April 12, 2006

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Game-by-Game Recaps
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Blue Jays-Terrapins for the 102nd Time: Johns Hopkins returns to action for the first time in 12 days as the Blue Jays (5-3) host Maryland (6-3) in the 102nd meeting between the two teams. Hopkins knocked off Mount St. Mary's, 19-6, in its last game, while the Terps fell to Navy, 7-6, in their last outing.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game with an all-time record of 854-266-15 (.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. Maryland rallied from a 5-5 start to win six straight games before falling to Duke (18-9) in the NCAA Semifinals. The Terps finished the 2005 season with an 11-6 record.

April Reign: Flipping the calendar to April has been a good sign for the Blue Jays in recent years. Hopkins has currently won 24 straight games in the month of April under Dave Pietramala and the Blue Jays are 26-1 in April since Pietramala took over in 2001. Taking it back even further, Johns Hopkins is 50-1 in the month of April since the start of the 1997 season. Johns Hopkins has not lost a home game in the month of April since a 13-12 loss to Towson in 1996.

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 only one other senior is on the depth chart (see page 2).

Youth Gone Wild: Johns Hopkins has amassed a total of 82 goals and 45 assists through eight games. Of those totals, 74 of the 82 goals have been scored by non-seniors and 38 of the 45 assists belong to players who will return in 2007 as well. Greg Peyser (8g, 7a) is the only senior who has registered a point for the Blue Jays through eight 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 68-13 (.840) record in six seasons as the head coach at Hopkins and a 91-30 (.752) record in nine seasons overall.

Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 50-6 during the regular season since the start of the 2002 season and 53-6 in its last 59 regular season games dating back to the end of the 2001 season. JHU's last five regular-season losses have been by a total of 15 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 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 8th in this week's STX/USILA Poll.

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 1-of-2 opportunities against both North Carolina and Mount St. Mary's and is now 12-of-29 (.414) on the year. Sophomore Kevin Huntley leads the team with four extra-man goals, while classmate Michael Doneger counts three of his seven goals with the extra man. The Blue Jays rank ninth in the nation in extra-man offense.

Faceoffs A Key: The Blue Jays rank fifth in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (.608) through games of April 9 as JHU has won 104-of-171 on the year. Johns Hopkins has finished among the top seven in the nation in faceoff winning percentage in each of the last four years.

Player Notes of Interest Included in PDF Version