May 14, 2008

Johns Hopkins-Navy Men's Lacrosse Notes in PDF Format

Johns Hopkins-Navy Miscellaneous Notes in PDF Format

Game-by-Game Recaps in PDF Format

Setting the Scene: Johns Hopkins travels to Annapolis to take on host Navy in the 2008 NCAA Quarterfinals. The JHU-Navy game is the second game of a quarterfinal doubleheader that leads off with Virginia and Maryland playing at noon. Game time for the Hopkins-Navy game is tentatively set for 3 pm.

Looking Back: The Blue Jays (9-5) held Hofstra scoreless for over 25 minutes midway through the game and used a 6-0 run to break open a close game en route to a 10-4 win over the Pride in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Navy (10-5) upset fourth-seeded North Carolina, 8-7, last Saturday night in the first round of the tournament down in Chapel Hill.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters the game against Navy with an all-time record of 880-277-15 (.757). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

125th Anniversary: The 2008 season marks the 125th anniversary of the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse program. The Blue Jays are wearing commemorative patches on their uniforms for the 125th anniversary of the program (it is NOT the 125th season) and the logo is being used in a variety of printed pieces to promote the anniversary.

Series History: This will be the 82nd all-time meeting between Johns Hopkins and Navy, but amazingly tthe first in the NCAA Tournament. A complete series history can be found elsewhere in this week's notes.

Johns Hopkins Earns 37th Straight NCAA Bid: Johns Hopkins earned its record 37th straight bid to the NCAA Tournament this season. The 37 consecutive appearances is the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in any NCAA Division I Team sport. A list of the longest active streaks of qualifying for the men's lacrosse tournament can be found to the right. In addition, a list of the longest active streaks of qualifying for each Division I team sport can also be found here.

Blue Jays Seeded Fifth: Johns Hopkins earned a number five seed in the 2008 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament. This is the 12th consecutive year the Blue Jays have been seeded in the top five. To put this in perspective, no other team in the nation has even qualified for the NCAA Tournament for 12 straight years. In fact, JHU's streak of 12 straight top-five seeds is twice as long as any other team's streak of qualifying for the tournament at all (Maryland - 6 straight bids).

That's 603 Games Over .500: Including the win against Hofstra, the Blue Jays' all-time record is now 880-277-15 (.757) ... that's 603 games over .500. To put this in perspective: JHU has played an average of just under 15 games per season under head coach Dave Pietramala. Using a 15-game season as a reference, if the Blue Jays posted a 5-10 record for 120 straight seasons, they would still be three games over .500.

Poll Position: Johns Hopkins is ranked fourth in the USILA Coaches Poll and the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll (final regular season polls). Navy is ranked 14th in the USILA Coaches Poll and 16th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. To clarify, the Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office uses the USILA Coaches Poll to reflect JHU's official ranking at the time of a game.

May Day: Johns Hopkins has posted a 36-4 (.900) record in the month of April under head coach Dave Pietramala and that success has carried over into the month of May. JHU is 25-5 (.833) in the month of May under Pietramala, including a perfect 13-0 at Homewood Field. Overall the Blue Jays have won 21 consecutive games at Homewood Field in the month of May. JHU's last loss at home in May came on May 2, 1992, when Towson dropped the Blue Jays, 14-13, in overtime.

Prepping For May: Head coach Dave Pietramala and the Blue Jays continue to play one of the most difficult schedules in the nation, a fact that was only further solidified with the announcement of the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse bracket. Johns Hopkins played nine of its 13 regular season games against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament and the cumulative regular season record of JHU's 13 opponents was 117-70 (.626).
The nine games against NCAA Tournament teams were the second most in the nation. Only North Carolina (10) played more games against teams that qualified for the NCAAs. A complete breakdown of the number of games each team in the tournament played against teams that qualifed for the tournament can be found to the right.

State Rivalries: Without question the Blue Jays play one of the most difficult schedules in the nation and a big part of that schedule are the in-state rivalries the Blue Jays have. JHU has won all six of its games this season against in-state rivals (UMBC, Maryland, Navy, Towson, Mount St. Mary's, Loyola) and the Blue Jays are 38-2 (.950) against teams from Maryland under head coach Dave Pietramala.

Halftime Speech is Working: During the current six-game winning streak the Blue Jays have out-scored the opposition 24-7 in the third quarter.

Man-Down Unit Improving: One area where the Blue Jays struggled during the middle of the season was in man-down situations. The opposition converted on 9-of-15 (.600) chances in a six-game span that started against Hofstra and ended against Maryland. However, in the last five games the Blue Jays have found their way in man-down situations as Navy, Towson, Mount St. Mary's, Loyola and Hofstra combined to convert on just 2-of-16 (.125) extra-man chanes. For the year the opposition is 16-of-41 (.390) with the extra man.

Extra-Man Unit Rolls On: Johns Hopkins has been opportunistic when given extra-man opportunities as the Blue Jays rank fourth in the nation in man-up offense as they've converted on 15-of-33 (.455) chances this season. The 33 chances are the fewst of any team ranked in the top 25 in the nation in this category. Senior Paul Rabil leads the team with five extra-man goals, while freshman Kyle Wharton (3) and seniors Michael Doneger (3) and Kevin Huntley (2) have also cashed in on these chanes.

One-Goal Turnarounds: The three straight losses to Hofstra (8-7), Syracuse (14-13) and Virginia (13-12) are rare one-goal losses for the Blue Jays under head coach Dave Pietramala. Johns Hopkins is now 30-9 in one-goal games since Pietramala took over in 2001. Despite the losses, the Blue Jays have won 17 of their last 22 and 21 of their last 27 one-goal games. In the five seasons prior to Pietramala arriving (1996-2000) the Blue Jays were 5-8 in one-goal games.

More One-Goal Notes: The Blue Jays have come from behind to win 14 times during their last 17 one-goal wins. In 10 of those 14 come-from-behind one-goal wins the Blue Jays came back from a deficit of two goals or more. The latest of these come-from-behind one-goal wins came against Notre Dame in the 2007 NCAA Tournament, when the Blue Jays erased a 4-1 second-quarter deficit.

In Case We Go Extra: The regular season loss at Hofstra snapped a nine-game winning streak for the Blue Jays in overtime games. The Blue Jays had won nine straight overtime games dating back to a 10-9 win at Navy in 2004 before the loss to the Pride. Including the OT loss to Virginia, JHU is 13-5 all-time in overtime under head coach Dave Pietramala's guidance, including an impressive 6-3 on the road.

Players on the 2008 team who have scored game-winning goals in overtime during their career:

• Senior Kevin Huntley punched home the game-winner in the second OT against Duke in 2005.
• Junior Brian Christopher scored 1:22 into OT against Loyola on May 6, 2006.
• Senior Paul Rabil fired home the game-winner 56 seconds into the 2nd OT against Princeton on March 3, 2007 and tallied the game-winner 43 seconds into overtime at Maryland (4-14-07). He is the only player in school history who has scored two overtime game-winners in the same season.
• Sophomore Michael Kimmel became the first freshman in school history to score an overtime goal in an NCAA Tournament game when he netted the game-winner one-minute into overtime against Notre Dame last season.

More Overtime: The three consecutive overtime games for the Blue Jays against Hofstra, Syracuse and Virginia mark the first time Johns Hopkins has ever played three straight overtime games. Twice previously the Blue Jays had played two consecutive overtime games (1982 and 1988).

Comeback Kids: The Blue Jays have come from behind to win four times this season (Albany, UMBC, Towson, Loyola) and erased a two-goal deficit in the third quarter at Loyola. Johns Hopkins came from behind to win eight times last season, including six times during the season-ending nine-game winning streak. JHU trailed in its first two NCAA Tournament games, but never trailed during the Final Four.

Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 73-16 in its last 89 regular season games dating back to the end of the 2001 season and is 86-20 overall since the start of the 2002 season.

Defensive Turnaround: Johns Hopkins allowed 57 goals in consecutive losses to Syracuse, Virginia, North Carolina and Duke. However, the Blue Jay defense has rebounded nicely in the last month with standout showings in wins over Maryland (10-4), Navy (12-5), Towson (16-7), Mount St. Mary's (12-1), Loyola (9-6) and Hofstra (10-4). This is the first time JHU has held six straight opponents to seven goals or less in the same season since 1967.

Additional information, including player notes of interest, included in PDF versions above.