CONFERENCE TOURNEY ROUNDUP

Johns Hopkins limped into last year's NCAA tournament on a two-game losing streak — a seven-goal loss to rival Maryland and a first round knockout to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament  — and was promptly picked apart by Duke to the tune of a 19-6 loss in the first round of the NCAA's.

The Blue Jays will be strutting, not limping, into the NCAA tournament this year. A week after losing in triple overtime to the Terps, the Blue Jays started strong and finished stronger in beating Maryland 13-10 to win the Big Ten championship in Ann Arbor, Mich.

Hopkins jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first quarter, only to see Maryland flip the script in the second quarter behind Tewaaraton finalist Connor Kelly. The Terps scored four straight goals, with Kelly notching two goals and an assist during the run, to take a 5-4 lead before Kyle Marr scored for Hopkins with nine seconds left in the half to send the teams into the locker room tied 5-5.

Will Snider, the hero of last week's Maryland win, opened the second half with back-to-back goals to give Maryland a 7-5 lead with 8:59 left in the third quarter, but Hopkins then exploded for five straight goals in the final 7:54 of the quarter to take a 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

Maryland freshman faceoff specialist Justin Shockey scored just 15 seconds into the fourth quarter to give the Terps some life, down only 10-8, but the momentum was short-lived. Hopkins' Cole Williams ripped off three straight goals to stretch the Blue Jays lead to five goals and they brought home their second Big Ten championship.

Williams, one of the Blue Jays top offensive threats, had been held to just a pair of assists over his last three games, including a one-point effort in last week's 8-7 triple overtime loss to Maryland. He broke out with a career-high five goals on Saturday night.

"I think last week was very tough for us, having a triple overtime game with them," Williams said after the game on the Big Ten Network. "We were just motivated to get back at them. I think that's what it was. These seniors have been working so hard to beat Maryland, especially to get to this game."

Maryland had won four straight in the series dating back to a 2015 regular season Hopkins win, but the Blue Jays were solid on both sides of the ball.

Senior goalie Brock Turnbaugh made 14 saves to anchor a strong defensive effort. Maryland has scored double digits in every game this season except its two games with the Blue Jays when it scored eight goals both games.

Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala had high praise for Turnbaugh and his defense after the game.

"As maligned as he was a year ago by a lot of people, that kid's got great courage, great character and really deserves everything he's gotten," Pietramala said. "I'm thrilled for him, thrilled for the group. It wasn't a one-guy defensive effort, it was a full defensive group effort, but the offense showed up. We've been struggling there a little bit the last two or three games, but they showed up today."

Hopkins scored just 23 goals in its last three games heading into Saturday night, but Williams had plenty of help against Maryland. Kyle Marr had three goals and two assists, Thomas Guida had three goals and Shack Stanwick had three assists.

Kelly finished the game with two goals and two assists for a team-high four points for Maryland. Snider and Louis Dubick each scored two goals and Tim Rotanz had a goal and two assists.