April 5, 2005

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At The Polls: Johns Hopkins remained #12 in the IWLCA Poll for the fourth straight week after defeating then-#13 Penn 13-4 last week. Northwestern held the #1 spot, followed by Duke and Princeton. Five of Hopkins' remaining eight opponents are ranked or received votes in this week's poll.

Back On The Road: Johns Hopkins ends its three-game homestand against UMBC this Wednesday, April 6, before traveling for its next three games. The Blue Jays visit #9 Maryland on Saturday, then American on April 12, and Towson on April 19. Hopkins is undefeated (3-0) at Homewood Field this year.

Week In Review: Hopkins extended its winning streak to five games and improved to 6-2 overall with a 13-4 win over Penn last Wednesday. It was the Blue Jays' fourth win in the four-game series history against the Quakers. Mary Key led Hopkins with four goals and two assists while Sarah Walsh had a season-high three goals and an assist.

State Pride: This week the Blue Jays face two state rivals, UMBC and Maryland, both of which lead the teams' all-time series meetings. The Retrievers are 12-3-2 against Hopkins, while the Terps have won all six of their matchups with the Jays.

Scouting The Retreivers: UMBC enters Wednesday's game with a 2-4 record and on a two-game winning streak. The Retreivers defeated Oregon 14-11 and American 9-8 in overtime after losing their first four games to Loyola, Old Dominion, Towson, and William and Mary. Anna Jacobs, who scored four goals including the game winner against American, leads UMBC with 15 goals and 15 points. Kelly Fahey has seven goals and seven assists, while only five others have scored more than one point this year. UMBC finished 5-11 last season, and returned 15 letterwinners and eight starters.

History Lesson: The Johns Hopkins-UMBC series dates back 1976, when the Retreivers won 5-3 in Baltimore. The Blue Jays did not win a game against UMBC until eight years and nine games later. Hopkins won 9-8 in overtime on April 12, 1984. The Blue Jays won their second game of the series 11-10 on April 24, 1987, and their third game 14-13 in overtime on April 15, 1998. UMBC won the last meeting 15-14 on April 14, 1999, during Hopkins' first D-I season.

Maryland Matchup: The Terrapins are 7-4 with one game remaining before they host Hopkins. Maryland visits #4 Georgetown this Wednesday at 4 p.m. when it looks for its third straight win. The Terps lost to #2 Duke, #5 Virginia, #7 Dartmouth, and #8 Penn State, and have not defeated a top-10 team this year.

The History Books: Maryland is 6-0 all-time against Hopkins and 5-0 at the Division I level. The Terps defeated the Jays 14-11 last year, when the 11 goals was the most scored by Hopkins in the series.

All-American Terps: Maryland has three preseason All-Americans - first-team pick Delia Cox and second-team selections Greta Sommers and Acacia Walker. All three are also on the Tewaaraton Watch List. Walker leads the scoring with 26 goals and six assists, Cox is fifth in points with 19 goals and one assist, and Sommers anchors the defense with 24 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers.

More Players To Watch: Annie Collins has scored at least five points in the last three games, and second in points with 11 goals and a team-high 19 assists. Jessica Dorney has 19 goals and 10 assists, and Brooke Richards has 14 goals and 12 assists. Kirah Miles has a .534 save percentage and 8.19 goals against average while playing all 11 games.

The Jays' Leader: On her second goal against Penn, Key became just the seventh Hopkins player to score 75 career goals. She was named to the womenslacrosse.com and insidelacrosse.com Honor Rolls. A week earlier, she was named the ALC Player of the Week after recording nine points off five goals and four assists in wins over George Mason and George Washington. Key leads the team in goals (25), assists (14), and points (39), and has led Hopkins in scoring in seven of eight games this year. She ranks first in the conference and fourth in the nation in points per game.

Offensive Additions: The second and third highest scorers did not play for Hopkins last year. Walsh, who missed last season with an injury, has 11 goals and four assists, while freshman Lauren Schwarzmann has 10 goals and four assists.

By The Numbers: Hopkins averages 11.12 goals off 29.2 shots per game, while its opponents average 6.12 goals off 17.8 shots.

Ground Balls: The Blue Jays are winning the ground ball battle 171-137, led by Kelley Putnam's team-high 19. Kadie Stamper, Cherie Michaud, and Lacey-Leigh Hentz each have 14 ground balls.

Game Control: Hopkins has won 57 percent (87 of 153) of its draw controls, with Kadie Stamper picking up 24 and Key winning 18.

On Defense: Johns Hopkins has caused 71 turnovers this year. Hentz leads the team with 14 caused turnovers and is the school's record holder with 131 career caused turnovers. The Blue Jays have committed 31 fewer turnovers (145-114) than their opponents.

The Country's Best: Hopkins' goalie Lauren Riddick leads the nation in goals against average (6.12).

Goal Breakdown: Hopkins has scored 45 of its goals in the first half and 44 in the second. Ten of the 89 total goals were free position and 49 were unassisted.

Getting Offensive: Anne Crisafulli matched her career-high with two goals and added an assist for a personal-best three points against Davidson. She already has six goals this season, after averaging five goals per year in her first three seasons at Hopkins.

Balanced Attack: Fifteen players have scored at least one point this year, including five of the eight freshmen.

Fresh Faces: Hopkins starts three freshmen this year -Schwarzmann at attack, Stamper at midfield and Sarah Gallion at defense. Kirby Houck and Annie Wagner have each started one game.

Scoring Streak: Key has scored a point in every game of her career at Hopkins, and has scored a goal in every game except the final game last year. She holds the longest active scoring streak (eight games).

Jays In The Preseason: Hopkins was ranked sixth in two preseason polls - the IWLCA Poll and the Lacrosse Magazine Poll - while Inside Lacrosse slotted the Blue Jays at No. 7. In the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) predictions, Johns Hopkins was picked second behind Northwestern.

Early Honors: Key and Hentz were named to the preseason All-ALC team, while Key was selected the preseason ALC Co-Player of the Year. Hentz earned preseason second-team All-America honors by Inside Lacrosse, and Key was named to the first team. Key earned a spot on the Tewaaraton Watch List.

The Underdogs: Last year the Blue Jays defeated four ranked teams, three of which were ranked higher than them in the IWLCA Poll. The highest ranked team ever defeated by Hopkins was No. 6 Notre Dame (13-12, 4/23/04). The 2004 Blue Jays lost five games to ranked teams.

Flying High: The Jays were selected sixth in the preseason and Week 1 IWLCA Polls, the highest ranking in the seven-year history of the Johns Hopkins Division I program. Last year Hopkins was ranked as high as ninth and finished the year at No. 10.

Head of the Class: This year's freshman class was ranked the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation by Inside Lacrosse, second only to Duke.

Sister, Sister: Hopkins has two sets of sisters on its roster this season - senior Anne and sophomore Meghan Crisafulli, and junior Ashley and freshman Lauren Schwarzmann.

Broken Record: Key finished the 2004 season with 52 goals, 22 assists and 74 points, setting the Johns Hopkins Division I single-season points record. The previous record was 72 points, set by Danielle Maschuci in 2000.

Streaking: The 2004 team set the program's Division I winning streak record when it won its first 10 games last year. The 1994 Division III Blue Jays started the season 16-0.

Hopkins History: Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse moved from Division III to Division I at the start of the 1999 season, which was Janine Tucker's sixth year as head coach. Since then the Blue Jays reached the ECAC championship game three times and won one title (2001) before receiving their first NCAA Divison I bid in 2004. Hopkins went to the NCAA Division III tournament four times under Tucker.