2014 NCAA Lacrosse Tournament: Virginia Falls to Johns Hopkins, 14–8

It only took two goals for Johns Hopkins to tell the Hoos what kind of game it was going to be.

Brandon Benn notched the first tally for the Blue Jays on a midfield shot to an empty cage after picking off Virginia goalie Matt Barrett's outlet pass. Bad clearing and Brandon Benn goals: check.

Ryan Brown scored the second for Hopkins, punching it in from Virginia's doorstep off a feed from Wells Stanwick. Defensive breakdowns and Stanwick distributions: check.

At the end of it all, Virginia's foibles overcame its strengths and its season came to a close with a 14–8 loss. For only the third time in the last 13 meetings at Klockner, Johns Hopkins left Charlottesville with a win.

Two bang-bang Mark Cockerton goals opened the game in the first quarter. But from the 10 minute mark of the first to almost halftime, the game was all Hopkins as the Blue Jays jumped out to an 8–2 lead. Time and again during the run, Virginia's defensive stops would be wasted on poor outlet passing and untimely mishandles in the clearing game.

Virginia responded with a run of its own to start the second half and clawed back into things through the third quarter. At the start of the fourth it was only a two-goal game with Hopkins holding the 10–8 edge. Things fell apart in the final fifteen. More and more shots found the pipes instead of the net. Hopkins took advantage of a Cavalier defense that was forced to overextend. And when the final gun sounded, an up and down Virginia season had come to an end.

We'll have much more time to look back at the season that was and forward to the season that could be. Right now, it's time to focus on UVa baseball and tennis as they head into the win-or-go-home portions of their respective seasons.