April 7, 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 holds the #1 spot, followed by Duke and Princeton. Five of Hopkins' remaining seven opponents are ranked or received votes in this week's poll.

Back On The Road: Johns Hopkins ended its three-game homestand against UMBC on Wednesday and will now travel for its next three games. The Blue Jays visit #9 Maryland on Saturday, April 9, then American on April 12, and Towson on April 19. Both of their losses this year came when they wore their dark uniforms.

Can't Come To Ludwig Field? The Hopkins-Maryland game can be heard via the internet and followed on Gametracker at http://umterps.collegesports.com/sports/w-lacros/sched/md-w-lacros-sched.html.

Week In Review: Hopkins extended its winning streak to six games and improved to 6-2 overall with a 16-6 win over UMBC on Wednesday. It was the first meeting between the two Maryland teams since 1999, when the Retrievers won 15-14 in overtime. The 10-goal winning margin was the largest and the 16 goals was the most scored by the Blue Jays this season. Mary Key once again led the scoring with a career-high eight points off five goals and three assists. She scored eight points off six goals and two assists against Davidson.

Consistent Key: Key has scored at least two goals and three points in every game this year, and has led the team in scoring in all but one game. She has scored at least five points in the last three games.

Balanced Attack: All 28 Blue Jays played and 11 different players scored at least one point against UMBC. Sophomore Alex Nolan scored her first goal of the year, while freshmen Katie Dumais and Kelly Gonzalez scored the first goals of their careers.

Maryland Matchup: 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.

Who's Got Momentum?: The Terrapins come off a 8-6 loss to #4 Georgetown on Wednesday. Maryland led 4-2 at halftime and 6-2 after the first seven minutes of the second half before Georgetown rallied and scored six straight goals. The Terps took just one shot after surrending the lead with eight minutes to play.

Tough Schedule: Maryland enters Saturday's game with a 7-5 record, but all five losses have come to top-10 teams - #2 Duke, #4 Georgetown, #5 Virginia, #7 Dartmouth, #8 Penn State. The Terrapins have not defeated a top-10 team this year.

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 27 goals and six assists, Cox is fifth in points with 20 goals and one assist, and Sommers anchors the defense with 29 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers.

More Players To Watch: Jessica Dorney is second in points with 21 goals and 10 assists, while Annie Collins in third with 11 goals and a team-high 20 assists. Brooke Richards adds 14 goals and 12 assists. In goal, Kirah Miles has a .527 save percentage and 8.17 goals against average while playing all 12 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 (30), assists (17), and points (47). At the start of the week, she ranked first in the ALC 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 12 goals and four assists, while freshman Lauren Schwarzmann has 11 goals and five assists.

By The Numbers: Hopkins averages 11.67 goals off 29.7 shots per game, while its opponents average just 6.11 goals off 17.4 shots.

Ground Balls: The Blue Jays are winning the ground ball battle 194-152 led by Kelley Putnam's team-high 20. Hentz has 19 ground balls, while Anne Crisafulli and Cherie Michaud each have 17.

Game Control: Hopkins has won 59 percent (105 of 177) of its draw controls, with Kadie Stamper grabbing 30 and Key winning 20.

On Defense: Johns Hopkins has caused 78 turnovers this year. Hentz leads the team with 18 and is the school's record holder with 135 career caused turnovers. The Blue Jays have committed 34 fewer turnovers (161-127) than their opponents.

The Country's Best: At the start of the week, Johns Hopkins led the ALC and the entire nation in scoring defense, allowing just 6.12 goals per game. Hopkins' goalie Lauren Riddick has played every minute in goal and is first in the country in goals against average (6.12).

Goal Breakdown: Hopkins has scored 52 of its goals in the first half and 53 in the second. Thirteen of the 105 total goals were free position and 56 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 seven goals this season, after averaging five goals per year in her first three seasons at Hopkins.

Sharing The Wealth: Seventeen Jays have scored at least one point this year, including seven of eight rookies.

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 (nine 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.