Virginia found itself on the wrong side of an epic game Saturday afternoon when the No. 1 Cavaliers played host to the No. 2 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays. Both teams were going into the matchup undefeated, and Hopkins hadn't won in Charlottesville since 1998. In front of a home crowd of 6,899 fans, Virginia fell in overtime, 11-10, to suffer its first loss of the season.
Virginia dominated the box score just about across the board in clears (20-19), face-offs (13-11), ground balls recovered (30-26), saves (13-9) and shots (48-34). Despite outshooting the Blue Jays by double digits, the Cavaliers failed to get a single shot off in overtime.
After heading into the locker room at intermission up 5-3, Virginia started the third quarter with nothing short of lackluster. Hopkins dominated the quarter and before you knew it, the Hoos were down 7-6, with two of Hopkins' four goals that quarter coming on extra man opportunities. The Blue Jays were nothing if not efficient that quarter, converting on 50% of their shots, 66.7% of their shots on goal.
In extra time, the Cavaliers found themselves careless with the ball, giving up three turnovers, though only two actually happened. With just a minute-20 remaining in overtime, triggerman Steele Stanwick threw a laser at Matt White, who was wide open near the crease. The ball sailed well past and was called out of bounds on Virginia. But thanks to instant replay technology and the modern marvel of ESPNU, it was abundantly clear that a Hopkins defender had deflected the ball, and Virginia should have retained possession.
Obviously, one blown call does not a game make, but it sure does sting when it comes that late in an overtime game.
Hopkins scored the golden goal with just five seconds remaining in the first overtime.
On the day, Steele Stanwick led the Cavaliers with five points coming off of two goals and three assists. Chris Bocklet, Rob Emery and Rob Tucker each also had two goals. Matt White and Colin Briggs notched one goal a piece.
Stanwick's brother, Wells, had one goal and two assists for Hopkins.
No reason to panic on the season. At 8-0, Johns Hopkins is clearly one of the elite teams again this year, a welcome return to normalcy after taking a few years to rebuild. The Blue Jays also came out with a one-point win last year over the Hoos en route to Virginia's national championship season.
(Updated 10:39 a.m. with video of the tipped pass)