March 25, 2002

The Game: Third-ranked Johns Hopkins (3-1) looks to get back on the winning track as the Blue Jays host Albany (2-4) in a rare Tuesday afternoon game. JHU fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 12-6 loss at Virginia last Saturday, while Albany (2-4) dropped its third straight game, 10-7 at home against Drexel.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins posted an 8-4 record last season and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. Albany posted a 3-8 record last season under first-year coach Scott Marr.

The Coaches: Dave Pietramala is in his second season as the head coach of the Blue Jays. He sports an overall record of 34-22, including an 11-5 record at Johns Hopkins.

Pietramala spent three years as the head coach at Cornell (1998-2000) before returning to his alma mater last season. He is the only person in the history of college lacrosse who has earned NCAA Division I National Player of the Year honors (1989) and NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year honors (2000).

Scott Marr is in his second season as the head coach at Albany and sports an overall record of 5-12. He previously served as the offensive coordinator at Maryland and helped the Terps to appearances in the national championship game in 1995, 1997 and 1998.

National Rankings:

JHU Albany

STX/USILA 3rd ---

Inside Lacrosse 4th ---

Note: For purposes of pre-game rankings, the Johns Hopkins sports information office uses the STX/USILA rankings as each team's official ranking.

Hopkins Lacrosse on the Radio: Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse games can be heard on WJFK-AM 1300 in Baltimore. The Johns Hopkins Lacrosse Game of the Week presented by Copy World begins with a pre-game show 15 minutes prior to faceoff and includes a 15-minute post-game show. Larry Quinn and Mark Dixon will provide all the play-by-play and expert analysis. All regular-season games (except the games against Albany, North Carolina, Villanova, and Navy) and NCAA Tournament games will be broadcast.

Please note that beginning with the Syracuse game, all Johns Hopkins games that are broadcast on the radio can also be heard on the official web site of Johns Hopkins athletics (www.HopkinsSports.com).

Hopkins Lacrosse on Television: The Blue Jays are scheduled to hit the air waves eight times this season. Games against Princeton, Syracuse, North Carolina, Maryland, Towson and Loyola will air on WMAR in Baltimore, while the JHU-Virginia game was aired on Comcast SportsNet. This is in addition to the Hofstra game, which aired in New York on the Madison Square Garden Network. Since 1998, Johns Hopkins has had 30 of its games televised and has posted an 18-12 record in those 30 games.

Hopkins Lacrosse on the Web: The official web site for Johns Hopkins athletics is located at www.HopkinsSports.com.

Series Notes

* This is the first-ever meeting between Johns Hopkins and Albany.

* The two teams do not have any common opponents this season and did not have any last year.

* Albany is coached by former Johns Hopkins player Scott Marr, who played at JHU with current JHU coach Dave Pietramala and current assistant coaches Seth Tierney and Bill Dwan.

About the Danes: Second-year coach Scott Mart the Danes of Albany have shown steady improvement through six games this season. Albany's 8-6 win over Rutgers earlier this season was perhaps the biggest win for the program since it was elevated to Division I status three seasons ago. Last season, on the way to a 3-8 record, Albany lost to Rutgers, 19-2 at home and the Danes were outscored by 58 goals on the year. This season, Albany has been outscored by just five goals through six games and two of their four losses were by a total of just five goals.

Freshman Luke Daquino, who played at the same high school as Johns Hopkins' sophomore Corey Harned, has wasted little time establishing himself at the collegiate level. He currently leads the team in scoring with 11 goals and six assists for 17 points and carries an impressive .478 shooting percentage. He scored three goals and added one assist in the season-opener against Butler and posted a career-high five goals and two assists in an 18-3 win over Boston College.

Freshman goalie Kevin Rae earned the starting job with an impressive effort in the fall and preseason. Through six games, he boasts a solid 10.0 goals against average and a .589 save percentage. He registered a career-high 18 saves in a season-opening, 11-9 loss against Butler.

While head coach Scott Marr has brought in some talented young players, he does have a solid mix of veterans to lead the way. Sophomore Mike Solazzo finished third on the team in scoring last season (16g, 7a) and has eight goals and five assists in the first six games of the season, while junior Jon Smith had seven goals and two assists through six games.

The key to victory seems simple enough when looking at the Albany statistics. Through six games, Albany is 2-0 when holding teams to less than 10 goals and 0-4 when allowing 10 or more goals.

A year ago, Albany allowed 14 or more goals six times in 11 games en route to the 3-8 record. With a heavy emphasis on defense and Rae's play in goal, the Danes have allowed more than 12 just one (against UMass). Juniors Emil Bove and Luke Smith and sophomore Roy Vaccaro anchor the unit.

These Are The Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game against Albany with an all-time record of 797-258-15 (.752) in 114 seasons of play. The Blue Jays own seven NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles, and 6 ILA titles for a total of 42 national championships.

Captain My Captain: Senior defender P.J. DiConza (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset), senior midfielder Matt Hanna (Geneva, NY/Geneva), senior goalie Nick Murtha (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset), junior attackman Bobby Benson (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) and junior midfielder Adam Doneger (Hewlett, NY/Lynbrook) have been selected as team captains for Johns Hopkins this season.

All In the Family: For the second consecutive season, the Johns Hopkins coaching staff consists entirely of Johns Hopkins' graduates. Head coach Dave Pietramala and assistant coaches Seth Tierney (class of 1991), Bill Dwan (1991), and Howard Offit (1981) all earned their degree at JHU. Prior to last season when Pietramala, Tierney, Dwan and Offit also comprised the Blue Jay coaching staff, the last time the entire coaching staff was made up of JHU graduates was 1984, when the Blue Jays were coached by Don Zimmerman (1976), who was assisted by Jerry Pfeiffer (1966), Joe Devlin (1978), Fred Smith (1950), Joe Cowan (1969), and Dennis Townsend (1966).

Brother Act: Sophomore Corey Harned is the younger brother of Chris Harned, who played attack for the Blue Jays from 1997-2000. Freshman Peter LeSueur is the younger brother of Paul LeSueur, who played midfield for the Blue Jays from 1997-2000 and served as a team captain as a senior.

Tough: Johns Hopkins' season-opening game against Princeton was the latest for the Blue Jays against the defending national champion. Hopkins has now played the defending national champion every year since 1973 (the longest such streak in the nation). The Blue Jays have won six of their last nine and nine of their last 14 games against defending national champions, including wins over Princeton in 1995, 1999, 2002 and Syracuse in 1994, 1996 and 2001.

Tougher: Last week's game against top-ranked Syracuse was also the latest in a long line of games for the Blue Jays against the number one ranked team in the nation. Since 1994, JHU has played 15 games against teams which were ranked number one in the nation at the time of the game. Hopkins is 8-7 in those 15 games, including the season-opening win against Princeton. Currently, JHU has won three straight and five of its last seven against teams ranked number one.

The Toughest: Johns Hopkins will once again play the most difficult schedule in the nation, a fact that was cemented with release of the Faceoff Lacrosse 2002 Strength of Schedule Rankings (right).

The Blue Jays have a strength of schedule rating of 175 to easily out-distance the field in the battle for the toughest schedule in the nation. The Blue Jays will play the other five consensus top six teams in the nation (Princeton/Syracuse/Towson/Virginia/Maryland) and seven of the top 10. Hopkins plays three of last season's Final Four teams and three other teams which advanced to the national quarterfinals.

Getting Tougher: As if Hopkins doesn't already play the most difficult schedule in the nation, the Blue Jays will be adding Duke to their schedule beginning next season.

Anytime, Anywhere: Last week's game at Virginia was Johns Hopkins' 17th straight away from Homewood Field against a team ranked in the top 14 at the time of the game. The Blue Jays are 8-9 in those 17 games. Eight of the nine losses have come to teams ranked in the top five in the nation at the time of the game.

It's Great For Ratings: Two of Hopkins' four games this season have been decided by just one goal. Dating back to last season, seven of JHU's last 16 games have been decided by just one goal. JHU is 5-2 in those seven one-goal games.

More Ratings: Since the beginning of the 2001 season, 11 of Hopkins' 16 games have been decided by three goals or less.

Youth: It's no secret the Blue Jays may have the youngest team in the nation this season. Of the 40 players on the roster, 16 are freshmen, nine are sophomores, eight are juniors, and seven are seniors.

More Youth: Entering the season, junior attackman Bobby Benson, junior midfielder Adam Doneger, and junior goalie Rob Scherr had combined to start 55 games. The 37 other players on the team had a combined 35 starts to their credit.

Season-Opening Youth: In the first four games of the season, 23 different players have seen playing time for the Blue Jays. Of the 23, nine are freshmen and six more are sophomores.

More Season-Opening Youth: Of the 10 players who have started for Hopkins in the first four games of the season (JHU has used the same starting lineup in each of the first three games), four are freshmen (Kyle Barrie, Peter LeSueur, Kyle Harrison, Chris Watson), one is a sophomore (Conor Ford), one is a junior with one career start entering the season (Mike Peyser) and another is a senior who had never started a game before this season (Nick Murtha).

Points of Youth: Of Hopkins' 32 goals scored in three games 11 have been scored by sophomores, 11 have been scored by juniors, nine have been scored by freshmen, and one has been scored by a senior.

More Points of Youth: All 24 goals scored by Johns Hopkins in the last three games have been scored by players who will return next season.

Still More Points of Youth: All 38 points the Blue Jays have registered in the last three weeks (24g, 14a) have been amassed by players who will return next season.

Final Point of Youth: 50 of the 51 points JHU has amassed in four games belong to players who will return next season. 36 of the 51 belong to players with at least two years of eligibility remaining.

OK, This is the Last One: The last 29 goals the Blue Jays have scored have been scored by players who will return next season.

Give and Take: 16 of JHU's 19 assists this season belong to freshmen and sophomores.

Statistical Oddity: Through four games, six different Johns Hopkins players have a multi-goal game to their credit (Benson/Boland/Doneger/Ford/Harrison/LeSueur), although not one player has more than one.

And Then There Were Three: Through four games, only Bobby Benson, Adam Doneger, and Peter LeSueur have registered at least one point in every game.

USA, USA: Johns Hopkins junior attackman Bobby Benson (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) earned a spot on the United States National Team and will play in this summer's ILF World Championships in Australia.

Topping the Charts: Bobby Benson, Hopkins' only returning All-American after garnering Honorable Mention All-America honors last season, led the Blue Jays in goals (28), assists (14) and points (42) last season. With his one-goal effort against Virginia, he now has career totals of 63 goals and 17 assists for 80 points. He has five goals and one assist this season.

It's Safe to Say: With one goal against Virginia, Bobby Benson has scored at least one goal in 27 of the 29 games he has played in during his career and has 18 multi-goal games to his credit. Currently, he has scored at least one goal in 16 straight games.

A Change of Scenery: Junior Adam Doneger (Hewlett, NY/Lynbrook) made the move from attack to midfield this season, where he is anchoring Hopkins' top midfield unit. Last season, Doneger finished second on the team in scoring with 18 goals and 12 assists for 30 points.

26 and Counting: Adam Doneger scored one goal and added one assist in the loss against Virginia, pushing his season totals to six goals and one assist for seven points. The one-goal, one-assist effort extended his streak of consecutive games with at least one point to 26. This is by far the longest active streak on the team.

I Like it Warm: Adam Doneger entered this season with six career goals in nine games played in March. He already has six in four games this season.

More Warm: Entering this season, Adam Doneger had three or more goals in four games in his career and none of those had come before April 7. His three-goal effort against Hofstra is the earliest he has ever posted a multi-goal game.

"X" Marks His Spot: One of the biggest holes the Blue Jays have to fill is at the faceoff "X", where now-graduated Eric Wedin took over 94% of the faceoffs for the Blue Jays last season and over 1,000 in his career. Freshman midfielder Kyle Harrison (Baltimore, MD/Friends) is expected to handle most of the load this season for Hopkins. Harrison enjoyed an outstanding debut against Princeton as he won 11-of-15 (.733) faceoffs while also grabbing the ground ball on six of the 11 faceoffs he won. Harrison came back to win 5-of-9 against Hofstra and 9-of-15 against Syracuse. On the year, he has won 27-of-46 (.587) faceoffs.

Jump-Start, Part I: Kyle Harrison opened the scoring for Johns Hopkins in the win over Princeton with his first career goal just 1:22 into the game.

Jump Start, Part II: Kyle Harrison ignited Hopkins' game-ending 5-1 run against Syracuse with an unassisted goal with 7:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. Prior to Harrison's goal, Hopkins had been held scoreless for 26:01.

More "X": Freshman Lou Braun (Upper Arlington, OH/Upper Arlington) won a career-high 11-of-15 faceoffs in the game against Virginia and grabbed a career-high six ground balls as well. He is now 18-for-34 (.529) on the year.

More Scenery Changes: Sophomore Conor Ford (Timonium, MD/St. Paul's) started most of last season on attack and, like junior Adam Doneger, is starting on Hopkins' first midfield unit this season. He tallied one goal in the season-opener against Princeton, one more in the win over Hofstra, and three in the win over Syracuse. He was held without a goal for the first time in seven games in the loss to Virginia.

Streak Snapper: Conor Ford was held scoreless against Virginia, snapping a streak of seven straight multi-point games for the sophomore midfielders.

Mister Assister: Conor Ford's three assists against Hofstra were one better than his previous career-high of two against Loyola last season. He assisted on the game-tying and game-winning goals against Hofstra. He currently leads the team with five assists.

More Assister: Nine of Conor Ford's 11 career assists have come in the last six games dating back to last season.

More Ford Tough: In his last eight games dating back to last season, Conor Ford has 19 goals and nine assists for 28 points. No other player on the team has more than 20 points during the same period.

In the Nick of Time: Senior Nick Murtha (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset) made the first start of his career one to remember as he limited Princeton to just two goals in the first 53 minutes and registered a career-high 11 saves in the 8-5 win.

More Nick: Nick Murtha's effort in goal helped Hopkins hold Princeton to just five goals, the fewest goals the Blue Jays have allowed in a season-opener since 1983, when JHU knocked off UMBC, 15-4.

The Final Nick: Nick Murtha is the first Johns Hopkins goalie since Larry Quinn in 1983 to win the first three starts of his career.

Saving the Day: Nick Murtha registered a career-high 18 saves while allowing just eight goals in the 9-8 win over Syracuse. Seven of Murtha's saves came during the fourth quarter, when Hopkins outscored the Orangemen, 5-1.

Scherr-ing the Load: The Blue Jays boast two proven goalies as junior Rob Scherr (Reisterstown, MD/McDonogh) returns after starting all 12 games last season. Scherr posted an 8.52 GAA and a .587 save percentage last season.

Hail Hanna: Senior Matt Hanna (Geneva, NY/Geneva) scored Hopkins' third goal of the game early in the third quarter in the win over Princeton. In his 16 games at Johns Hopkins (he transferred to JHU from Loyola prior to last season), he has nine goals and one assist. Three of his nine goals have come against Princeton.

McDermott the Middie: One year after playing most of the season on attack, sophomore Joe McDermott (Rockville Centre, NY/South Side) makes the permanent move back to midfield, his natural position. Last season, McDermott finished sixth on the team in scoring with seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points.

More Middie: Joe McDermott registered his first two points of the season with a goal and an assist in the win over Hofstra. His goal late in the second quarter capped a three-goal run for JHU, while he later assisted on Bobby Benson's goal that gave JHU a 6-5 lead. Against Syracuse, McDermott assisted on Kevin Boland's second goal of the game, which drew Hopkins within 8-7 with 2:31 remaining in the fourth quarter.

One Career-High...: Kevin Boland's (Jessup, MD/Gilman) three points (1g, 2a) against Princeton tied his career high for points in a game. He previously had three assists in a 13-11 win over Navy last season.

...Deserves Another Career-High: Kevin Boland's career-high three-point effort against Princeton didn't remain his career-high for very long as he tallied three goals and added two assists to lead Hopkins to the 9-8 win over Syracuse.

I'm Honored: Kevin Boland was named the Warrior/Inside Lacrosse.com and AllLacrosse America.com National Player of the Week for his effort in the win over Syracuse.

Go Figure: Kevin Boland's three goals against Syracuse were one more than he had scored in his previous 14 career games combined.

More Figure: With one goal in the game against Virginia, Kevin Boland ranks second on the team in scoring with five goals and four assists for nine points. Last season, he had one goal and six assists for seven points in 12 games.

Something About Number One: In three career games against teams ranked number one in the nation, Kevin Boland has four goals and five assists for nine points. In his other 12 career games, he has one goal and five assists for six points.

Muir of a Good Thing: One of the most athletic and versatile players on the team, junior Tim Muir (Collingdale, PA/Episcopal) tallied seven goals and three assists in 10 games last season. This season, Muir is anchoring Hopkins' defensive midfield unit. He currently has 10 ground balls to his credit and is helping Hopkins hold the opposition to just 8.25 goals per game.

Shawn, Brandon, and Brendan Who: Last season, seniors Shawn Nadelen, Brandon Testa, and Brendan Shook started on close defense and anchored a unit which allowed an average of exactly nine goals per game. Despite losing the three, who all earned All-America honors as least once in their career, the Blue Jays have allowed an average of just 8.25 goals per game through four games. That is the exact number the Blue Jays allowed through four games last season.

This Looks Familiar: The 33 goals the Blue Jays have allowed through four games are exactly as many as they allowed through four games last season.

One Good Switch Deserves Another: Sophomore Corey Harned (Holbrook, NY/Sachem) was a standout attackman in high school, played short-stick defensive middie last season, and is listed as Hopkins' top long stick defensive middie this season. He picked up a career-high five ground balls in the win over Princeton and is currently fourth on the team with 14 ground balls.

Long in the Tooth: Senior defender P.J. DiConza (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset) entered the season having played in 32 games with four starts to his credit. The next four players listed as close defenders (Michael Peyser, Dan DiPietro, Chris Watson, Tom Garvey) entered the season having played in a total of 26 games with one start.

Holding Them Down: P.J. DiConza held Princeton sophomore attackman Ryan Boyle to just one goal in the win over the Tigers, and that came with less than a minute to play in regulation.

More Holding: P.J. DiConza held Syracuse sophomore attackman Mike Powell to just one assist in the win over the Orangemen. Powell entered the game with 15 goals and 11 assists for 26 points in four games.

The Numbers Don't Lie: P.J. DiConza was enjoying a standout season as Hopkins' long stick middie before being lost for the season with a knee injury prior to the game against Maryland last year. Johns Hopkins had not allowed more than 10 goals and was allowing an average of just 7.3 goals per game before his injury. After he was lost for the year, the Blue Jays did not hold an opponent to less than 10 goals in any game and allowed an average of 11.4 goals per game in their final five games. Since the beginning of the 2001 season, Johns Hopkins has allowed more than 10 goals in a game that P.J. DiConza has played in just once (Virginia-March 23, 2002).

Coming Full Circle: Junior Mike Peyser (Cold Spring Harbor, NY/Cold Spring Harbor) arrived at Hopkins as a close defenseman and spent most of his freshman year playing there. He even earned a start against Maryland on close defense as a rookie. Last season, he played the first seven games of the season as a short stick defensive middie before playing the rope the final five games of the season after P.J. DiConza was lost for the year with an injury. This season, he's back as a starter on close defense and held Princeton's Sean Hartofilis to no goals on 11 shots in the win over the Tigers. He also held Syracuse attackman Josh Coffman to just one goal in the win over the Orangemen.

LeSueur Registers First Multi-Goal Game: Freshmen Peter LeSueur (Garden City, NY/Garden City) posted the first multi-goal game of his career with two goals in the game against Virginia. He currently ranks fifth on the team in scoring with three goals and three assists for six points.

Barrie Bounces Back: After being held scoreless against Syracuse, freshman attackman Kyle Barrie (Narberth, PA/The Haverford School) bounced back with the first multi-point game of his career against Virginia as he registered one goal and one assist. He now has three goals and one assist on the year.

Elementary My Dear Watson: Freshmen Chris Watson (Yorktown, NY/Yorktown) has wasted little time establishing himself as the cornerstone of the JHU defense for the future. He has started all four games and held Syracuse attackman Michael Springer to just one goal. He has six ground balls on the year.

More Elementary: Chris Watson scored a 1590 on his SATs.

Another Rookie, Another Contributor: Freshman defenseman Tom Garvey (Garden City, NY/Garden City) has seen his playing time increase in the last two games and has helped JHU post an 8.25 goals against average through four games. Garvey has played in all four games and has three ground balls to his credit. He has split time between close defense and the rope.