a rally and took the momentum in the third quarter, with freshman Joey Epstein leading a four-goal rally that cut the deficit to 10-6 midway through the quarter. Garnsey added two more goals to help Notre Dame push the lead to 13-7 at the end of the third quarter.
Cole Williams cut the deficit to 13-8 with 10:27 left, but Notre Dame answered with two more goals to pull away from the Blue Jays with less than six minutes left.