March 17, 2004

The Team: Johns Hopkins is 5-0 this season after defeating Towson, 14-12, Tuesday, Ohio University, 12-4, Friday and No. 19 Ohio State, 13-5, Sunday.

The Coach: Janine Tucker is 127-45 in her 11th season at Hopkins. Tucker is the all-time winningest coach at Homewood and has led the Blue Jays to double-digit win totals in each of her first 10 seasons.

This Week: Hopkins hosts George Mason Wednesday at 5 p.m. and No. 13 Boston University Sunday at 12 noon.

Last Week: Mary Key (Stevensville, MD/St. Mary's of Annapolis) recorded three goals and two assists while Marlena Wittelsberger (Phoenix, MD/Dulaney) added three goals in Tuesday's 14-12 win over Towson. The Blue Jays led 8-7 at the half but scored the first five goals of the second period to take a six-goal lead. Key opened the run with a goal, and after Meagan Voight (Sykesville, MD/Liberty), Steph Janice (Medford, NJ/Shawnee), and Erin Riordan (Bay Shore, NY/Bay Shore) added goals, Wittelsberger closed the spurt with a goal off an assist from Anne Crisafulli (Garden City, NY/Garden City). Heidi Pearce (Chestertown, MD/St. Andrew's-DE) scored a game-high four goals while Kelley Putnam (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) chipped in a goal and two assists in the 12-4 victory over Ohio University on Friday. After Putnam opened the scoring, Pearce added two goals to make it 3-0. Janice then fed Molly Burnett (Auburn, NY/Auburn) for a goal and Key added a goal before the Bobcats scored twice late to cut the Hopkins lead to 5-2 at the half. The Blue Jays then pulled away by scoring the first five goals of the second period. Pearce scored the first two goals, and after Riordan and Lacey-Leigh Hentz (Hampstead, MD/North Carroll) scored nine seconds apart, Putnam found Riordan for a goal. Key scored five goals and added two assists in Sunday's 13-5 victory over No. 19 Ohio State. Key opened the scoring with a goal off a Riordan assist, and later added a free position goal. After Voight scored, Key found Wittelsberger and Janice for goals as Hopkins jumped out to a 5-0 lead for the second straight game. The Buckeyes scored before the end of the half to make it 5-1 at the break and were within 8-5 with 8:38 remaining, but Hopkins scored the final five goals to put the game away.

Key Named ALC Player of the Week: Mary Key was named the American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Week on Tuesday. Key posted team-highs of nine goals, five assists and 14 points last week. She scored two goals and added three assists in the win over Towson and had two goals in the victory over Ohio University. Key then posted a career-high seven points on five goals and two assists in Sunday's win over No. 19 Ohio State.

Blue Jays Ranked No. 15 In IWLCA Poll: Hopkins received 96 points and moved up to No. 15 in this week's IWLCA Poll. Hopkins was ranked 20th in the preseason poll and No. 17 last week.

Hopkins Faces Challenging Schedule: This season the Blue Jays will play eight teams ranked in the current IWLCA Poll. Hopkins defeated No. 19 Ohio State Sunday, and will host 13th-ranked Boston University this Sunday. The Blue Jays will also host No. 10 Vanderbilt and No. 7 Maryland in consecutive games in early April, and end the season with four road games against ranked teams - No. 4 Duke, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 14 Northwestern and No. 18 Penn State.

A Dominant Start: Hopkins has won its first five games of the season for the first time in six years at the Division I level. The Blue Jays won their first four games during the 1999 season but dropped their season-openers in each of the next four years. The last time JHU opened the season with at least five wins was in 1994, when the Blue Jays started 16-0 in Janine Tucker's first season at Homewood. Hopkins has out-scored its opponents, 74-33, so far this year. The Blue Jays also lead their foes in ground balls (135-97), draw controls (61-54), and caused turnovers (51-32).

Hopkins In The NCAA: The Blue Jays are third in Division I with 14.8 goals scored per game, fourth with 6.6 goals allowed per game and second with a +8.2 scoring margin. Hopkins is also 12th in the nation with 27.0 ground balls per game and 14th with 12.2 draw controls per game. Additionally, JHU is one of nine teams still undefeated in Division I. Mary Key ranks eighth in the nation with 4.8 points per game and 14th with 3.4 goals per game, while Lauren Riddick (Crozet, VA/St. Anne's-Belfield) is sixth with a 6.39 goals against average.

Hopkins In The ALC: The Blue Jays lead the American Lacrosse Conference in goals per game and goals allowed per game, are second in ground balls per game and third in draw controls per game. Lauren Riddick leads the conference with a 6.39 goals against average and ranks sixth with a 45.6 save percentage. Mary Key leads the league with 4.80 points per game, is second with 3.40 goals per game and ranks fourth with 1.40 assists per game. Heidi Pearce is fifth with both 3.60 points per game and 1.20 assists per game, seventh with 1.60 caused turnovers per game and eighth with 2.40 goals per game. Lacey-Leigh Hentz is second with 2.20 caused turnovers per game and fifth with 2.80 ground balls per game, while Kate Gilland (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) is fourth with 1.80 ground balls per game and Marlena Wittelsberger ranks eighth with 2.00 ground balls per game.