Collison, Gelinas Lift Johns Hopkins Over Maryland in Front of 7,508

BALTIMORE — Sometimes Johns Hopkins finds a way to get Matt Collison open with a well-executed pick. Sometimes, he figures out a way himself.

He did a bit of both in the fourth quarter Saturday, scoring the Blue Jays’ final two goals in a 9-8 victory over Maryland before 7,508 at Homewood Field.

Hopkins clinched the top seed in the Big Ten tournament, creating a four-team logjam at the top of the league along with Maryland, Ohio State and Penn State. The Blue Jays (8-4, 3-2), who will face Ohio State or Michigan in the conference semifinals on April 30, also buttressed their chances of returning to the NCAA tournament after a one-year hiatus.

“One of the biggest pieces about today, it was obviously a rivalry and obviously a very meaningful game with the tradition of this program,” Hopkins coach Peter Milliman said. “But it’s an opportunity to extend this a little while longer. We don’t know how much we’re guaranteed.”

Collison finished with three goals and an assist, while Jimmy Ayers and Chuck Rawson both scored twice for Hopkins. Oran Gelinas had 14 stops as the Blue Jays earned consecutive home victories over the Terrapins for the first time since taking five in a row from 1996-2004.

Leo Johnson scored three times for Maryland (6-5, 3-2), which earned the No. 3 seed in the Big Ten tournament and will play host to Rutgers next Saturday in the league quarterfinals.

Given the patience — if not efficiency — both offenses operated with, Collison’s goal with 8:28 to play appeared to create a considerable cushion at 8-5. He worked inside of defenseman Riley Reese and then shrugged off a collision with short-stick midfielder Eric Kolar before flinging an underhanded shot past Brian Ruppel (12 saves) while losing his stick.

Maryland coach John Tillman threw a flag in the hopes the play would be overturned but was informed the call couldn’t be challenged.

“Their ruling was they didn’t call it that way and the stick was dislodged because of the contact,” Tillman said. “Everybody on our sideline felt like he threw his stick, so that’s what we talked about.”

The Terps proceeded to get back into it, with Elijah Stobaugh sticking a shot in the upper-right corner of the goal with 7:44 left and Johnson finishing an Aidan Aitken feed with 4:16 remaining. Maryland had a chance to tie, only for Gelinas to stuff Eric Spanos on the doorstep.

Soon it was Collison’s turn again, getting just enough space thanks to a Rawson screen to zip one in from 13 yards to make it 9-7 with 2:28 to go.

“Can’t really flinch in that moment,” Collison said. “Kind of let it fly, and luckily a couple of them went in and we had some great plays all over the field.

If it was the final time the senior midfielder faces Maryland — the teams are on opposite halves of the Big Ten draw — it was a fitting coda. Collison has eight goals and five assists on 27 shots in five career games against the Terps.

“It was a pretty high-level play,” Milliman said. “Also knowing you’re probably going to need to score another one. You never feel you’re completely out of the woods even if you’re up. This is a pretty special player for a reason. He sees an opportunity and takes advantage of it.”

Indeed, the Terps were far from finished. After Maryland long pole AJ Larkin pinged one off the post, the Terps regrouped after a Hopkins timeout and pulled within 9-8 on Johnson’s unassisted goal. Maryland won the ensuing faceoff and sprayed three shots in the final 25 seconds, including Chris Lyons’ attempt off the pipe with nine seconds to play.

Maryland hit the post four times, including three in the final 7:05.

That’s some poor luck, but the Terps also didn’t score at all in the second quarter. Galinas more than played a part, bumping his save percentage in Big Ten play to .615.

Yet the Terps have had their share of muted offensive performances, and they fell to 1-4 when scoring less than 10 goals this season. Maryland finds itself in a relatively unusual position, its inclusion in the NCAA tournament far from a sure thing as it heads into the conference tournament.

The Terps have earned a spot in every NCAA tournament since 2003, the year the field expanded to 16. And while a victory over Virginia last month is a helpful asset, Maryland is far from a postseason certainty after entering the year with national title hopes after back-to-back runner-up finishes.

“It’s college lacrosse in 2026,” Tillman said. “It’s kind of been a crazy year for us. It’s been a rocky road, so it just continues. I have great belief in our guys. I love our team. I love our players and staff. We’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing. No one said it would be easy.”

It definitely wasn’t against Hopkins, which was content to wear out yet another opponent as it continued its bounceback season. A year ago, the Blue Jays took an 11-8 loss in College Park, the fifth loss in a six-game skid to close out a 6-8 season that represented a distinct step back from consecutive NCAA quarterfinal appearances in 2023 and 2024.

Saturday’s victory only adds to a strong postseason case, and ensures Hopkins has two trophies — one for a regular season Big Ten title, the other the giant wooden crab to represent bragging rights in the rivalry with Maryland — to show for 2026.

“We’ve been up. We’ve been down. We’ve been down by a bunch,” Milliman said. “We’ve played some ugly lacrosse at times, and we’ve played some beautiful lacrosse at times. We have a lot of control in that, but there’s some other factors and you have to keep fighting to get another chance at it.”