A rocky beginning to the 2021 season put Penn State in desperate need of a win to stay relevant in the Big Ten. Against a Johns Hopkins team that beat the Nittany Lions by seven goals just two weeks ago, Penn State recovered.

Mac O’Keefe scored four times and TJ Malone, Dylan Foulds and Jack Traynor each scored twice as Penn State ended its two-game losing streak with an 11-8 win at Panzer Stadium. Both Penn State and Hopkins are now 2-4.

A 7-4 halftime lead evaporated early in the fourth quarter, as Garrett Degnon tied the score at 8 for Hopkins with 12:52 to play. The Penn State offense, which looked significantly improved throughout, scored the game’s final three tallies (all assisted) — Jackson Reynolds to O’Keefe, Foulds to O’Keefe and Malone to Traynor.

Next up for Penn State is Maryland on April 3.

MARYLAND RECOVERS AFTER FIRST QUARTER

Rutgers came out firing, scoring the game’s first three goals and finishing the first quarter with a three-goal lead, but Maryland scored seven straight goals en route to a 13-9 win.

In a rematch of the Big Ten’s top teams, Maryland again proved its might. Trailing 4-1, Anthony DeMaio kickstarted the seven-goal spurt with a man-up goal with 10:31 left in the first half. Jared Bernhardt (four goals, two assists) scored three times during that run — Daniel Maltz, John Geppert and Kyle Long also scored in the stretch — as Maryland (6-0) took control of the game.

Rutgers (4-2) twice cut the deficit to two goals (Brennan Kamish made the score 9-7 and Adam Charalambides made it 11-9), but Maryland never relinquished its lead.

MONTH-LONG WAIT PAYS OFF FOR NAVY

Before Sunday, Navy last played a game on February 28 due to a campus-wide COVID-19 shutdown. Back in action at home against Bucknell, the Mids were able to come away with a 13-10 win.

Bucknell hung around, tying the score at 6 on Dutch Furlong’s goal early in the third quarter, but Navy (3-0) got a little breathing room with a five-goal run that started when Christian Daniel fed Patrick Skalniak.

Jack Sweeney led the Mids with three goals. Skalniak, Daniel and Michael Foster each scored twice. Spencer Rees made 17 saves.

SCHELLING’S FIVE GOALS LEAD LEHIGH

Tommy Schelling scored five times and Cole Kirst produced a hat trick as Lehigh never trailed in a 15-10 win over Colgate at Crown Field in Hamilton, N.Y.

The Mountain Hawks (4-0) got off to a 4-0 start, but Colgate stormed back to tie the score at 5.  John Sidorski, Justin Tiernan, Schelling and Kirst scored during a four-goal run in response, and Lehigh never looked back.

Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20

No. 2 Maryland 13, No. 6 Rutgers 9
No. 11 Lehigh 15, Colgate 10
No. 15 Navy 13, Bucknell 10
Penn State 11, No. 18 Johns Hopkins 8