Albany

The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team executed a well-designed defensive plan - and still lost. Despite strong efforts from senior defenseman Tucker Durkin and senior goalkeeper Pierce Bassett, the No. 12 Blue Jays dropped a 10-9 decision to No. 19 Albany before an announced 1,525 at Homewood Field on Friday night. Johns Hopkins fell to 6-4 and has dropped three of its past four games. The Blue Jays lost to the Great Danes for just the second time in 12 meetings and the first time since Feb. 24, 2007.

Johns Hopkins has qualified for 41 consecutive NCAA tournaments, making the field every year since the tournament format was implemented for the 1971 season. At this point, a 42nd appearance is becoming a murkier proposition. Friday night's 10-9 loss to No. 19 Albany dropped the No. 12 Blue Jays to 6-4 overall. That is not a death knell for a program that has captured nine national championships, but the warning signs are there. Johns Hopkins has lost three of its last four contests and is 1-4 against ranked opponents in The Sun's Top 20. The team has lost to No. 3 North Carolina, No. 8 Princeton, No. 9 Syracuse and now the Great Danes with a lone win coming against No. 15 Virginia.

Johns Hopkins has won 10 of 11 meetings in this series with Albany. All 11 contests have taken place at Homewood Field. The No. 19 Great Danes (6-3) have won five of their past six games and have secured victories over No. 9 Syracuse and 2012 Colonial Athletic Association champion Massachusetts. Albany entered the week ranked first in Division I in goals, points and assists per game. The No. 12 Blue Jays (6-3) have dropped two of their past three contests. Sophomore attackman Wells Stanwick had a four-game streak of at least four points end with just a single assist in the team's 11-10 overtime loss to No. 3 North Carolina last Saturday.

UMBC opens play in the America East this Saturday with a visit to Hartford. The Hawks began the season with three consecutive losses, won three straight and then dropped a 13-11 decision to Massachusetts last Saturday. Despite Hartford's uneven campaign thus far, the Retrievers (3-5) are fully aware of how much improvement the Hawks have made since February. “I see a vastly improved team from the beginning of the year to where they are now,” coach Don Zimmerman said. “If you look at their first three games, I think their offense averaged a little under six goals per game.

Jack Doherty (four goals) scored with one second left in overtime to lift Marist to a 10-9 win over host Towson in men's lacrosse Friday night at Johnny Unitas Stadium. Doherty's goal spoiled a big night by the Tigers' Thomas DeNapoli, who finished with a career-high five goals and got his fourth straight hat trick. DeNapoli gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead at halftime, as he scored his second goal of the night with 12 seconds remaining in the first half. The teams battled throughout the second half as Towson held a 9-8 lead with 6:33 to play.

Logan Aronhalt didn't pay attention to what was going on during Senior Night last season at Albany. A fourth-year junior, the 6-3 shooting guard was injured and not thinking much beyond trying to get back on the court for his senior year. Little did he know back then that his senior year would be spent at Maryland, where he used a relatively new NCAA rule that allow graduates to transfer without having to sit out the requisite year before playing again. “I finished the season hurt, and I really couldn't play in the last four or five games,” Aronhalt recalled Tuesday.

Senior attacker Ashley Bruns (Mount Hebron), senior attacker Kitty Cullen (McDonogh) and senior midfielder Brittany Dashiell (John Carroll) combined for 10 points to lead the No. 3 Florida women's lacrosse team to a 17-7 win over visiting Albany on Sunday. Bruns scored four goals, Cullen three and Dashiell two for the Gators (6-0), who got five goals and a career-high and Florida single-game high eight draw controls. Freshman attacker Lauren Lea (Archbishop Spalding)

Mount St. Mary's lost to Wagner, 74-65, on Wednesday night at the Spiro Sports Center.  Rashad Whack paced the Mountaineers with 19 points. The Mount was able to cut its deficit to 70-65 with 14.1 seconds left after a steal and deep 3-pointer by Kelvin Parker, but Wagner went 4-for-4 at the line to close out the win. Parker added 15 points off the bench while Wiggins chipped in 11 points and four assists for the Mountaineers.  Julian Norfleet...

Five Albany players scored at least 10 points Wednesday night in an 85-41 win over UMBC, which shot just 28 percent from the field. Raven Harris won America East Player of the Game for the Retrievers (7-16, 3-7), finishing with seven points, five rebounds and three assists. Shereesha Richards went 10-for-13 for a game-high 22 points for the Great Danes (19-3, 10-0). St. Mary's 94, Frostburg State 85, OT: The Seahawks scored 16 points in overtime to beat the Bobcats after St.Mary's Sophie Pruden scored with four seconds remaining to tie the game at 78. Frostburg State (6-16, 2-7 Capital Athletic Conference)

Tianna Hawkins had 20 points off 9-for-9 shooting from the field, and the No. 9 Maryland women's basketball team cruised to a 76-36 victory against Brown in the opening round of the Terrapin Classic on Friday. Hawkins has created matchup problems for most opponents this season, and she wasted little time establishing her dominance against the Bears, as she scored 16 of her 20 points in the first half. Alyssa Thomas had 16 points and Katie Rutan added 11 points for the Terrapins (9-2)