NCAA Men's Lacrosse Preview: No. 9 Johns Hopkins Battling Expectations

USA Lacrosse Magazine is beginning its countdown to Feb. 1 — the first day of the 2025 men's lacrosse season — by releasing one team preview per day beginning on Monday, Jan. 13.

We continue the countdown with No. 9 Johns Hopkins, which doesn't seem to feel the pressure that comes with being back near the top of the Big Ten.

Johns Hopkins reached the NCAA quarterfinals and went 5-0 in the Big Ten last season, but the Blue Jays were on the cusp of so much more.

Four of the team’s five losses came by a single goal, including a double-overtime loss to Virginia that ended the season one game short of Memorial Day weekend.

Hopkins will have a different look in 2025, but with nine graduate students on the roster, the Blue Jays have some experience to draw from.

TOP RETURNERS

Matt Collison, M, Jr. (23G, 10A) 
Russell Melendez, A, Sr. (19G, 8A) 
Scott Smith, D, Gr. (56 GB, 14 CT)

It only seems like Smith has played at Johns Hopkins forever. After playing in just two games in the 2021 season, Smith has been a mainstay on the Blue Jays’ defense ever since.

Last year, he became the first Johns Hopkins defender since Tucker Durkin to earn first-team All-America honors since 2013. He’s got a chance to add to an already impressive legacy this year.

Milliman expects the offense to be fairly balanced this year, but there’s no question that Collison and Melendez will be two of the key figures. Both have earned All-American honors during their careers.

KEY ADDITIONS

Sean Crogan, M, Fr. (222 career points at Lexington High School, Mass.)
Patrick Hackler, M, Gr. (16G, 6A at Yale)
Jack Monfort, M, Gr. (28 GB at Yale)

Crogan is one of seven Johns Hopkins freshmen ranked among the top 100 in the country by Inside Lacrosse and has been impressive since day one on campus with his consistency and composure. Several rookies will likely find their way onto the field – including LSM Tyler Eye, FO Joe Hobot and SSDM Carmelo Pace – but graduate transfers may play an ever bigger role.

Yale transfers Patrick Hackler and Jack Monfort, both members of the 2022 U.S. U21 gold-medal winning team, bring key experience and talent, and goalie Luke Staudt, Loyola’s starter last year, is very much in the mix to play between the pipes.

NOTABLE DEPARTURES

Graduations: Jacob Angelus, A; Garrett Degnon, A; Chayse Ierlan, G; Brett Martin, SSDM; Beaudan Szuluk, D

X-FACTOR

Erik Chick, A/M, So.

If Johns Hopkins is going to be successful this season, then it’s going to take more than the returners matching their success and the transfers making an impact. They’re going to need production from players that didn’t get a ton of minutes last year or are new to the program.

One such player Milliman has been impressed by is sophomore Erik Chick, whose father, also Erik, was a four-year player for the Blue Jays in the 1990s.

Chick, freshman Sean Crogan and senior Stuart Phillips are three players that Milliman thinks will be difference makers this year in their new roles.

“Those are three guys that haven't played big minutes before, but I'm excited to see them on the offensive end of the field,” Milliman said.

THE NARRATIVE

Now entering his fifth year as the head coach at Johns Hopkins, Milliman has steadily built the program back up after three straight losing seasons from 2020-22. The Blue Jays have won a combined 23 games over the past two seasons with back-to-back Big Ten regular season championships and NCAA quarterfinal appearances.

The expectations will only get bigger, but Milliman is more than okay with lofty ambitions.

“I think a lot of people refer to it as the pressure of winning at Hopkins, but it's a pretty significant opportunity to be at a place that cares this much – that has this much invested in success,” Milliman said. “We want to win championships, and we're going to win another one, so we just have to keep our ourselves focused on what we're doing, and as a coach, just keep working on helping these young men develop.”

No place is the need for development more visible than replacing Chayse Ierlan, now the team’s director of operations, in goal.

Staudt, the Blue Jays’ most experienced option in net, made 28 starts over the last two seasons for Loyola, including making 27 saves in a pair of games against Johns Hopkins. But it’s not a slam dunk yet who gets the nod. Senior Jack Webb has seen limited action over his career but has been impressive along with former Ohio State transfer Oran Gelinas, now in his second year with the program. Freshman Andrew Cook has also shown promise.

Whoever gets the nod will have the benefit of a veteran like Smith playing in front of them, but the Blue Jays will also have to replace almost their entire rope unit.

The Blue Jays had the nation’s seventh-ranked scoring defense last year, but with all of the departures, they’ll need to lean more heavily on the offense this year.

Collison has had back-to-back 30-plus point seasons from the midfield, and Melendez slipped to 27 points after a 53-point season in 2023. They’ll carry the load, but the Blue Jays also return midfielder Dylan Bauer (24 points and second on the team with 14 assists), and Hunter Chauvette should move into a full-time role on attack after scoring 14 goals last year. Midfielder Brooks English has battled injuries his first two years but has the potential to make a big impact along with some of the younger players.