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Johns Hopkins-Syracuse NCAA Semifinal Notes
May 20, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format - Additional Information Available in This Format
Follow Hopkins to the Final Four
The Game: The top-ranked, top-seeded Johns Hopkins (13-1) men's lacrosse team puts its 10-game winning streak on the line as the Blue Jays take on Syracuse (10-5) in the NCAA Semifinals. The Johns Hopkins-Syracuse game will be the first game of the semifinal doubleheader at M&T Bank Stadium. Second-seeded Virginia will take on third-seeded Maryland in the second game.
Hopkins Is Your Co-Host: Johns Hopkins is one of four host schools for this weekend's NCAA Semifinals and Championship. JHU, Towson University, Loyola College and UMBC are co-hosting the event at M&T Bank Stadium. The Baltimore Ravens and the Maryland Stadium Authority are also integral parts of the operation of Championship Weekend. The event will return to M&T Bank Stadium in 2004 as well. For more information about the championship, visit the official web site of Lax4Baltimore, the Local Organizing Committee at Lax4Baltimore.com.
A Look Back: Johns Hopkins won its 10th consecutive game with a 14-6 victory over host Towson in the NCAA Quarterfinals last Sunday. Syracuse made it 21 straight trips to the NCAA Semifinals with a 15-5 victory at home against Princeton in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Pulling Rank: Johns Hopkins ended the regular season ranked number one while Syracuse checked in at number six in the final STX/USILA poll. The Blue Jays were ranked number one for the final seven weeks of the regular season. The Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office uses the STX/USILA poll as the official poll when listing a team's ranking. The complete poll, as well as the Warrior/Inside Lacrosse Power Poll and Hopkins' week-by-week national ranking, is listed on page 8.
Head Coach Dave Pietramala: Dave Pietramala is in his third season as the head coach of the Blue Jays. The 2002 USILA National Coach of the Year, he sports an overall record of 56-24 (.700), including a 33-7 (.825) record at Johns Hopkins. He picked up his 50th career coaching victory with the 6-5 overtime victory over Maryland (4-12-03). Pietramala spent three years as the head coach at Cornell (1998-2000) before returning to his alma mater prior to the 2001 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 & 2002). This is Hopkins' third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament under Pietramala's guidance and this is the fourth consecutive season he has coached his team into the tournament (he led Cornell to the NCAAs in 2000). Pietramala is 3-3 as a head coach in NCAA Tournament games. Hopkins Lacrosse on the Web: The official web site for Johns Hopkins athletics is located at www.HopkinsSports.com.
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 pregame show 15 minutes prior to faceoff and includes a 15-minute postgame show. Larry Quinn and Mark Dixon will provide all the play-by-play and expert analysis. All NCAA Tournament games will be broadcast. Hopkins Lacrosse on Television: This week's NCAA Semifinal game against Syracuse will air live on ESPN2. The NCAA Championship game will air live on ESPN on Monday, May 26 at 11:00 am. Leif Elsmo and Quint Kessenich will handle the play-by-play and color commentary, respectively. Joe Beninati will handle the sideline reporting. Since 1998, Johns Hopkins has had 40 of its games televised and has posted a 27-13 record in those 40 games. The Blue Jays are 17-6 on television under head coach Dave Pietramala.
Rising to the Top: The Blue Jays have fallen out of the top four in the national rankings during the regular season many times since 1972 (their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament). However, come playoff time, JHU has usually gotten back near the top. In 32 trips to the NCAA Tournament (including this season), the Blue Jays have been seeded in the top four an amazing 28 times.
JHU's All-Time Tournament Seeds: Below is a list of where the Blue Jays have been seeded in all 32 of their tournament appearances.
As the Number One Seed: This is the ninth time that Johns Hopkins has earned the number one seed in the NCAA Tournament. Below is a list of the years the Blue Jays have been seeded first and where they finished in the tournament.
Year - Result
1979 - National Champions
These Are The Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game against Syracuse with an all-time record of 819-260-15 (.755) 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 attackman Bobby Benson (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh), senior midfielder Adam Doneger (Hewlett, NY/Lynbrook), senior defenseman Michael Peyser (Lloyd Harbor, NY/Cold Spring Harbor), junior defenseman Greg Raymond (Corning, NY/Corning East) and senior goalie Rob Scherr (Reisterstown, MD/McDonogh) have been selected as team captains for Johns Hopkins this season.
All In the Family: For the third 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 Pat Miller (2001) all earned their degree at JHU. Prior to the 2001 season when Pietramala, Tierney, Dwan and Howard Offit 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 Pfeifer (1966), Joe Devlin (1978), Fred Smith (1950), Joe Cowan (1969), and Dennis Townsend (1966).
Tough: Johns Hopkins once again played arguably the most difficult schedule in the nation. The Blue Jays played the three other teams that advanced to the Final Four last season (Syracuse, Princeton and Virginia), all four ACC schools (Virginia, Duke, North Carolina and Maryland) and in-state rivals Towson, Loyola and Navy. All nine of those teams were ranked in the preseason top 15. Officially, JHU checked in at number three in the 2003 Face-Off Yearbook/UnderArmour Strength of Schedule Rankings. Johns Hopkins played five of the other seven NCAA Quarterfinal teams during the regular season (Towson/Syracuse/Princeton/Virginia/Maryland) and all three teams that have advanced to the Final Four (Syracuse/Virginia/Maryland). Brother Act: The Blue Jays have three sets of brothers on this year's team and three other players whose brother previously played for Hopkins. The brothers on this year's team include Bobby Benson and Joe Benson, Michael Peyser and Greg Peyser and Todd Smith and Scott Smith. In addition, Corey Harned's older brother, Chris Harned, was an attackman for the Blue Jays from 1997-2000, while Peter LeSueur's older brother, Paul LeSueur, was a defensive middie and a captain on the 2000 team that advanced to the Final Four. Freshman defender Andrew DiConza is the younger brother of P.J. DiConza, a captain and Third Team All-America defenseman on the 2002 team.
Anytime, Anywhere: 27 of the last 28 games Johns Hopkins has played away from Homewood Field have been against teams ranked in the top 15.
Home Sweet Home: Johns Hopkins has won 19 straight games at Homewood Field and is 20-1 at home under head coach Dave Pietramala. The Blue Jays' only home loss under Pietramala was a 9-8 loss in four overtimes to Virginia two years ago. The current 19-game home winning streak is the longest for Johns Hopkins since the Blue Jays won 31 straight home games from 1982-85.
More Home: Johns Hopkins outscored its seven opponents at Homewood Field this season, 126-41.
It's Great for Ratings: Six of JHU's 14 games last season were decided by one goal and four more this season have been one-goal affairs. Dating back to the 2001 season, 15 of Hopkins' last 40 games have been decided by one goal. JHU is 12-3 in those 15 games.
More Ratings: Since the beginning of the 2001 season, 23 of JHU's 40 games have been decided by three goals or less. Johns Hopkins is 19-4 in games decided by three goals or less since the beginning of the 2001 season.
Road Ratings: Johns Hopkins has played six road games this season. One was decided by two goals and three others were decided by one goal (including two in overtime).
One-Goal Turnarounds: JHU is 12-3 in one-goal games since the start of the 2001 season. In its previous 15 one-goal games (covering a span from 1995-2000), Hopkins was 7-8.
Another One-Goal Turnaround: JHU's 12 one-goal victories in the last two plus years are one more than the Blue Jays accumulated in the previous seven seasons combined (1994-2000).
Younger Than You Think: A year ago, the Blue Jays started just two seniors on their way to the Final Four. While experienced, the Blue Jays are still relatively young. The Blue Jays have more sophomores (5) than seniors (4) in the starting lineup.
Doing the Little Things: Through 14 games, Johns Hopkins holds a commanding 488-399 (+6.8/game) advantage in ground balls and has won 208-of-341 (.610) faceoffs. As a team, Johns Hopkins ranks fourth in the nation in faceoff winning percentage (.638).
Quick Starts: JHU has outscored the opposition, 54-21 in the first quarter this season and 104-46 in the first half.
More Starts: The 104 goals Johns Hopkins has scored in the first half of its games this season are 10 more than the oppsition has scored against the Blue Jays overall.
Ahead of the Pace: Last season, Johns Hopkins scored 138 goals in 14 games. In 14 games this season, the Blue Jays have scored 198 goals (4.3 goals/game more than last year).
More Pacing: Johns Hopkins accumulated 85 assists last season. Through 14 games this year, the Blue Jays already have 135 assists.
A Final Pace: The 333 points Hopkins has accumulated in 14 games this season are 110 more points than the Blue Jays amassed during the entire 2002 season (14 games).
ACC Champs: Johns Hopkins became the first team ever to complete a regular-season sweep of the four ACC lacrosse-playing schools. Making it more impressive was the fact that Hopkins defeated Virginia, North Carolina, Duke and Maryland on consecutive Saturdays. Princeton did defeat all four ACC schools in 1997, but two of the four wins came in the NCAA Tournament.
A Defensive Group: The 42 goals Johns Hopkins has allowed in the last seven games are the fewest allowed by the Blue Jays in a seven-game span since 1967, when Hopkins also allowed just 36 goals in an eight-game span. No current player or member of the coaching staff was even born at that time.
More Defensive: The eight goals JHU has allowed in its first two NCAA Tournament games are the fewest the Blue Jays have ever allowed in consecutive NCAA games.
Final Defensive: Johns Hopkins has held its first two NCAA Tournament opponents to six goals or less. This is the first time JHU has done that since 1989, when the Blue Jays knocked off UMass (9-4) and North Carolina (10-6).
Regular-Season Roll: Johns Hopkins is 25-2 (.926) in its last 27 regular season games. This is the best 27-game regular season run for Johns Hopkins since JHU won 26-of-27 regular season games covering a span from 1983-85.
More Rolls: Dating back to last season, Johns Hopkins is 22-2 in its last 24 games (including the NCAA playoffs). Hopkins' two losses during that time have come by a total of three goals.
A Final Roll: The win over Loyola gave Johns Hopkins 11 regular season wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1980 and 1981. JHU was 11-1 in the regular season last year.
Lucky Number 13: Johns Hopkins improved to 13-1 with the 14-6 win over Towson in the NCAA Quarterfinals. This is just the eighth time in school history JHU has ever won 13 or more games. The record for wins in a season at JHU is 14 (1980/14-1 -- 1984/14-0).
More Lucky: In the previous seven years that Johns Hopkins won the 13 or more games (1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1995), the Blue Jays won the NCAA title five times (1978, 1979, 1980, 1984, 1985).
Topping the Charts: Johns Hopkins ranks first in the nation in scoring margin (+7.43 goals per game), scoring offense (14.14 goals/game), winning percentage (13-1/.929), extra man offense (.473 / 35-of-74) and man-down defense (.875 / 35-of-40 killed).
Not Far Behind: In addition to ranking first nationally in the above categories, Johns Hopkins ranks fourth in the nation in scoring defense (6.71 goals/game) and fourth in faceoff winning percentage (.610).
Extra, Extra: Johns Hopkins ranks first in the nation in extra man offense after converting 3-of-6 opportunities against Towson. Below is a game-by-game look at JHU's extra man offensive efficiency:
Opponent JHU EMO Running Season Total Princeton 0-for-2 0-for-2 Albany 3-for-16 3-for-18 Penn 2-for-3 5-for-21 Syracuse 5-for-8 10-for-29 Virginia 2-for-4 12-for-33 North Carolina 1-for-5 13-for-38 Duke 5-for-6 18-for-44 Maryland 0-for-2 18-for-46 Canisius 3-for-4 21-for-50 Navy 2-for-2 23-for-52 Towson 5-for-10 28-for-62 Loyola 1-for-2 29-for-64 Army 3-for-4 32-for-68 (.471)
Noting the Johns Hopkins Extra Man Unit:
Man Down Unit Excels: In addition to their exploits on extra man offense, the Blue Jays have also been strong when playing man-down as they also rank first nationally in man-down defense. Below is a game-by-game breakdown of JHU's man-down efficiency.
Opponent Opponent EMO Running Season Total Princeton 0-for-1 0-for-1 Albany 0-for-2 0-for-3 Penn 1-for-1 1-for-4 Syracuse 1-for-6 2-for-10 Virginia 0-for-2 2-for-12 North Carolina 0-for-1 2-for-13 Duke 0-for-7 2-for-20 Maryland 0-for-2 2-for-22 Canisius 1-for-6 3-for-28 Navy 0-for-2 3-for-30 Towson 2-for-4 5-for-34 Loyola 0-for-2 5-for-36 Army 0-for-2 5-for-38
Noting the Johns Hopkins Man Down Unit:
A Game of Runs: Johns Hopkins has used a balanced scoring attack, strong play on faceoffs and a stingy defense to put together some game-turning scoring runs. Below is a look at some of Hopkins' most impressive scoring runs this season:
Opponent The Run The Skinny Princeton 4-0 Extends 4-3 lead to 8-3. PU never ties score Albany 8-1 Turns 3-2 deficit into 10-4 lead Penn 9-1 Turns 1-0 deficit into 9-2 lead Syracuse 7-1 Takes 1-1 tie to an 8-2 JHU lead Virginia 5-0 Game-opening run - UVa never ties score North Carolina 4-1 Game-ending run after trailing 9-7 at end of 3rd quarter. JHU wins in OT Duke 5-0 Game-opening run Duke 9-1 Extends lead to 15-4 after Duke rallied to 6-3 Maryland 4-1 Breaks 1-1 tie. Game goes to OT Canisius 5-0 Game-opening run Navy 10-1 Breaks 1-1 tie Towson 11-0 Game-ending run turns 9-6 third quarter deficit into 17-9 victory Loyola 11-1 Turns 4-3 lead into 15-4 advantage Army 13-1 Blue Jays outscore Black Knights, 13-1 over last 53:24 Towson 7-1 Game-ending run after TU draws within 7-5 early in 3rd quarter Player Notes of Interest Can be Found in the PDF Version of These Notes |
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