May 10, 2004

BALTIMORE, Md. -- For the third consecutive year and the 10th time in school history the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team has earned the number one seed in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championships. The top-ranked, number-one-seeded Blue Jays will face Providence in the first round at Homewood Field on Saturday, May 15 at 1:00 pm. Providence enters the tournament with a record of 9-7 after winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's automatic bid.

"We are excited to have earned the number one seed in the NCAA Tournament and look forward to hosting Providence in the first round," Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala noted shortly after the announcement on ESPN News. "Providence plays exceptional team defense, is very balanced on offense and features one of the top faceoff specialists in the nation. Our team is looking forward to the challenges that will be presented on both ends of the field."

This will be the first meeting between Johns Hopkins and Providence in men's lacrosse. The teams had just one common opponent during the regular season as both teams played Towson. The Blue Jays knocked off the Tigers, 13-8 on May 1, while the Friars dropped a 12-3 decision at Towson on March 7. The winner of the Johns Hopkins-Providence game will play the winner of the North Carolina-Ohio State game in the NCAA Quarterfinals at the University of Virginia on Saturday, May 22.

Johns Hopkins, 11-1 and riding a six-game winning streak, closed the regular season with an 11-7 victory at Loyola last Saturday. The Blue Jays suffered their lone loss of the season at Virginia (9-8 in overtime) on March 27, but have bounced back with the six straight wins to post their third consecutive 11-1 record in the regular season. This is the first time in school history that Johns Hopkins has won 11 regular season games in three straight seasons.

The NCAA Tournament selection is the 33rd straight for Johns Hopkins, which has appeared in 15 NCAA title games and has advanced to the NCAA Semifinals 24 times. The 33 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament are the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament by a Division I team in any sport. In addition, this is the 29th time in 33 years the Blue Jays have been seeded in the top four. The Blue Jays are also the first team to earn the top seed three consecutive times since Syracuse did it from 1988-90. Hopkins did earn the top seed four straight times from 1983-86.

Under the guidance Pietramala, the Blue Jays feature a balanced scoring offense and a stingy defense. Playing against one of the most difficult schedules in the nation, Hopkins has four players who have scored 19 or more goals and seven players have 17 or more points. Senior attackman Conor Ford leads the team in scoring with a career-high 34 goals and eight assists for 42 points. Juniors Kyle Barrie (23g, 10a) and Peter LeSueur (8g, 10a) join him on attack. Hopkins also features one of the top midfield units in the nation as senior Kevin Boland (9g, team-high 25a) and juniors Kyle Harrison (19g, 6a) and Matt Rewkowski (19g, 9a) form one of the more potent trios in the nation.

Sophomore goalie Scott Smith anchors the Blue Jay defense as he boasts a 7.35 goals against average and a .552 save percentage. He has helped the Blue Jays hold all but one team to less than 10 goals this season. Juniors Chris Watson and Tom Garvey and sophomore Matt Pinto have started all 12 games together on defense for the Blue Jays, who have held 24 consecutive opponents to 10 goals or less.

Providence is making its first trip to the NCAA Tournament and advanced to the tournament with an 11-6 win over Manhattan in the MAAC Championship Game. The Friars, under the direction of head coach Chris Burdick, also feature a balanced offense (seven players with 10 or more goals) and a stingy defense as they have held 12 straight opponents to nine goals ore less.

Tickets for the game will be available in the Johns Hopkins Department of Athletics beginning Wednesday, May 12 at noon. They will also be available on game day 90 minutes before faceoff. Ticket prices are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students of either school (with proper ID), children under 12 and senior citizens.

2004 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament Schedule

First Round

Saturday, May 15, 2004

Providence (9-7) at #1 Johns Hopkins (11-1) - 1:00 pm

Ohio State (12-3) at #8 North Carolina (9-4) - 1:00 pm

Army (10-4) at #3 Maryland (12-2) - 7:30 pm

Rutgers (8-5) at #6 Princeton (9-3)

First Round

Sunday, May 18, 2004

Towson (11-4) at #5 Georgetown (10-3)

Albany (10-5) at #4 Syracuse (11-2)

Penn (7-6) at #2 Navy (12-2)

Hobart (9-6) at #7 Cornell (8-4)

Quarterfinals * South

Saturday, May 22, 2004 * @ Virginia

Johns Hopkins-Providence winner vs. North Carolina-Ohio State winner

Army-Maryland winner vs. Rutgers-Princeton winner

Quarterfinals * North

Sunday, May 23, 2004 * @ Cornell

Albany-Syracuse winner vs. Towson-Georgetown winner

Navy-Penn winner vs. Cornell-Hobart winner

Semifinals

Saturday, May 29, 2004 * @ M&T Bank Stadium

First game at 11:30 am - second game 45 minutes after first game concludes

Finals

Monday, May 31, 2004 * @ M&T Bank Stadium

Semifinal winners - 2:30 pm

All Times TBA Unless Noted

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