BALTIMORE, Md. – No. 12 Penn State's three-game winning streak in the series with Johns Hopkins came to an end Saturday with a 13-6 loss to the Blue Jays in Big Ten men's lacrosse action at Homewood Field.
The Nittany Lions, who were coming off a win over nationally-ranked Ohio State, fell to 1-3 overall and in the conference, while the Blue Jays improved to 2-2, 2-2.
Penn State goalie Colby Kneese stopped 13 shots on the day as he eclipsed the 600-save mark for his career. He now has 610, which ranks third in program history.
Penn State has scored first in all four games this season after taking a 2-0 lead against Johns Hopkins with goals from Mac O'Keefe and T.J. Malone. O'Keefe scored just 50 seconds into the contest, upping his goal-scoring streak to 36 games. That ranks second in the nation and first amongst players that have played their entire career in Division I.
Johns Hopkins countered with a 4-0 run with goals from four different players to take a two-goal lead after one quarter.
Penn State struck first in the second quarter with a goal by Jack Kelly off an assist from Malone. That goal came 1:50 into the quarter, but it was the team's last until 52 seconds into the fourth quarter, a span of 29:02 on the game clock.
The Blue Jays scored nine times during that stretch to go up 13-3 after three quarters. The Lions out-scored them 3-0 in the final quarter but the deficit was too much at that point.
Malone finished with four points on two goals and two assists, giving him 11 points on seven goals and four assists over the last two games. O'Keefe tallied a pair of goals, while Jack Kelly and Jackson Reynolds had one apiece.
O'Keefe's second goal of the game gave him 199 for his career, moving him into a tie Duke's Max Quinzani (2007-10) and Albany's Connor Fields (2015-18) for third in NCAA Division I history. He needs eight goals to move into second on the list and 13 to become the all-time leaders.
The Lions finished with 25 grounds balls, led by O'Keefe, Bobby Burns and Sutton Boland with three apiece. O'Keefe, Nick Cardile, Grant Haus, Brayden Peck and Brett Funk each caused one turnover.
Connor DeSimone and Joey Epstein led the offensive effort for Johns Hopkins. DeSimone totaled four goals and one assist. Epstein finished with two goals and a pair of helpers.
Penn State is back on the road next weekend as it heads to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan on Saturday at noon. The Wolverines, who will play at Ohio State tomorrow, are 0-3 with losses to Maryland, Johns Hopkins and Rutgers.
