BALTIMORE – Derek Maltz walked back on the field after taking a quick water break. He eventually stopped at midfield, where he could only wait.

Standing there motionless, Maltz watched Johns Hopkins burn precious seconds off the clock. The Syracuse attack finally turned his head to see the time tick to 2:17 remaining in the fourth quarter on the scoreboard.

The Blue Jays controlled much of the second half, limiting Maltz and the SU offense to few opportunities to close the gap. And with the Orange trailing by four goals and less than two minutes remaining, the end result was clear.

‘We just got to do a better job on the offensive side of the field limiting turnovers and finishing opportunities,’ Maltz said. ‘And with a defense like that and with the offensive firepower they have when they get the ball, they do a great job of controlling the tempo.

‘So again, we just got to be a little bit smarter, execute a little bit better and finish opportunities.’

Those limited opportunities doomed Syracuse as it fell to Johns Hopkins 11-7 at Homewood Field in front of 5,970 on Saturday. The No. 5 Orange (3-2, 1-0 Big East) couldn’t keep pace with the explosive scoring attack of the No. 2 Blue Jays (7-0) due to struggles at the faceoff X and sloppy play offensively in the second half.

After going into halftime down by just three, Hopkins broke open the game with two quick goals in the third period. The Blue Jays added another late and held SU scoreless in the quarter to take a commanding 10-4 lead going into the game’s final 15 minutes.

SU head coach John Desko said the third quarter was the difference, as the pressure put on the offense to produce led to turnovers and missed opportunities.

‘They had a bigger lead in the third, and we felt like we had to play catch up,’ Desko said. ‘You really have to play smart lacrosse, take your time, get good possessions, work for good shots against the goaltender. I thought we played hurried.’

The Orange was forced to rush during possessions in the second half after Blue Jays attack Brandon Benn scored off the faceoff nine seconds into the half and added another less than four minutes later.

SU never found the answer to the early surge it needed, though. The Orange went 0-of-3 on faceoffs in the period – 7-of-20 for the game – and the Blue Jays dominated possession.

When Syracuse did get scoring opportunities, JHU goaltender Pierce Bassett was a wall in net. Bassett made five of his nine saves in the third period to keep the Orange off the board.

Henry Schoonmaker drove to the right and fired late in the third quarter, but Bassett snagged the shot easily. Pete Coleman tried from straight away, but his shot fell right into the goaltender’s stick. Finally, Tommy Palasek received the ball all alone in transition with time running out, but Bassett jumped in the air with the attack to grab his attempt from midair.

‘They play such great defense and have such great goaltending that you really, especially when you’re behind, you really have to be patient and work for good shots,’ Desko said. ‘And I think that their goalie came up big for them, and I think the third quarter really, really hurt us today.’

Maltz said the struggles offensively came down to time possession and execution. Two areas Hopkins dominated for the entire second half.

JHU defender Tucker Durkin said his team’s ability to hold the Orange scoreless for more than 20 minutes in the game started with the Blue Jays’ offense holding possession.

After an explosive first half and the big third quarter, the game was in Johns Hopkins’ hands going into the final period. A fact Blue Jays head coach Dave Pietramala acknowledged after the game, saying his team played just three quarters.

Though Hopkins let up in the fourth quarter, it didn’t matter. Syracuse couldn’t capitalize to come all the way back.

Minutes before Maltz could only watch, he stood with his hands on his knees after missing a golden opportunity on a wide-open shot in transition. The attack arched his back in disappointment of him and the Orange failing to capitalize again.

And SU was left to play the final five minutes knowing the hole was too big to overcome.

‘Credit him, he’s a great goalie, but when they’re dominating the faceoff like that and when they’re doing a good job controlling the ball on offense,’ Maltz said, ‘we got to make the most of all of our opportunities.’

rjgery@syr.edu

Published on March 17, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu