April 27, 2005

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Saturday's Matchup: Penn State and Johns Hopkins enter Saturday's nationally televised game (CSTV) with identical 10-4 records, and are ranked #10 and #11 respectively. The Nittany Lions have defeated the Blue Jays in all three meetings of their series history, which dates back to 2002. Penn State won 13-9 at home in 2002, 11-4 at Hopkins in 2003, and 12-9 at home last season.

The Last Time: Johns Hopkins was ranked #9 and Penn State was #18 when the teams last met on May 1, 2004. Eight Nittany Lions scored at least one goal and goalkeeper Lee Tortorelli stopped 16 shots, while Key led Hopkins with four goals. Penn State out-shot Hopkins 29-28, scored five free-position goals, and edged the Blue Jays on draw controls, 13-12. Hopkins had a 25-19 advantage on ground balls.

Week In Review: The Blue Jays went 2-1 last week, defeating Towson (ranked #14 this week), 15-10, and Notre Dame, 10-9, but falling to #1 Northwestern, 12-3. Key once again led Hopkins with 11 goals and five assists on the week, including a career-high seven goals and three assists at Towson. She was held to just one goal vs. Northwestern, but bounced back to record three goals and two assists against Notre Dame.

Comeback Kids: Hopkins trailed Notre Dame by three goals before scoring four straight in the final 5:15 to pull off the win. Key scored two goals and added an assist during that span, including the game-winning goal off a free-position shot with three seconds remaining.

Jumping Around: Penn State began the season ranked #17 and jumped as high as #2 before falling to #10, where it has been ranked for two straight weeks. The Lions earned the #2 ranking after they defeated their second top-ranked opponent, Princeton, 14-13 in three overtimes on March 19. A week earlier, PSU knocked off then-#1 Virginia, 10-7.

Inconsistent Season: Although Penn State defeated two #1 teams and is 6-2 against ranked teams this year, it lost two games to unranked teams. William and Mary defeated the Nittany Lions 13-12 on March 13, and Temple won 6-5 on March 22.

On A Roll: Penn State rides a two-game winning streak, rebounding from a 14-6 loss to #1 Northwestern to defeat then-#19 Ohio State, 6-4, and Ohio, 17-8. The two wins improved the Lions to 4-1 in the ALC.

Last Time Out: Penn State comes off a nine-goal win over ALC opponent Ohio. Shari Maslin led all scorers with five goals, Kristen Burke recorded four, Emily Chambers scored three, Karen Long and Jessi Lieb each tallied two, and freshman Lindsay Hagemann recorded her first collegiate goal. Maslin was named the ALC Player of the Week this week after scoring six goals on eight shots and adding two assists and six ground balls in wins over Ohio and Ohio State.

Talented Teams: Penn State and Johns Hopkins combined for five of the 12 players named to the preseason All-ALC team. Burke, Lori Havrilla, and Tortorelli were Penn State's picks, while Key and Lacey-Leigh Hentz were selected from Hopkins. Tortorelli was also a preseason second-team All-American and Tewaaraton nominee.

Scoring Threats: Burke leads the Lions in scoring with 45 points off 28 goals and 17 assists. Chambers is second with 28 goals, 12 assists, and 40 points, while Maslin is third with 25 goals, 13 assists, and 38 points. Six players have over 20 points, and seven players have at least 10 goals.

Offensive Stats: The Penn State offense ranks second in the conference and 16th in the nation in goals per game. Penn State has scored 91 goals in the first half, 78 in the second half, 33 off free-position shots, and 86 unassisted. The Lions outscore their opponents by 4.67 goals per game (12.95-8.28).

Solid As A Rock: Tortorelli has an 8.42 goals against average and a .482 save percentage, good for second in the ALC. She also has a team-high 35 ground balls while playing all 14 games in goal.

Common Opponents: Johns Hopkins and Penn State have played eight common opponents this year. They both defeated Vanderbilt by at least seven goals, Penn by at least seven goals, Ohio by at least nine goals, and Davidson by at least 11 goals. Penn State also defeated Princeton, Maryland, and Ohio State - three teams that Hopkins lost to. Both Penn State and Johns Hopkins lost to Northwestern by at least eight goals.

Breaking Down The Blue Jays: Johns Hopkins has scored 77 goals in the first half, 82 goals in the second half, 21 off free-position shots, and 50 unassisted. The Blue Jays outscore their opponents by 3.65 goals per game (11.36-7.71). Their offense ranks third in the ALC behind Northwestern and Penn State, while their defense in second in the ALC and ninth in the nation.

The Defense: Hentz leads the Hopkins defense with 1.71 caused turnovers per game, good for third in the conference. She holds the Johns Hopkins Division I record for caused turnovers in a career (141). Lauren Riddick's 7.71 goals against average ranks second in the ALC and 12th in the nation.

The One To Watch: Key leads Hopkins in scoring with 46 goals, 26 assists, and 72 points, which is 40 more points than the next Blue Jay. She leads the conference and is eighth in the nation in goals per game (3.29), she is second in the conference and in the nation in points per game (5.14), and she is third in the conference and eighth in the nation in assists per game (1.86).

Players To Keep Your Eyes On: Sarah Walsh has 22 goals, 10 assists, and 32 points, while Lauren Schwarzmann has 15 goals, 10 assists, and 25 points. Neither Walsh (injury) or Schwarzmann (2005 freshman) played at JHU last year. Six Blue Jays have at least 10 goals, and eight have over 10 points.

More Key: Last week at Towson, Key tied the Johns Hopkins Division I record for points in a game with ten. She had seven goals and three assists to tie Heidi Pearce's and Danielle Maschuci's single-game record. Pearce had eight goals and two assists against Ohio on March 17, 2002, and Maschuci had seven goals and three assists against St. Joseph's on April 28, 1999.

One More Key: Key holds the single-season scoring record for Hopkins at the Division I level, as she recorded 74 points (52 goals, 22 assists) last season. She is just two points away from tying that record, and already has four more assists than she had last year. She needs six goals to tie her goal-scoring output from last season, and 13 goals to tie the single-season record.

Welcome To The Midfield: Freshman Kadie Stamper leads the Blue Jays in draw controls (40) and ground balls (35). She is fourth in the ALC and 20th in the nation in draws per game (2.86), and will match up with Penn State's Chambers, who is fifth in the conference with 2.07 draws per game.

Getting Offensive: Senior co-captain 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.

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

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

Consistent Key: Key has scored at least three points in all but one game (Northwestern) this year, and has led the team in scoring in 11 of 14 games.

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 (14 games).

Jays In The Preseason: Johns 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, Hopkins was picked second behind Northwestern.

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.

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.