Jacob Johnston has been squaring up on Varsity since his sophomore season (2024), where he was primarily seen playing defense, scooping up groundballs, & pushing transition at a high level. Jacob grew to become more than steady last year as a junior, contributing 31 goals & 10 assists (41 points). He plays a physical style all over the entire field with his stick & body. Johnston hustles hard to get back on defense. He is the ultimate safety valve who can hunt down players from behind the restraining line, beating them to the opposite restraining line with trail checks that de-twigs his opponent. Offensively, Jacob can step in for his own shot & smack corners! He works well in the two-man game, & looks comfortable when drawing the pole. Johnston is slippery & shows a high IQ with front swings to generate quick-hitting, easy goals. He was named 1st Team All Long Island last season & will look to push for a nod at All-American as a senior. The Swiss-Army Knife from St. Anthony’s is signed to play at Johns Hopkins.

Johnston is a creative genius on the field. This five-star recruit makes quick decisions, elevating him to the next level. Whether he is taking a fast break or sending someone’s stick flying with one of his signature checks, Johnston’s timing is always on point; it’s like he’s one step ahead of everyone else on the field. Ranked #16 in his class and #1 for Express Channy, I would definitely recommend checking him out.

Johnston was the catalyst of the Friars’ offense right from the jump. He made an immediate impact from the wing on the opening face-off and then ended the fourth quarter with a goal on a last-second chance to tie the game. He finished with five goals, mainly doing it by beating his defenders 1v1 and creating chances for himself. He has also shown the ability to create without the ball, as two of his five goals came off assists on a cut from X. He’ll need to continue producing at this pace as the road only gets tougher with the schedule St. Anthony’s has this year.

Johnson, a Johns Hopkins commit, is the definition of a do it all player. A first line midfielder, he takes the wings of face-offs and is also one of his team’s top defensive midfielders. Rarely coming off the field, he makes an impact in all facets of the game. With an extremely high lacrosse IQ, he is always in the right spots, consistently making plays for his team.

Johnston is invaluable to the Friars. As an old-school two-way midfielder, he rarely comes off the field. He’s a grinder on the wing for face-offs, a lockdown short-stick defensive midfielder, and contributed three points on the day. His third-quarter goal stood out—he took a St. John’s defender behind the cage in an invert, ran through contact at the goal line, and finished low and away. Another highlight from the third quarter is one we’ll likely see again during his future at Hopkins—a punt return-style clear, where he weaved through three St. John’s attackmen before finding LSM Parker McDonald Parker McDonald 5'11" | 160 lbs | LSM/D | Right Hand St. Anthony's | 2025 #36 Nation NY for a goal.

Any time a recruit is compared to the likes of Brian Tevlin, Zach Currier, and Ryan Conrad, it speaks volumes about that player’s “Swiss Army knife” ability. Johnston, a throwback type who thrived as a defensive midfielder for the Friars this spring, is a flat-out winner who can do it all. He causes turnovers at an eye-popping rate and has a knack for creating disruption with some downright nasty trail checks and going from defense to offense.

Johnston simply understands the game at an advanced level and embraces every role that is asked of him. Just about every college coach I spoke to called Johnston the best two-way midfielder in the class, and while he’s likely a d-middie at the next level, he’ll make any team better with what he brings to the table.

He’s had no shortage of interest since 9/1, but it’d be silly to count out Army, seeing as Johnston is the grandson of a legend in former Black Knights head coach Jack Emmer.

A tweener who packs a punch on offense and defense, Johnston is the closest thing to a Jake Stevens type in the Class of 2026. If you’re drafting a team of rising juniors, he’s likely a Top 10-15 pick for his overall impact on the outcome of a game. While Johnston may not have filled up a stat sheet with goals and assists (I had him scoring five), he made winning plays, digging out key groundballs in traffic and making the appropriate play in transition. Placing the ball accurately, he has a big shot with his feet set and does an excellent job with his off-ball offense to create looks for himself and his teammates.