March 24, 2003

BALTIMORE, Md. -- For the second time this season, the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team has moved to the top of the STX/USILA National Rankings. The Blue Jays picked up eight of 10 possible first-place votes and accumulated 196 points in this week's poll after Saturday's 8-7 victory over previously top-ranked Virginia. Johns Hopkins, the only team ranked in the top four last week that didn't lose over the weekend, had shared the top spot with the Cavaliers three weeks ago, slipped to second after beating Penn and Albany and was ranked fourth entering the game against Virginia.

Hopkins jumped out to a 5-0 halftime lead and got a career-high-tying 18 saves from senior Rob Scherr in the win over the Cavaliers. Dating back to the 2001 season, the Blue Jays have now won four straight against teams ranked number one in the nation at the time of the game. This is the fourth time since the beginning of the 2002 season that Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one and the Blue Jays improved their record to 18-2 in their last 20 regular season games with the win over Virginia.

Johns Hopkins will next be in action on Saturday at North Carolina. The Tar Heels jumped from 13th to eighth in this week's poll after convincing wins over Duke and Maryland last week. This will be the 24th time in the last 25 games away from home that the Blue Jays will face a team ranked in the top 15.

STX/USILA Rankings * March 24, 2003

1. Johns Hopkins (8) 4-1 196

2. Virginia (1) 5-1 190

3. Princeton 2-2 171

4. Georgetown (1) 5-0 169

5. Syracuse 3-2 163

6. Massachusetts 7-0 161

7. Maryland 4-1 138

8. North Carolina 5-2 125

9. Rutgers 7-0 113

10. Loyola 5-1 107

11. Duke 6-3 97

12. Navy 4-2 84

13. Notre Dame 4-3 70

14T. Cornell 4-2 63

Hofstra 3-3 63

16. Yale 3-1 34

17. UMBC 4-1 31

18T. Towson 2-3 29

Villanova 5-3 29

20. Ohio State 3-2 21

Others Receiving Votes (in order): Penn, Bucknell, Hobart, Dartmouth.

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