Hamilton native Jimmy Ayers, a former St. John’s Prep superstar and team captain, scored the game-winning goal for Johns Hopkins University Saturday in its 9-8 NCAA Division 1 men’s lacrosse tournament upset of seventh ranked Ithaca Saturday.
Ayers, a junior who now has 24 goals for the Blue Jays, took a pass from teammate Matt Collison out front and rifled a shot past Big Red goaltender Matthew Tully to send his team into a quarterfinal matchup with the nation’s No. 2 team, Notre Dame, next weekend.
A junior attackman, Ayers had given Johns Hopkins (now 10-5) an 8-7 lead by scoring his first goal of the afternoon in the fourth quarter. His team fought back from a three-goal halftime deficit (6-3) to eventually send it to overtime, where the biggest goal of Ayers’ college career won it for the Blue Jays.
Another St. John’s Prep lacrosse alum, sophomore middie Jake Vana of Princeton, helped lead the top ranked Tigers past Marist, 17-8, on Sunday. They’ll now host No. 8 Penn State in the quarterfinals.
Ryan DeLucia, a former St. John’s Prep defenseman and now a freshman for Georgetown University, and his Hoyas played late Sunday night at fifth ranked Virigina, looking for an upset to move on to the quarterfinals.