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4/18/2003 - Men's Lacrosse
Mids Make the Trip to Homewood Field To Face Top-Ranked Johns Hopkins

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Fresh off a 13-10 victory over 10th-ranked UMBC last Tuesday night, the Navy lacrosse team will seek its first win over Johns Hopkins in 29 games Saturday afternoon when it travels to Homewood Field to face the top-ranked Blue Jays. The Mids enter Saturday's game with a 5-6 record, winning just one game in the last-five outings. Hopkins, meanwhile, is riding a five-game winning streak which has included overtime victories over North Carolina (11-10) and Maryland (6-5).

The Navy-Johns Hopkins game is set to start at 1 p.m. and can be heard on WNAV-AM 1430 (tape delayed at 5 p.m.) or WJFK-AM 1300. It will also be broadcast live on WMAR-TV Ch. 2 in the Baltimore viewing area. In addition, College Sports Television Network (CSTV) will carry the game via DIRECTV on Channel 610.

The Mids broke through their dry spell last Tuesday by defeating what Navy head coach Richie Meade has said is "the best offensive team we have faced this season." Navy, who was averaging just five goals a game during its four-game losing streak, put up six goals in the first quarter against UMBC and finished the game with a season-high tying 13 goals. A major factor in that game was senior All-American Greg Conklin (Syracuse, N.Y.) who has been switched to attack the last few games. Conklin scored a career-high five goals and added two helpers. He has scored 10 of his 25 points over the last-three games.

Junior attack Joe Bossi (Skaneateles, N.Y.) has started every game this season, but has stood out in the month of April. The first-year starter has scored seven of his 12 points over the last-three contests, including four of his eight goals. Meanwhile, junior middie Ben Bailey (Memphis, Tenn.) has produced five of his 13 goals in the last-three meetings.

Freshman attack Ian Dingman (Deferiet, N.Y.) has been a consistent performer the entire season for the Mids. Navy's top scorer with 35 points on 20 goals and 15 assists, Dingman ranks seventh on Navy's all-time freshman scoring leader board. He has scored more points than any other Midshipmen rookie since Mike Herger set the record in 1987 with 55 points (37G-18A). Dingman has posted at least a goal or an assist in every game except the Penn State outing, while producing six multi-goal and five multi-assist games.

Defensively, there's no question sophomore goalkeeper Seth DiNola (Ballston Lake, N.Y.) has been of All-American caliber since the Georgetown contest. In the last-four games, he has averaged 11.8 saves per game and in the Penn State outing, he stopped a career-high 21 shots.

Johns Hopkins welcomes Navy into the lion's den, having lost just one of its nine games this season, a 15-14 loss against then-No. 4 Syracuse. The Blue Jays are 5-0 at home this season, outscoring their opponents, 78-30, in games played at Homewood Field. Five players on the roster card have posted 20-plus points and two more has scored 18 points. Sophomore attack Kyle Berry leads the offensive charge with 33 points on 21 goals and 12 assists. Barrie, who has scored at least one point in 20-consecutive games, has been checked up as of late, scoring just one goal and adding one assist in his last two-games.

Senior Bobby Benson has scored a team-high 23 goals en route to 31 points this spring. Perhaps the biggest scoring threat, he has posted five goals in a game twice this season and is ranked ninth in the nation in goals per game. Junior middie Kevin Boland has had the hot hand as of late, scoring seven goals and adding three assists in the last-three games. He produced a pair of goals in the overtime win over Maryland a week ago.

Senior keeper Rob Scherr has started all nine contests and has played just over 517 minutes between the pipes. He is ranked 16th in the nation with his 7.76 goals-against average, while warding off 56.5 percent of the shots fired his direction. Scherr has held of 12 the 21 teams he has started against in his career to eight goals or less, including seven of the 10 this season.

Not only does Johns Hopkins have the benefit of its No. 1 ranking entering its contest with the Midshipmen, it has history on its side when taking on Navy. The Blue Jays lead the series, 48-25-1, winning the last-28 games in the series dating back to 1974, Navy's last win.

G-o N-a-v-y