March 23, 2006

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Blue Jays-Cavaliers for the 77th Time: Johns Hopkins (3-2) hits the road for the second time this season as the ninth-ranked Blue Jays travel to Charlottesville for a matchup with the top-ranked Cavaliers. Hopkins knocked off Syracuse, 14-9, in its last outing, while Virginia improved to 8-0 with a 14-7 victory at Towson.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game with an all-time record of 852-265-15 (.759). The Blue Jays own eight NCAA Championships, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 43 national championships.

A Quick Refresher: Johns Hopkins posted a 16-0 record and won its eighth NCAA title last season. Virginia posted an 11-4 record last season and advanced to the NCAA Semifinals. The Blue Jays and Cavaliers met in the 2005 semifinals with JHU picking up a thrilling 9-8 win in overtime.

Fresh Faces: A year ago the Blue Jays had three seniors start every game and another started all but one. In addition, six other seniors played in at least 11 games. There are just two seniors in the tentative lineup for this week's game and no other seniors are listed on this week's depth chart (page 2).

Youth Gone Wild: Johns Hopkins has amassed a total of 46 goals and 22 assists through five games. Of those totals, 42 of the 46 goals have been scored by non-seniors and 19 of the 22 assists belong to players who will return in 2007 as well. Greg Peyser (4g, 3a) is the only senior who has registered a point for the Blue Jays through five games.

Pietramala Stands Alone: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala is the only person in lacrosse history who has won an NCAA Division I Championship as a player (1987) and a head coach (2005). He is also the only person who has been named the national player of the year and the national coach of the year. He fashions a 66-12 (.846) record in six seasons as the head coach at Hopkins and an 89-29 (.754) record in nine seasons overall.

Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 48-5 during the regular season since the start of the 2002 season and 51-5 in its last 56 regular season games dating back to the end of the 2001 season. JHU's last four regular-season losses have been by a total of nine goals.

Pulling Rank: Johns Hopkins has ended the last four seasons ranked number one in the final STX/USILA Poll and has been ranked number one 32 times in 44 weeks since the start of the 2002 season. The Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office uses the STX/USILA Poll as the official poll when referring to the Blue Jays' rank once the season begins. The Blue Jays are ranked 9th in this week's STX/USILA Poll.

As the Lower Ranked Team: For just the eighth time since Dave Pietramala took over in 2001 the Blue Jays will play a game against a higher ranked team. The Blue Jays are 6-1 under Pietramala when playing the role of underdog (in terms of rankings). Included in that 6-1 record is a 4-0 mark against teams ranked number one in the nation at the time of the game.

JHU Sets Victories Record: The 16 wins the Blue Jays amassed in 2005 are the most in school history. Hopkins had previously won 14 games in a season three times in its history (1980, 1984, 2003).

Rare Feat: Johns Hopkins became the 11th team since the NCAA began sanctioning the men's lacrosse championship (1971) to win the national championship with an undefeated record when the Blue Jays turned the trick last season. Prior to 2005 the last was Princeton in 1997 (15-0).

More Rare: Johns Hopkins became just the third team to post a perfect 16-0 record and win the NCAA title. Cornell was the first in 1976 and North Carolina matched the mark in 1991.

One-Goal Turnarounds: JHU is 21-4 in one-goal games under head coach Dave Pietramala and the Blue Jays have won 12 of their last 13 one-goal games. In its previous 25 one-goal games (covering a span from the 1989 NCAA Championship Game through 2000), Hopkins was 13-12.

Overtime Notes: Including the victory over Virginia in last season's NCAA Semifinals, the Blue Jays are 9-2 in overtime under head coach Dave Pietramala.

Extra-Man Offense Off to Quick Start: The Johns Hopkins extra-man unit hit on 3-of-5 opportunities in the win over UMBC, 2-of-4 chances against Hofstra and is now 8-of-20 (.400) on the year. Sophomore Kevin Huntley leads the team with three extra-man goals and five different players have scored an EMO goal on the year.

Faceoffs A Key: The Blue Jays rank second in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (.631) through games of March 19 as JHU has won 65-of-103 on the year. This week's game against Virginia matches two of the better faceoff teams in the nation as the Cavaliers have won 124-of-204 (.608) to rank fifth in the nation.

Player Notes of Interest Included in PDF Version