May 15, 2007

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Sneak Peak: Seventh-seeded Hopkins hits the road for the second time this postseason, to face the second-seeded Duke Blue Devils in the NCAA Quarterfinals Saturday. In Sunday's first round action, the Blue Jays defeated the Hofstra Pride 12-8 while the Blue Devils handled the Le Moyne Dolphins 23-8.

Against the Blue Devils: Duke leads the all-time series with Hopkins 6-0. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since the 2004 season and the first ever in the NCAA Tournament. In the team's last meeting in Durham, Duke won 10-7. Senior attacker Mary Key had two goals and two assists in that game.

In the NCAAs: Hopkins is making its third appearance in the last four seasons in the NCAA Tournament and 12th in the program's history. A Division III program from 1976 to 1998, the Blue Jays made nine trips to the NCAA DIII Tournament. Hopkins is 1-2 in the NCAA DI tournament and 7-11 overall. Sunday's win at Hofstra was the first ever for Hopkins in the tournament as a DI program. In previous appearances, the Blue Jays lost in the first round in 2004 at James Madison (14-9) and in 2005 at Virginia (10-8).

Senior attacker Mary Key has tallied 16 points (5g, 11a) in NCAA Tournament games, ranking first in JHU history. Fifth-year senior Sarah Walsh tallied five points (4g, 1a) in Sunday's win and ranks second all-time behind Key. Juniors Kadie Stamper (2g, 2a), Kirby Houck (2g) and Lauren Schwarzmann (1g, 1a) all rank in the top-10 in points.

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 the 300 career points mark. On Sunday, she tallied eight points (3g, 5a) to surpass both Gail Cummings (Temple `88, 373 pts) and Marsha Florio (Penn State `85, 380 pts) on the all-time list. Key now ranks third with 381 points and is the NCAA's active career scoring leader.

Century Club: Senior attacker Mary Key is also climbing up the NCAA Division I career assists list. She ranks second with 149 and is the active career leader in the NCAA. She is only the seventh player in NCAA Division I history with atleast 200 career goals and 100 career assists.

Tewaaraton Trophy Nominee: The Tewaaraton Award Foundation announced the five finalists for the 2007 Tewaaraton Trophy on Thursday. Hopkins senior attacker Mary Key has been named one of those five finalists. The finalists were selected from all three divisions and from more than 40 watch-list nominees. A nominee the past three seasons, Key ranks second in the nation in scoring with 6.17 points per game. The winner will be presented at the Tewaaraton Awards Banquet on May 30, 2007.

Streaking - Part I: Hopkins has played well down the stretch in 2007, having won six of the last eight. The Blue Jays only losses during the stretch have come to the #1 Northwestern Wildcats. In their six wins, the Blue Jays have averaged 13.83 goals while allowing only 9.16 to their opponents. Hopkins has also knocked off four ranked teams, #5 Virginia, #15 Penn State, #10 Vanderbilt and #16 Hofstra during this stretch.

Welcome Home: Fifth-year senior Sarah Walsh got a taste of homecooking on Sunday at Hofstra. The attacker grew up in Port Washington, NY - less than 15 miles away on Long Island. Walsh scored a game-high four goals and totaled five points in the Blue Jays 12-8 win over the Pride. Those five points tied a season-high for Walsh.

Hot Hand: Junior Lauren Schwarzmann has had a hot hand of late. The middie has scored 19 goals and tallied five assists in the last nine games. Schwarzmann has totaled 39 points on the season, with 24 of those coming in the last month. Her 29 goals this season are a single-season high, surpassing the 17 she scored as a freshman in 2005. She has also set career highs in points and draw controls this season.

Century Club - Part II: Head Coach Janine Tucker has been at the helm of the Blue Jays program since 1994 and helped guide the team through the transition from Divison III to Division I in 1999. Against Vanderbilt in the ALC semifinals, she led Hopkins to its 100th win as a Division I program. The Blue Jays are now 101-51 (.664) in the last nine seasons as a DI team. Tucker's overall record with the Blue Jays stands at 169-67 (.716).

Streaking - Part II: Senior Mary Key enters todays's game with a 69-game point streak, the longest in Hopkins history. Key's streak dates back to her first game in a Blue Jays uniform - February 29, 2004. It is also the longest active streak in NCAA Division I.

Four other Blue Jays bring point streaks into today's game. Junior Lauren Schwarzmann is riding a nine-game point streak. While freshman Sam Schrum brings a six-game point streak into today's game. Senior Sarah Walsh is on a five-game point streak. While junior Kirby Houck has points in the last four games.

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 381 career points in 68 games, Key is averaging 5.52 points per game for her career. So far this season, Key has tallied 119 points in 19 games (6.26 ppg). Hopkins is 47-20 (.701) when Key scores a goal. When she scores three or more goals, the Blue Jays are almost unbeatable at 36-8 (.818).

Poll Position: Hopkins opened the season ranked #10 in the IWLCA and Inside Lacrosse Media preseason polls. The Blue Jays are currently ranked eighth in both the IWLCA and the Inside Lacrosse polls.

Today's game will be the 14th time time this season, Hopkins has faced an opponent ranked in either the IWLCA or Inside Lacrosse polls. The Blue Jays are 6-7 this season against ranked opponents.

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 three other Hopkins opponents, Denver, Oregon and Ohio State, have moved up into the top-20 this season.

Blue Jays In the National Ranks: The women's lacrosse national rankings are dotted with Blue Jays. Senior attacker Mary Key leads the nation in points per game (6.26), is sixth in goals (3.42) and third in assists (2.84) per game. Junior midfielder Kadie Stamper ranks 22nd in draw controls (2.84) while senior defender Cherie Michaud ranks 52nd in ground balls (2.47).

The team is ranked 11th in draw controls (14.00), 17th in ground balls (19.58), 24th in scoring offense (12.24) and 27th in scoring margin (1.32).

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. Key now holds 22 school records and is tied for four more. Records she's broken this season include - all-time career goals, assists and points, all-time single-season points and assists, Division I career goals, single-season goals, assists and points, and single-game points.

Records Watch: Fifth-year senior Sarah Walsh and juniors Kadie Stamper and Lauren Schwarzmann are also leaving their marks on the Hopkins record book. Walsh currently ranks eighth all-time with 61 career assists and is four shy of tying seventh-place Danielle Maschuci (`00). She ranks sixth in Hopkins Division I history with 97 goals, third in assists and fifth in points (158).

Stamper ranks second all-time in career draw controls with 164. She is now 38 shy of tying Jamie Larrimore's record of 202. In school D-I history, Stamper ranks second in draw controls, eighth in caused turnovers (56), 10th in goals (70) and 11th in points (84).

Schwarzmann ranks seventh in assists (31), eighth in draw controls (65), 10th in points (87) and 11th in goals (56). In addition, her 29 goals, 39 points and 36 draw controls this season are all single-season highs for the middie.

Rare Company: Freshman attacker Sam Schrum joined some rare company this season. She scored a goal in each of her first eight career games, joining 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. She currently ranks tied for third on the team in goals (29), fourth in assists (9) and points (38).

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 third on the team in goals and fourth in assists, points and draw controls (29). In addition, Bathras, Hughes, Dubansky and Danielle Ensley have all tallied points so far this season.

Goalie Lizzie O'Ferrall has played in 12 games so far this season, starting in seven. She posts a 10.75 goals against average with a .401 save percentage and a 5-3 record.

All-Time Record: Hopkins, now in its 32nd season of women's lacrosse, enters tonight's game with an overall record of 318-186-4 (.629). 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 earned their 100th win as a Division I program against Vanderbilt on May 4. Hopkins is now 101-51 (.664) in nine DI seasons.

Home Sweet Home: Hopkins plays its home games at historic Homewood Field, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2007. The Blue Jays have enjoyed much success at Homewood, especially of late. Hopkins is 9-3 at home this season and is 33-9 (.786) dating back to April 25, 2003. Since moving to Division I in 1999, the Jays are 61-24 (.717) at home. In 31-plus seasons at Homewood, Hopkins posts a record of 180-79-2 (.693).

500 and Counting: Hopkins game at Vanderbilt on April 8 was the 500th in the program's history. Only 18 other programs in NCAA history (Division I and III) have played 500 or more games.

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 169-67 (.716). Navy head coach Cindy Timchal is the all-time wins leader with 336.

I'm Honored: Freshman goalie Lizzie O'Ferrall earned womenslacrosse.com Rookie of the Week honors on April 16 after back-to-back career games against UMBC and Virginia. The rookie posted nine saves in each game to earn back-to-back wins.

Senior attacker Mary Key was named both the Nike/Inside Lacrosse and WomensLax.com Player of the Week on March 26. Freshman attacker Sam Schrum earned American Lacrosse Conference Player of the Week honors on March 12. In addition, Key has been named to the womenslacrosse.com Honor Roll three times so far this season.

Player Notes of Interest in PDF version.