March 28, 2007

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Sneak Peak: Johns Hopkins plays the second of a three-game home stand Wednesday night when #14 Penn visits Homewood Field. The #13 Blue Jays are undefeated at home this season, while the Quakers enter Wednesday's game having won three straight.

Against the Quakers: This will be the sixth meeting between Hopkins and Penn in a series that dates to 2001. The Blue Jays are undefeated against the Quakers. Last season, Hopkins held off an upset minded Penn squad at Franklin Field and won 12-9. Senior attacker Mary Key leads all current Blue Jays with 14 goals and five assists against the Quakers. Fifth-year senior Sarah Walsh had a goal and three assists in last year's win in Philadelphia.

300 and Climbing: Senior attacker Mary Key joined some elite company on March 14 when she became the 15th player in NCAA Division I history to reach 300 career points mark. In the Blue Jays win over Oregon, Key notched 13 points to move into a tie for seventh place with 325 points. She is now just five points shy of tying Sheehan Stanwick (Georgetown `01) for sixth all-time.

Century Club: Senior attacker Mary Key is also climbing up the NCAA Division I career assists list. She now ranks sixth all-time with 125 and is just three shy of moving into a tie for fourth all-time.

Rare Company: Freshman attacker Sam Schrum is in rare company this season. Schrum has scored a goal in each of her first eight career games. She joins Hopkins All-Americans Jamie Larrimore (`02), Heidi Pearce (`04) and Mary Key (`07) as the only players in school Division I history to score a goal in each of their first five career games.

In fact, Larrimore (38 games), Pearce (14 games) and Key (16 games) all had double-digit goal scoring streaks to start their career.

Marching On: The Blue Jays have had much success in the month of March, especially under head coach Janine Tucker. Hopkins is 99-33-1 (.748) all-time in games played in March. Under coach Tucker, the Blue Jays are 71-21 (.772) in games played in March. Hopkins had won 11 straight games in March prior to the overtime loss at Princeton on March 3.

Top-Freshmen: Hopkins entered the season with one of the most highly touted recruiting classes in the nation. Inside Lacrosse ranked the Jays Class of 2010, fifth. Freshmen attackmen Brett Bathras and Sam Schrum and defender Angela Hughes were all named "Players to Watch". In addition, freshman middie Kim Dubansky was named a "Blue Chip" recruit.

The freshmen class has made an immediate impact for the Blue Jays this season. Schrum ranks second on the team with 16 goals and third with 20 points. She is also third in draw controls (16) and fourth in ground balls (15). In addition, Bathras, Hughes and Dubansky have all tallied points so far this season.

Record-Breaker: Senior Mary Key has left her mark all over the Johns Hopkins Women's Lacrosse Record Book, but she's not done yet. She entered the 2007 season with 14 school records to her name. She added three more records to her resume in the Blue Jays win over Oregon on March 21. Key broke the school Division I career record for goals and the single-game record for points. She also broke Hopkins all-time career assists record.

Key is on pace to break yet another career record this season. With 200 goals, she is just nine shy of tying Jenn Ward's all-time record of 209.

Records Watch: Fifth-year senior Sarah Walsh and junior Kadie Stamper are also leaving their marks on the Hopkins record book. Walsh currently ranks ninth all-time with 53 career assists and is just two shy of tying eighth-place Jamie Larrimore (`02). She ranks eighth in Hopkins Division I history with 81 goals, fourth in assists and seventh in points (134).

Stamper ranks fourth all-time with 124 draw controls and is five shy of tying third-place Sonia Dickson (`95). In school D-I history, Stamper ranks 10th in goals (56), second in draw controls and 10th in caused turnovers (45).

In addition, junior middie Lauren Schwarzmann jumped into the top-10 in career assists. She now ranks tied for seventh with 28 assists.

All-Time Record: Hopkins, now in its 32nd season of women's lacrosse, enters today's game with an overall record of 311-182-4 (.630). When it defeated American 15-7 on March 26, 2006, Hopkins became just the seventh Division I school to win 300 or more games. Hopkins was the 15th school in any division to reach the 300-win mark. The Blue Jays made the move from Division III to Division I in 1999 and is 94-47 (.667) in eight-plus D-I seasons.

Home Sweet Home: Hopkins plays its home games at historic Homewood Field, celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2007. The Blue Jays have enjoyed much success at Homewood, especially of late. Hopkins is 4-0 at home this seaon and is 27-6 (.818) dating back to April 25, 2003. Since moving to Division I in 1999, the Jays are 56-21 (.727) at home. In 31-plus seasons at Homewood, Hopkins posts a record of 175-76-2 (.696).

500 and Counting: Johns Hopkins is just three games shy of the 500th in program history. Only 12 programs in NCAA history (Division I and III) have played 500 or more games. Atleast eight programs, including Hopkins, will hit the 500-game mark this season.

Poll Position: Hopkins opened the season ranked #10 in the IWLCA and Inside Lacrosse Media preseason polls. The Blue Jays moved up to #12 in both the coaches and media polls this week.

Eight of Hopkins opponents opened the season ranked in the top-20 of the IWLCA preseason poll, including five who were ranked in the top-10. While two other Hopkins opponents, Denver and Oregon, have moved up into the top-20 this season.

The Blue Jays face a ranked opponent for the fifth time this season and fourth consecutive game when they take on the #14 Penn Quakers today.

Preseason Pickings I: The Blue Jays were picked second in the 2007 ALC Preseason Poll as voted on by the league's coaches. Hopkins just edged out Penn State. Defending ALC and NCAA Champion Northwestern was picked #1.

Preseason Pickings II: Senior Mary Key and juniors Sarah Gallion, Lauren Schwarzmann and Kadie Stamper were named to the 2007 ALC Preseason Team as decided on by the league's coaches.

Inside Lacrosse also named two Blue Jays to its preseason All-America Team. Key was named first team, while Stamper was named to the second team.

Tewaaraton Trophy Nominee: Hopkins senior attacker Mary Key has been named to the 2007 Tewaaraton Preseason Watch List. A nominee the past two seasons, Key led the nation in scoring in 2005 and 2006. The list will be voted upon by coaches and narrowed as the season progresses, ultimately reaching a final list of 5 women who constitute the award's finalists.

I'm Honored: Senior attacker Mary Key was named both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse and WomensLax.com Player of the Week Monday after a 21-point week (11g, 10a). Freshman attacker Sam Schrum earned American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Week honors on March 12 after totalling seven-points (6g, 1a) against Mount St. Mary's and Ohio State. In addition, Key has been named to the womenslacrosse.com Honor Roll three times so far this season.

Streaking: Senior Mary Key enters today's game with a 58-game point streak, the longest in Hopkins Division I history. The streak dates back to her first game in a Blue Jays uniform - February 29, 2004.

Four other Blue Jays enter today's game with a point streak - freshman Sam Schrum, seniors Alex Nolan and Sarah Walsh and junior Lauren Schwarzmann. Schrum is on an eight-game point streak, Nolan is on a six-game point streak and Walsh is on a five-game streak. Schwarzmann is on a two-game point streak.

150 and Counting: The Blue Jays win over Oregon on March 18, 2006 was the 150th career win for head coach Janine Tucker. Coach Tucker is just the 12th coach all-time to reach the 150-win plateau and just the sixth active coach with 150 wins. Tucker now posts a record of 162-63 (.720). Navy head coach Cindy Timchal is the all-time wins leader with 336.

A Key to Our Success: Senior 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 two of those games. With 325 career points in just 58 games, Key is averaging 5.60 points per game for her career. So far this season, Key has tallied 63 points in just seven games (7.87 ppg).

Hopkins is 40-16 when Key scores a goal. When she scores three or more goals, the Blue Jays are almost unbeatable at 32-7.

Player Notes of Interest in full PDF version.