Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

March 16, 2006

Sneak Peak: Johns Hopkins visits Hawaii to take on the Oregon Ducks at Kapiolani Park in Honolulu. This will be the first-ever meeting between the Blue Jays and the Ducks. Hopkins is looking to extend its win streak to five, while Oregon is looking to rebound from a disappointing loss to Longwood last Sunday.

Against Western Teams: The Blue Jays are 3-0 against western teams. Hopkins has met California and Stanford, both members of the same conference as Oregon (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation).

Vs. Western Teams (3-0):

3/17/99 at California W, 13-0

3/19/99 at Stanford W, 14-8

3/22/00 vs. Stanford W, 16-6

Against the ALC: Hopkins is a member of the American Lacrosse Conference, now in just its fifth season. The Blue Jays are 2-0 in league play this season and 17-9 (.654) since the league's inception. Currently the Jays stand in first place in the league after wins over Ohio and Ohio State. Next up for Hopkins is Vanderbilt on April 2.

In the ALC (17-9):

2006: 2-0

2005: 3-3

2004: 4-2

2003: 4-2

2002: 4-2

A Little Reminder: The #4 Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team rolled to a 17-7 win over Ohio State Sunday afternoon at Homewood Field. The Blue Jays remain undefeated at 4-0 overall and 2-0 in American Lacrosse Conference action. The Buckeyes fall to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in the ALC.

Junior attacker Sarah Walsh got things rolling just 48 seconds into the game, scoring the first of her three goals on the day. At 4:19, junior attacker Mary Key gave the Jays an early 2-0 lead with the first of her five goals. KC Carter cut the lead to just one with her 12th of the season for Ohio State. That Buckeye goal kick started a four goal run in just over six minutes as Hopkins pushed out to a 6-1 lead.

Ohio State kept plugging away, with goals from Jessica Patane and Carter, cutting the lead to 6-3. That's as close as the Buckeyes would get. Hopkins rattled off four straight goals to end the half and head into the lockerrom with a 10-3 lead. Scoring for the Jays were Key, sophomore midfielder Kadie Stamper and junior attacker Alex Nolan.

Hopkins came out firing in the second half, scoring two quick from Key and Walsh, to extend its lead to 12-3. Lindsay Weiner answered for Ohio State with a free position goal at 4:49. But the Jays once again had an answer. Sophomore attacker Annie Wagner ignited a five-goal spurt by Hopkins, pushing the lead out to 17-4. Walsh, Stamper and sophomore midfiedler Lauren Schwarzmann all scored during the run. The Buckeyes would score three in the final minutes of the game to account for the final 17-7 score.

Key led Hopkins with five goals and four assists, just one point shy of her career high of 10. Her four assists is a new career high. Stamper (4), Walsh (3) and Schwarzmann (2) all had multi-goal games for the Jays. Junior midfielder Steph Janice, Schwarzmann and senior attacker Meagan Voight all had two assists. Senior Lauren Riddick made four saves in her 27th career win. Freshman Amelia Harris played 11:42 in relief and made one save.

All-Time Record: Hopkins enters today's game with an overall record of 298-178-4 (.625) in 31 seasons. The Blue Jays made the move to the Division I level in 1999. Hopkins is 81-40 (.670) in eight Division I seasons.

Player of the Week Honors: Junior attacker Mary Key received ALC Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week on Monday.

Key led the Jays to wins over ALC foes Ohio and Ohio State with a 16-point (10 goals, 6 assists) weekend. She scored five goals, including the game-winner, in each game. Against Ohio State, she tallied nine points, falling one shy of her career-high. She established a new career high with four assists.

Record-Breaker: Junior Mary Key has already etched her name in the Johns Hopkins Women's Lacrosse Record Book. With just over two seasons under her belt, she ranks fourth in career goals (124), second in career assists (66), fourth in career points (190) and sixth in career draw controls (69). So far this season, she is averaging 7.25 points per game. At this rate, she is on pace to finish the regular season with 116 points. As a sophomore she broke the single-season marks for points and assists with 87 and 32 respectively. She fell just four goals shy of tying that single-season record.

Record-Breaker II: Senior Lauren Riddick has also made her mark on the Hopkins record book. With a season left to play, she ranks third in career saves (282) and save percentage (.461) and second in wins (27). She holds the career goals against average (8.43) record and the highest winning percentage (.711).

Home Sweet Home: The Blue Jays have enjoyed much success at Homewood Field, especially of late. Hopkins is 17-3 (.850) at home in the last two-plus seasons. Since moving to Division I in 1999, the Jays are 48-19 (.716) at home. Hopkins returns home on March 26 to face American.

At Homewood (48-19):

2006: 3-0

2005: 5-2

2004: 9-1

2003: 5-2

2002: 7-5

2001: 5-4

2000: 9-2

1999: 5-2

Poll Position: The Blue Jays were generously rewarded for their 8-7 upset of #3 Princeton last Saturday. Hopkins was ranked #8 in the IWLCA and Lacrosse Magazine Polls and #6 in the Bounce Entertainment/Inside Lacrosse Poll heading into last weekend's game. This week, the Jays jumped up to a tie for the #4 spot in all three polls. Hopkins is tied with Maryland for #4. This is the highest ever national ranking for the Blue Jays in their Division I history.

Eight of Hopkins opponents this season were ranked in the atleast one of the national preseason polls (Northwestern, Princeton, Maryland, Georgetown, Penn State, Towson, Vanderbilt, Penn). The Jays have faced just one ranked opponent far this season, the Princeton Tigers. Hopkins defeated the Tigers 8-7 on March 4.

Upsets: Hopkins win over #3 Princeton on March 4 went down as the biggest win in the Blue Jays Division I history. Prior that win, the Jays had never beaten a team in the top-five. The highest team ever beaten by the Jays was a #6 team - twice. Last season, the Blue Jays upset #6 Georgetown 14-10 on the road on the eve of the NCAA Division I Women's Lacrosse Championship Selection Show. In 2004, Hopkins upset #6 Notre Dame 13-12 in South Bend, IN.

Upsets:

4/22/00 [NR] vs. #14 George Mason W, 14-13 (OT)

4/29/00 [NR] vs. #16 Yale W, 11-10

4/28/01 [#20] vs. #13 Yale W, 13-6

3/9/02 [#20] at #14 William & Mary W, 11-9

4/6/02 [#17] vs. #13 Ohio State W, 11-10

4/27/03 [#19] vs. #14 North Carolina W, 12-2

3/21/04 [#15] vs. #13 Boston U. W, 17-10

4/5/04 [#12] vs. #9 Vanderbilt W, 12-11

4/23/04 [#9] at #6 Notre Dame W, 13-12

5/7/05 [#11] at #6 Georgetown W, 14-10

3/4/05 [#8] vs. #3 Princeton W, 8-7

[] indicates JHU ranking

Streaking: Junior Mary Key enters today's game with a 38-game point streak, the second longest in Hopkins Division I history. She is four games shy of tying Heidi Pearce's (`03) record of 42 games. Key also has a 21-game goal streak, third longest in Hopkins history, 12 games shy of Danielle Maschuci's (`00) record.

Six other Blue Jays carry scoring streaks into today's game. Junior Sarah Walsh has an eight-game point streak. Sophomore Lauren Schwarzmann has a four-game point streak. Senior Meagan Voight, junior Steph Janice and sophomore Annie Wagner all have three-game point streaks. And freshman Gina Maranto has a two-game point streak.

Streaking II: Senior Lauren Riddick has started 38 consecutive games in net for the Blue Jays and is 27-11 (.711) as a starter. She boasts the second longest games started streak and the highest winning percentage by a Hopkins goalie in Division I history. Jen McDonald (`03) started 51 consecutive games in goal and posted a 32-19 (.627) record. Sara Love (`00) went 22-10 (.688) as a Division I starting goalie.

A Key to Our Success: Junior Mary Key has been instrumental in the Blue Jays success since she stepped foot on the Homewood campus. She has tallied a point in every game of her career and scored in all but one of those games. With 190 career points in just 38 games, Key is averaging 5.0 points per game.

Hopkins is 27-10 when Key scores a goal. When she scores three or more goals, the Blue Jays are almost unbeatable at 22-1.

On the Tube: Three of Johns Hopkins' games will be televised this season. Last Saturday's home-opener against Princeton and the Jays' April 9 home game against Maryland will be carried by ESPNU.

When Hopkins travels to Evanston, IL to face defending NCAA Champion Northwestern on April 23, CSTV will be carrying the game.

Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List: The Tewaaraton Trophy is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award honoring the top female and male varsity collegiate lacrosse player in the United States.

The Women's Selection Committee has named their preseason "watch list". The players on this list were nominated by coaches across all three divisions. Among them are junior Mary Key, who was named to the list for the second consecutive season.

Preseason Pickings I: The Blue Jays were picked third with 26 points in the 2006 ALC Preseason Poll as voted on by the league's coaches. Hopkins was just edged out of second by Penn State with 27 points. Defending ALC and NCAA Champion Northwestern was picked #1.

Preseason Pickings II: Junior Mary Key and sophomore Lauren Schwarzmann were named to the 2006 ALC Preseason Team as decided on by the league's coaches.

Inside Lacrosse also named to Blue Jays to its preseason All-America Team. Key was named First Team, while sophomore Kadie Stamper was named to the Second Team.

Family Affair: The Hopkins Lacrosse Program has become a family affair in recent years. Three sets of sisters have played for Head Coach Janine Tucker over the last four seasons. It started with Meghan Burnett `02 and her sister Molly `06. Next to join the program were the Crisafulli sisters. Anne graduated in 2005, while her sister Meghan is a junior this season. Ashley Schwarzmann came to the Blue Jays in 2003, followed by her sister Lauren in 2005.

In addition, Kristen Miller `05 followed in her brother Pat's (`02) footsteps choosing to play college lacrosse for Hopkins. Marlena Wittelsberger `04 followed her father's path. Franz Wittelsberger `76 was a four-time All-American for Hopkins and stills rank third all-time in career goals with 151. Junior Alex Nolan followed in both her father and her mother's footsteps. Her father Bill `74 was a two-time All-American for the Blue Jays and a member of the 1974 national championship team. Her mother Shellee played for the Hopkins women's lacrosse team.