Honorable Mention: College Hockey-Frozen Four: UMass-Lowell vs. Yale (Thursday 4:30pm from Pittsburgh live on ESPN2), Quinnipiac vs. St. Cloud State (Thursday 8pm from Pittsburgh live on ESPN2), NCAA Championship Game (Saturday 7pm from Pittsburgh live on ESPN); Tennis: ATP U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championship (Friday 7pm Saturday 2pm Sunday 3pm from Houston live on Tennis Channel); Boxing: Nonito Donaire vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux (Saturday 11pm from New York live on HBO); Charm City Roller Girls (Saturday 5:30pm Du Burns Arena)

10. Fleetwood Mac (Tuesday 8pm Verizon Center), Alicia Keys/Miguel (Sunday 7:30pm Verizon Center); Volbeat (Wednesday 8pm Rams Head Live), Crack The Sky (Saturday 8pm Rams Head Live); Cris Jacobs Band (Friday 8pm 8×10 Club); Johns Hopkins Spring Fair feat. Grouplove, Carolina Liar (Friday 8pm Ralph S. O’Connor Recreation Center) Marc Broussard (Tuesday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); Stone Sour (Thursday 8pm Fillmore Silver Spring), Big Sean (Saturday 8pm Fillmore Silver Spring); Black Crowes (Tuesday 7pm 9:30 Club), Cold War Kids (Thursday 8pm 9:30 Club), The Dan Band (Saturday 8pm 9:30 Club), Andrew McMahon (Monday 6:30pm 9:30 Club); Rusted Root (Tuesday 9:30pm Rams Head Center Stage); Edwin McCain (Wednesday 8pm Wolf Trap); Diana Krall (Wednesday 8pm Strathmore); Paramore “Paramore“, Eric Church “Eric Church Live: Caught In The Act” and Dawes “Stories Don’t End” available in stores/on iTunes (Tuesday)

I like Alicia Keys a lot, but I freaking LOVE Miguel. How great is this dude?

I saw Carolina Liar at Recher once (back when Recher held concerts). I honestly found them to be excellent.

The Orioles have a catcher in the minors named Chris Robinson. I heard a rumor he’s “Hard to Handle.”

There’s a chance Dawes will be my new favorite band. Check back later today.

9. Paul Mooney (Friday 7:30pm Howard Theatre); Kathleen Madigan (Thursday-Sunday 7:30pm Birchmere); Amy Schumer (Thursday 9pm Sixth & I Historic Synagogue); Guy Torry (Thursday-Saturday Baltimore Comedy Factory), Ralphie May (Monday 8pm Baltimore Comedy Factory); Wendy Liebman (Thursday-Saturday Magooby’s Joke House); Sebastian Maniscalco (Friday-Sunday DC Improv); Maryland International Film Festival (Thursday-Saturday Hagerstown)

Amy Schumer is a Towson alum. She’s quite funny (and quite pretty)…

You know what, maybe I should just give you a little more of her…

That’s some Faith Hill-level leg by the way.

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BALTIMORE, MD – Junior defenseman Doug Eich scored his second goal of the season with 2:01 remaining to break the sixth and final tie of the game and lift the 20th-ranked Albany men’s lacrosse team to a 10-9 win over 10th-ranked Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field Friday night. The win is the third straight for the Great Danes, who improve to 7-3, while Hopkins dropped its second straight and slips to 6-4.

Albany held a pair of two-goal leads in the fourth quarter, only to have the Blue Jays fight back and tie the game at 9-9 on consecutive goals by Wells Stanwick and Brandon Benn less then two minutes apart midway through the period. Johns Hopkins then had a golden opportunity to take the lead as Ryan Feuerstein was called for pushing with 2:36 remaining to give the Blue Jays their fifth extra-man opportunity of the game.

As it had all night, the Albany defense stood firm and freshman goalie Blaze Riorden saved a Ryan Brown shot late in the man-up situation and jump-started a transition play by quickly firing the ball to Eich on the run at the top of the box. Eich worked his way into the attacking third and when no slide came he drove to the goal and beat Blue Jay goalie Pierce Bassett from seven yards out to give Albany the one-goal lead.

The Blue Jays had one final possession, but a John Ranagan shot sailed high with 14 seconds remaining and Brown’s last-ditch attempt in the closing seconds was blocked and Albany scooped up the ground ball as the final two seconds ticked off the clock.

The frantic finish seemed appropriate in a game that may not have produced as many goals as some thought it might, but still generated 74 shots, 36 combined goalie saves, 24 turnovers and a combined showing of 1-of-10 in extra-man situations.

Both teams took turns controlling the game with swings in momentum. The Blue Jays opened the game by scoring four of the first six goals with Stanwick starting and ending a game-opening 4-2 run with his 19th and 20th goals of the season.

Albany, which entered the game with the nation’s top scoring offense at just over 15 goals per game, flashed its quick-strike ability early in the second quarter when Jimmy Haugen and Ty Thompson scored just 74 seconds apart to draw the Danes even. The deadlock lasted until late in the second quarter when senior John Greeley gave the Blue Jays a 5-4 lead when he spun inside his defender on the wing and bounced home an eight-yarder.

Ty Thompson’s goal early in the second quarter was the last goal the Danes would score for exactly 24 minutes, but Greeley’s strike was the only goal the Blue Jays would muster during the period and it took Albany less than a minute to grab the lead late in the third quarter as Feuerstein took a pass from behind the goal and worked his way free in front to knot the game at 5-5 and Will Fuller struck 49 seconds later to give Albany a 6-5 lead.

That lead held until Holden Cattoni scored from in tight for JHU just 66 seconds into the fourth quarter, but Derrick Eccles scooped up a loose ball in front and shoveled one home just over a minute later and Miles Thompson added an unassisted goal three minutes after that to give Albany an 8-6 lead.

Stanwick’s third of the game a short time later was answered in just nine seconds by Ty Thompson to make it 9-7 with just over eight minutes on the clock. The back-to-back goals by Stanwick and Benn came within the next three minutes, setting the stage for Eich’s game-winner that lifted Albany to its second all-time win against the Blue Jays.

While the game featured two of the top four scoring offenses in the nation, the two stars of the game were Riorden and Bassett. Riorden punched up a career-high 20 saves, including 12 in the second and third quarters combined when he held the Blue Jays to just one goal. Bassett nearly matched his counterpart with 15 saves, including 11 in the second half.

Miles Thompson led the Danes with three goals and two assists, while Ty Thompson (2g) and Haugen (1g, 1a) added multi-point games for for Albany.

Stanwick totaled four goals and one assist for the Blue Jays and senior Mike Poppleton won 14-of-23 faceoffs and grabbed a game-high eight ground balls, but no other JHU player had more than one point. JHU held decided advantages in shots (44-30) and ground balls (34-25), but Riorden’s efforts kept Albany in the game and Eich’s game-winner provided the difference.

The loss overshadowed a solid effort by Johns Hopkins senior Tucker Durkin, who held Lyle Thompson, the nation’s leading scorer at better than seven points per game, scoreless.

Johns Hopkins hits the road next week to renew the greatest rivalry in college lacrosse as the Blue Jays travel to College Park to take on top-ranked Maryland. Game time at Byrd Stadium next Saturday is set for 3 pm.

#20 Albany (7-3) 2-2-2-4/10
#10 Johns Hopkins (6-4) 4-1-0-4/9

Goals: A: M. Thompson-3, T. Thompson-2, Haugen, Fuller, Feuerstein, Eccles, Eich. J: Stanwick-4, Sanders, Palmer, Benn, Cattoni, Greeley. Assists: A: M. Thompson-2, Cox, Garziano, Haugen. J: Coppersmith, Stanwick. Saves: A: Riorden-20, Huber-1. J: Bassett-15. Shots: A-30. J-44. EMO: A: 1-for-5. J: 0-for-5. Attendance: 1,525.

Television:  ESPNU

The Game: Johns Hopkins (6-3) welcomes Albany (6-3) to Homewood Field for a key midseason game featuring two top 20 teams.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins fell at then sixth-ranked North Carolina, 11-10, in overtime last Saturday. Albany picked up its second straight win and fifth in six games with a 21-8 win at Binghamton.

Series History: This week’s game will be the 12th meeting between Johns Hopkins and Albany in a series that dates to a 10-4 Blue Jay victory in 2002. Johns Hopkins leads the all-time series, 10-1, and has won five straight since the Great Danes scored an 8-7 win in 2007.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against Albany with an all-time record of 930-301-15 (.752). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

Program Ties – Part I: Albany is coached by Scott Marr, a 1991 Johns Hopkins graduate. Marr was a member of the Blue Jays’ 1987 NCAA Championship team and played at JHU with current Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala and current JHU associate head coach Bill Dwan.

Program Ties – Part II: Johns Hopkins fans may recognize the name Haugen on the Albany roster. Great Dane junior midfielder Jimmy Haugen is the younger brother of A.J. Haugen, a three time First Team All-American midfielder at JHU (1998-2000). A.J. Haugen will be inducted into the Johns Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame later this month (April 20). Like his older brother, Jimmy Haugen also wears #12.

That’s 102 Games Over .500: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala picked up his 167th career win when JHU knocked off Virginia on March 23 and he now stands at 167-65 overall. Included in that mark is a 144-48 record at JHU and a 23-17 record in three seasons as the head coach at Cornell.
Pietramala ranks second all-time in school history in career coaching victories as only Hall of Fame coach Bob Scott (158 wins from 1955-74) has more victories than Pietramala while patrolling the sidelines at Homewood.

April Reign: Flipping the calendar to April has usually been a good sign for the Blue Jays, who are 50-10 (.833) under head coach Dave Pietramala in games played in April. JHU is 28-4 at home, 20-4 on the road and 2-2 on a neutral field in April under Pietramala’s guidance.

Must be the Speech: There must be something to what Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala says in the locker room that sparks the Blue Jays as Johns Hopkins holds decided scoring advantages in the first and third quarters through nine games. JHU has outscored the opposition 34-18 in the first quarter and 32-20 in the third. The Blue Jays also hold a 24-16 scoring margin in the second quarter – the bulge slides to a 27-24 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Balancing Act: Johns Hopkins counts eight players with five or more goals and 10 players with seven or more points through nine games. In all, 18 different players have found the back of the net for JHU and 21 players have at least one point.

The Key to Victory – Part I: Johns Hopkins is 6-1 on the year when scoring in double figures. The Blue Jays are 0-2 when scoring fewer than 10 goals.

The Key to Victory – Part II: Johns Hopkins improved to 6-0 on the year when holding the opposition to less than 10 goals with the win vs. Virginia. On the flip side, JHU is 0-3 when allowing 10 goals or more.

EMO Clicking: The Johns Hopkins extra man unit has been on a roll of late as the group is 14-of-24 (.583) in the last five games and is now 22-of-41 (.537) on the year. Johns Hopkins currently ranks third in the nation in man-up offense. Seven different players have scored at least one extra man goal for the Blue Jays with freshmanRyan Brown (8), sophomore Wells Stanwick (4) and junior Brandon Benn (4) leading the way. Brown’s eight extra man goals are already the most by a Johns Hopkins player since 2004, when Matt Rewkowski had 12 andConor Ford had eight.

Among the Leaders: The NCAA issued its sixth national statistical report this week and Johns Hopkins is well represented among the national leaders. JHU ranks in the top 15 in the nation in eight different team categories and four individuals combine for six spots in six different categories as well.

Palmer Bounces Back: After being held scoreless in back-to-back games against Syracuse and Virginia, senior attackman Zach Palmer broke through against North Carolina with three goals and one assist. All four of his points came in the second half as JHU erased a 5-3 halftime deficit and eventually led 10-9 before falling in overtime.
His effort against the Tar Heels pushed his season totals to 11 goals and 12 assists and his career totals to 70 goals and 68 assists for 138 points. He enters this week’s game against Albany needing just two assists to become the 11th player in school history to amass 70 goals and 70 assists.

Stanwick Breaks Out: Sophomore attackman Wells Stanwick ran his consecutive multi-point game streak to eight (all eight he has played this season) with a pair of assists against North Carolina. He had totaled four or more points in four straight games prior to the game at UNC and has now accumulated 25 points in his last five games.
Stanwick boosted his totals to 18 goals and 15 assists on the year with his effort against UNC and he has already surpassed his goal (9), assist (13) and point (23) totals from last season. He currently ranks 12th in the nation in points per game (4.13).
Stanwick enjoyed the finest game of his career in the 19-9 win over Mount St. Mary’s as he totaled five goals and four assists for nine points. Previously he had never had more than two goals, three assists or four points in a game.
He followed that with a two-goal, four-assist effort in the win over UMBC and then added the three-goal, one-assist performance at SU.
Stanwick is the first Johns Hopkins player to post nine points in a game since Kyle Barrie had five goals and four assists in a 17-3 win over Navy in 2003. He is also the first JHU player with back-to-back six-point games since Dan Denihan did it against Villanova (8), Ohio State (6) and Maryland (7) during the 2000 season.

Poppleton Rolls On: In a matchup of two of the top faceoff specialists in the nation, senior Mike Poppleton won 13-of-24 faceoffs and grabbed nine ground balls against North Carolina. This effort came on the heels of a 14-of-23 performance at Syracuse and a 4-of-6 effort against Virginia in his previous two games.
Poppleton, who ranks second in the nation in faceoff winning percentage, is now 113-of-141 (.685) on the year and leads the team with 64 ground balls. He also improved to 303-of-475 (.638) in his career with his showing last week against North Carolina and is now tied for eighth in school history in career faceoffs won.

Benn Leads Team in Goals: Junior Brandon Benn continues to pace the team in goals (21) and ranks third in points (22) after scoring once against North Carolina last week.
He has scored 51 of his 56 career goals since the start of the 2012 season and currently ranks 14th in the nation in goals per game (2.63).

Cattoni Emerging: Freshman Holden Cattoni played in two of the Blue Jays’ first three games, but didn’t register a point in those two outings.
That changed quickly as the hard-shooting lefty punched up back-to-back two-point games against Princeton and Mount St. Mary’s. He fired home a pair of goals against the Tigers and added one goal and one assist against the Mount. He scored an extra man goal against Syracuse, added one goal and one assist vs. Virginia and now has five goals and two assists for seven points on the year.

What Brown Does For Us: Freshman Ryan Brown has stepped in and made an immediate impact for the Blue Jays in his first year at Homewood. Brown has 13 goals and four assists through nine games and leads the team with eight extra-man goals. He has registered at least one point in eight of nine games this season and his eight extra-man goals are already the most by a Johns Hopkins player since 2004, when Matt Rewkowski (12) andConor Ford (8) led a potent JHU extra man unit.
Brown fired home the first hat trick of his career and added an assist for a career-high four points in the15-8 win over Virginia and added two goals at North Carolina. He now has six multi-point and four multi-goal games to his credit this season.

Sanders Breaks Through: Junior midfielder Rex Sanders entered the 2013 season with one career goal to his credit. He has already far surpassed that total as he has scored 11 goals through nine games. Sanders is tied for fourth on the team in goals (11) and ranks eighth in points (11) after punching up the first hat trick of his career against Virginia.

Bassett Shines Against Virginia, Among National Win Leaders: Senior Pierce Bassett enjoyed his finest game of the season against Virginia as he posted 16 saves and allowed just seven goals in 59:02. The 16 saves are tied for the second-highest total of his career.
Bassett currently boasts a .570 save percentage and an 8.55 goals against average. He ranks 17th in the nation in goals against average and 12th in save percentage. His eigh-save performance against UNC boosted his career total to 441 saves, which moved him into sole possession of eighth place on JHU’s career saves list (441). Bassett also enters this week’s game Albany ranked second among active Division I goalies in career wins after picking up career win number 33 against UVA.

Durkin Fuels Defense: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala has the luxury of returning the nation’s top defensive player in senior co-captain Tucker Durkin, who has picked up right where he left off a year ago.
Durkin currently ranks third on the team in ground balls (18) and leads the team with 11 caused turnovers. Durkin is the anchor of a Johns Hopkins defense that ranks 16th nationally in scoring defense (8.78).

Scoring Droughts Abound: Despite the new rules in place this season that aim to quicken the pace (and thus increase scoring), the Johns Hopkins defense has been able to hold the opposition scoreless for long stretches this season.
The Blue Jays held Virginia scoreless for a stretch of 31:25 midway through the game and Siena, Towson and Michigan each drew blanks of at least 15 minutes – all three had two droughts that lasted at least 13 minutes. Princeton was more productive in its win against JHU, but did have one scoring drought that covered more than 11 minutes, while Mount St. Mary’s went more than 18 minutes without a goal at one point and UMBC was held off the board for 24:04 to open the game and 13:01 later in the game.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays are ranked 10th in this week’s USILA Coaches Poll and 11th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll as well. The Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications Office uses the USILA Poll to represent JHU’s official ranking at the time of a game. Prior to falling out of the top 20 of the USILA Poll on April 26 and May 3, 2010 (JHU was receiving votes in both polls), the Blue Jays had been ranked in the top 20 in 367 consecutive polls dating back to the first poll in 1973.

More Poll Position: Including this week’s USILA Poll, there have been 404 weekly polls since the inception of the poll in 1973. Amazingly, JHU has been ranked in the top 20 in 402 of those 404 polls. The Blue Jays have been in the top 10 in 381 of the 404 and the top five in 299 of those 404. Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one 104 times since the poll debuted in 1973.

Palmer Among Career Active Assists Leaders: Senior attackman Zach Palmer enters this week’s game against Albany with 68 career assists. He currently ranks 13th among all active Division I players in career assists.

I’m Honored: The Blue Jays return four players who earned All-America honors last season in seniors Tucker Durkin, Pierce Bassett and John Ranagan and junior Rob Guida. Durkin earned First Team All-America honors on defense, while Ranagan and Guida grabbed second team honors at midfield. Bassett earned honorable mention honors in goal and he, Durkin and Ranagan are two-time All-America selections for the Blue Jays.

Odd, But True: Years ending in “3″ have been kind, and unkind, to the Blue Jays. Since the formation of the NCAA Tournament in 1971, Johns Hopkins has advanced to the NCAA Championship game three times (1973, 1983, 2003) and the NCAA Semifinals once (1993) in the years ending in three. JHU fell in each of those three title games with the three loses coming by a total of four goals. In each of those instances the Blue Jays subsequently won a national championship within two years.

Representing the Stars and Stripes – Part I: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala will serve as an assistant coach for the United States at at the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships in Denver Colorado. Pietramala will serve under Richie Meade, the head coach at Navy from 1995-2011.

Representing the Stars and Stripes – Part II: Johns Hopkins sophomore defender Rob Enright was a member of the United States Team that won the 2012 FIL U-19 World Championship in Turku, Finland. Enright is the 17th Johns Hopkins player to represent the United States at the U-19 Championships since the formation of the event in 1988.

Working Overtime: The loss at North Carolina snapped a three-game winning streak for the Blue Jays in games that have gone to overtime. With the loss the Blue Jays are now 19-10 all-time in overtime under head coach Dave Pietramala.

Streaking: In case you didn’t notice, Johns Hopkins is 26-8 in its last 34 games and 31-10 since the start of the 2011 season.

Honorable Mention: Auto Racing-NASCAR STP Gas Booster 500 (Sunday 1pm from Martinsville, VA live on FOX), IndyCar Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Sunday 3pm from Birmingham live on NBC Sports Network); Golf: PGA Tour Valero Texas Open (Thursday & Friday 3pm live on Golf Channel, Saturday & Sunday 1pm live on Golf Channel 3pm live on NBC. All golf from San Antonio), LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship (Thursday & Friday 12pm & 6pm Saturday & Sunday 5pm from Rancho Mirage, CA live on Golf Channel); Women’s College Basketball: NCAA Tournament Elite 8-Notre Dame vs. Duke(Tuesday 7:05pm from Norfolk live on ESPN), Tennessee vs. Louisville (Tuesday 9:10pm from Oklahoma City live on ESPN); Final Four (Sunday TBA from New Orleans live on ESPN); Mixed Martial Arts: UFC on FUEL TV-Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi (Saturday 11am from Stockholm, SWE live on FUEL TV); Bellator MMA (Thursday 10pm from Atlantic City live on SpikeTV)

10. Maroon 5/Neon Trees/Owl City (Wednesday 7:30pm Verizon Center); Green Day (Thursday 7:30pm Patriot Center); They Might Be Giants (Saturday 9pm Rams Head Live); Brigance Brigade Foundation Benefit feat. Charm City Devils/Loving The Lie (Saturday 8pm Baltimore Soundstage); Senses Fail (Friday 8pm Ottobar); Marc Broussard (Monday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); Meek Mill (Saturday 8pm Fillmore Silver Spring); Ozomatli (Wednesday 7pm 9:30 Club), Local Natives (Friday 8pm Saturday 7pm 9:30 Club), Black Crowes (Monday 7pm 9:30 Club); Carolina Chocolate Drops (Wednesday 7:30pm Birchmere); Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/Walk The Moon (Sunday George Washington University)

I like Charm City Devils. I LOVE supporting anything involving O.J. Brigance. Nice little Saturday night then.

Loving The Lie is another excellent Baltimore band playing the event Saturday night. I throw my support fully behind that.

Genuinely believe I’ve heard more about Local Natives in the last month than I’ve heard about U2 in my life. Pretty good reason for that.

I can get behind EVERYTHING about Carolina Chocolate Drops…

9. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Dragons (Tuesday-Sunday 1st Mariner Arena); Jon Lovitz/Chris Kattan/Tim Meadows (Thursday 7:30pm Birchmere); Louis C.K. (Saturday 8pm & 10:30pm Meyerhoff Symphony Hall); Brian Regan (Friday 8pm Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric); Shawn & Marlon Wayans (Thursday-Sunday DC Improv); Craig Shoemaker (Thursday 8pm Baltimore Comedy Factory), Bret Ernst (Friday & Saturday Baltimore Comedy Factory); Rich Vos (Thursday-Saturday Magooby’s Joke House); “That Thing You Do!” available on Blu-Ray (Tuesday)

Don’t kill me for this, but I searched “That Thing You Do!” on YouTube and discovered this video of ‘N Sync performing the song over a decade ago. I could have ignored the video, but instead I shared it with you here.

Language, but nothing not to enjoy about Louis C.K…

(Continued on Page 2…)

CHAPEL HILL, NC – R.G. Keenan scored his only goal of the game six seconds into overtime to lift the sixth-ranked North Caorlina men’s lacrosse team to a dramatic 11-10 win over eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins at, appropriately, Kenan Stadium, Saturday afternoon. Keenan’s goal gave the Tar Heels the win in a game they never trailed until the last five minutes of regulation, but tied late to force extra time.

The Blue Jays took their only lead of the game with 4:36 remaining in regulation when senior John Greeley capped a long possession by getting to the middle of the field and beating North Carolina goalie Kieran Burke from 10 yards out to make it 10-9.

The Tar Heels, playing from behind for the first time in the game, got the equalizer with 90 seconds left on the clock when Chad Tutton drove from the top of the box and found Davey Emala on the doorstep. Emala turned and shoveled a shot past Pierce Bassett to force the fourth tie of the game.

Johns Hopkins won the ensuing faceoff and had possession for the final 1:23 out of a timeout, but the Tar Heel defense kept the Blue Jays away and never allowed a clean look at the goal to force overtime. There, Keenan took over to lift the ‘Heels to their fourth consecutive victory.

The frantic ending seemed almost appropriate in a game that Carolina led by three goals once and two goals four different times, only to have the Blue Jays fight back each time.

After Emala and Ryan Brown traded goals in the first four minutes of the game, the Tar Heels grabbed the momentum with a three-goal run late in the first quarter to grab a 4-1 lead.

Sophomore Joey Sankey used a pick along the goal line to get topside on his defender and rifled home an eight-yard shot to make it 2-1 and Marcus Holman and Emala scored goals just 30 seconds apart to make it 4-1.

After the Tar Heel defense forced a turnover, Holman scored in transition and Emala went backdoor on his defender and took a perfect feed from Tutton just off the crease and scored to give UNC the three-goal lead.

The Blue Jays sliced the deficit to 4-2 late in the first quarter as junior Brandon Benn blew home a 10-yarder while the Blue Jays had the man advantage and Lee Coppersmith broke a long scoring drought for both teams when he dodged down the ally and ripped a 12-yard shot to make it 4-3.

The Blue Jays nearly tied the game late in the second quarter, but Burke made two of his 10 first-half saves on the doorstep in a span of three seconds and UNC took off in transition, where Holman again made them pay with a 12-yard blast that accounted for a 5-3 score at the half.

A back-and-forth third quarter saw the Blue Jays pull to within one twice in the first six minutes, only to have the Tar Heels answer each time with Tutton giving UNC the third of its four two-goal leads with an unassisted strike with 8:45 remaining that made it 7-5.

Hopkins finally drew even at 7-7 on John Ranagan and Zach Palmer goals just 51 seconds apart midway through the quarter, but a Ryan Creighton goal late in the period and the only goal of the game by sophomore Jimmy Bitter gave the Tar Heels a 9-7 lead early in the fourth.

As it had all day, Johns Hopkins rallied. Brown’s second goal of the game – from in-tight on a nice feed to the crease by Palmer –made it 9-8 with 12:34 remaining and Palmer went upstairs with a left-handed laser to draw the Blue Jays even with just under eight minutes on the clock.

That score held for more than three minutes before Greeley gave JHU its only lead of the game in the final five minutes, a lead Emala wiped away late, setting the stage for Keenan’s overtime heroics.

Palmer led the Blue Jays with three goals and one assist, while Coppersmith (2g, 1a), Brown (2g), Greeley (1g, 1a) and Wells Stanwick (2a) also registered multi-point games for JHU. Johns Hopkins held advantages in shots (48-37) and faceoffs (13-11) and got eight saves from Bassett in goal.

Emala matched Palmer’s three-goal effort and Holman (2g, 2a) and Sankey (2g) both added multi-goal games for the Tar Heels, who also got 12 saves in goal from Burke. Keenan won 11-of-24 faceoffs, grabbed five ground balls and end it with his second goal of the season.

#8 Johns Hopkins (6-3) 2-1-4-3-0/10
#6 North Carolina (7-3) 4-1-3-2-1/11

Goals: J: Palmer-3, Coppersmith-2, Brown-2, Greeley, Benn, Ranagan. N:Emala-3, Holman-2, Sankey-2, Tutton, Bitter, Keenan, Creighton. Assists: J: Stanwick-2, Coppersmith, Greeley, Palmer. N: Holman-2, Kilpatrick-2, Tutton-2. Saves: J: Bassett-8. N: Burke-12. Shots: J-48. N-37. EMO: J: 1-for-3. N: 0-for-3. Attendance: 5,922.

Television:  ESPNU

The Game: Eighth-ranked Johns Hopkins (6-2) heads south to take on sixth-ranked North Carolina (6-3) in a key mid-season game.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins picked up a key victory last Saturday as the Blue Jays topped Virginia, 15-8, in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic. North Carolina has picked up two wins in the last week as the Tar Heels upset top-ranked Maryland, 10-8, last Saturday and beat Brown, 18-12, on Wednesday night.

Series History: Johns Hopkins and North Carolina are meeting for the 42nd time in a series that dates to a 16-9 Johns Hopkins win in 1977. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 24-17, although the Tar Heels have won five of the last six.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against North Carolina with an all-time record of 930-300-15 (.753). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

That’s 103 Games Over .500: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala picked up his 167th career win when JHU knocked off Virginia last week and he now stands at 167-64 overall. Included in that mark is a 144-47 record at JHU and a 23-17 record in three seasons as the head coach at Cornell.
Pietramala ranks second all-time in school history in career coaching victories as only Hall of Fame coach Bob Scott (158 wins from 1955-74) has more victories than Pietramala while patrolling the sidelines at Homewood.

Must be the Speech: There must be something to what Johns Hopkins head coachDave Pietramala says in the locker room that sparks the Blue Jays as Johns Hopkins holds decided scoring advantages in the first and third quarters through eight games. JHU has outscored the opposition 32-14 in the first quarter and 28-17 in the third. By contrast, the Blue Jays hold just a 23-15 scoring margin in the second quarter and an 24-22 advantage in the second quarter.

Balancing Act: Johns Hopkins counts eight players with five or more goals and 10 players with seven or more points through eight games. In all, 18 different players have found the back of the net for JHU and 21 players have at least one point.

The Key to Victory – Part I: With last week’s 15-8 win over Virginia, Johns Hopkins improved to 6-0 on the year when scoring in double figures. The Blue Jays are 0-2 when scoring fewer than 10 goals.

The Key to Victory – Part II: Johns Hopkins improved to 6-0 on the year when holding the opposition to less than 10 goals. On the flip side, JHU is 0-2 when allowing 10 goals or more.

EMO Clicking: The Johns Hopkins extra man unit has been on a roll of late as the group is 13-of-21 (.619) in the last four games and is now 21-of-38 (.553) on the year. Johns Hopkins currently ranks third in the nation in man-up offense Seven different players have scored at least one extra man goal for the Blue Jays with freshmanRyan Brown (8), sophomore Wells Stanwick (4) and junior Brandon Benn (3) leading the way. Brown’s eight extra man goals are already the most by a Johns Hopkins player since 2004, when Matt Rewkowski had 12 andConor Ford had eight.

Stanwick Breaks Out: Sophomore attackman Wells Stanwick continued his offensive roll last week against Virginia as he scored three goals and added one assist, the same totals he punched up at Syracuse the week before. He now has four straight games with four or more points to his credit and has accumulated 23 points in his last four games.
Stanwick boosted his totals to 18 goals and 13 assists on the year with his effort against UVA and he has already surpassed his goal (9) and point (23) totals from last season. He currently ranks ninth in the nation in points per game (4.43). Stanwick enjoyed the finest game of his career in the 19-9 win over Mount St. Mary’s as he totaled five goals and four assists for nine points. Previously he had never had more than two goals, three assists or four points in a game.
He followed that with a two-goal, four-assist effort in the win over UMBC and then added the three-goal, one-assist performance at SU.
Stanwick is the first Johns Hopkins player to post nine points in a game since Kyle Barrie had five goals and four assists in a 17-3 win over Navy in 2003. He is also the first JHU player with back-to-back six-point games since Dan Denihan did it against Villanova (8), Ohio State (6) and Maryland (7) during the 2000 season.

Poppleton Rolls On: With a 14-of-23 performance at Syracuse and a 4-of-6 effort against Virginia, senior faceoff specialist Mike Poppleton continued his strong work at the X for the Blue Jays.
Poppleton, who ranks first in the nation in faceoff winning percentage, is now 100-of-141 (.709) on the year and leads the team with 55 ground balls. He also improved to 290-of-451 (.645) in his career with his showing last week against Virginia.

Benn Leads Team in Goals: Junior Brandon Benn continues to pace the team in goals (20) and ranks second in points (21) after scoring once against Virginia last week. He has scored 50 of his 55 career goals since the start of the 2012 season and currently ranks eighth in the nation in goals per game (2.86).

Cattoni Emerging: Freshman Holden Cattoni played in two of the Blue Jays’ first three games, but didn’t register a point in those two outings.
That changed quickly as the hard-shooting lefty punched up back-to-back two-point games against Princeton and Mount St. Mary’s. He fired home a pair of goals against the Tigers and added one goal and one assist against the Mount. He scored an extra man goal against Syracuse and added one goal and one assist last week vs. Virginia and now has five goals and two assists for seven points on the year.

What Brown Does For Us: Freshman Ryan Brown has stepped in and made an immediate impact for the Blue Jays in his first year at Homewood. Brown has 11 goals and four assists through eight games and leads the team with eight extra-man goals. He has registered at least one point in seven of eight games this season and his eight extra-man goals are already the most by a Johns Hopkins player since 2004, when Matt Rewkowski (12) andConor Ford (8) led a potent JHU extra man unit.
Brown fired home the first hat trick of his career and added an assist for a career-high four points in last week’s 15-8 win over Virginia and now has five multi-point and three multi-goal games to his credit.

Sanders Breaks Through: Junior midfielder Rex Sanders entered the 2013 season with one career goal to his credit. He has already far surpassed that total as he has scored 11 goals through eight games. Sanders is tied for third on the team in goals (11) and tied for sixth in points (11) after punching up the first hat trick of his career last week against Virginia.

Bassett Shines Against Virginia, Among National Win Leaders: Senior Pierce Bassett enjoyed his finest game of the season last week against Virginia as he posted 16 saves and allowed just seven goals in 59:02. The 16 saves are tied for the second-highest total of his career.
Bassett currently boasts a .591 save percentage and an 8.18 goals against average. He ranks 13th in the nation in goals against average and fifth in save percentage. His 16-save performance boosted his career total to 433 saves, which moved him into a tie with Michael Gvozden for eighth place on JHU’s career saves list (433).
Bassett also enters this week’s game at North Carolina ranked second among active Division I goalies in career wins after picking up career win number 33 against UVA.

Durkin Fuels Defense: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala has the luxury of returning the nation’s top defensive player in senior co-captain Tucker Durkin, who has picked up right where he left off a year ago.
Durkin currently ranks third on the team in ground balls (18) and leads the team with 10 caused turnovers. Durkin is the anchor of a Johns Hopkins defense that ranks 15th nationally in scoring defense (8.50).

Scoring Droughts Abound: Despite the new rules in place this season that aim to quicken the pace (and thus increase scoring), the Johns Hopkins defense has been able to hold the opposition scoreless for long stretches this season. The Blue Jays held Virginia scoreless for a stretch of 31:25 midway through the game last week and Siena, Towson and Michigan each drew blanks of at least 15 minutes – all three had two droughts that lasted at least 13 minutes. Princeton was more productive in its win against JHU, but did have one scoring drought that covered more than 11 minutes, while Mount St. Mary’s went more than 18 minutes without a goal at one point and UMBC was held off the board for 24:04 to open the game and 13:01 later in the game.

State Rivalries: Without question the Blue Jays play one of the most difficult schedules in the nation and a big part of the schedule are the in-state rivalries the Blue Jays have. Including the recent win against UMBC, JHU is 59-7 (.894) against teams from Maryland under head coach Dave Pietramala.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays are ranked eighth in this week’s USILA Coaches Poll and 10th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll as well. The Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications Office uses the USILA Poll to represent JHU’s official ranking at the time of a game. Prior to falling out of the top 20 of the USILA Poll on April 26 and May 3, 2010 (JHU was receiving votes in both polls), the Blue Jays had been ranked in the top 20 in 367 consecutive polls dating back to the first poll in 1973.

More Poll Position: Including this week’s USILA Poll, there have been 403 weekly polls since the inception of the poll in 1973. Amazingly, JHU has been ranked in the top 20 in 401 of those 403 polls. The Blue Jays have been in the top 10 in 380 of the 403 and the top five in 299 of those 402. Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one 104 times since the poll debuted in 1973.

Palmer Among Career Active Assists Leaders: Senior attackman Zach Palmer enters this week’s game at North Carolina with 67 career assists. He currently ranks 13h among all active Division I players in career assists.

I’m Honored: The Blue Jays return four players who earned All-America honors last season in seniors Tucker Durkin, Pierce Bassett and John Ranagan and junior Rob Guida. Durkin earned First Team All-America honors on defense, while Ranagan and Guida grabbed second team honors at midfield. Bassett earned honorable mention honors in goal and he, Durkin and Ranagan are two-time All-America selections for the Blue Jays.

Odd, But True: Years ending in “3″ have been kind, and unkind, to the Blue Jays. Since the formation of the NCAA Tournament in 1971, Johns Hopkins has advanced to the NCAA Championship game three times (1973, 1983, 2003) and the NCAA Semifinals once (1993) in the years ending in three. JHU fell in each of those three title games with the three loses coming by a total of four goals. In each of those instances the Blue Jays subsequently won a national championship within two years.

Representing the Stars and Stripes – Part I: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala will serve as an assistant coach for the United States at at the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships in Denver Colorado. Pietramala will serve under Richie Meade, the head coach at Navy from 1995-2011.

Representing the Stars and Stripes – Part II: Johns Hopkins sophomore defender Rob Enright was a member of the United States Team that won the 2012 FIL U-19 World Championship in Turku, Finland. Enright is the 17th Johns Hopkins player to represent the United States at the U-19 Championships since the formation of the event in 1988.

Working Overtime: The Blue Jays have won their last three overtime games dating back to the 2011 season and are 19-9 all-time in overtime under head coach Dave Pietramala.

Streaking: In case you didn’t notice, Johns Hopkins is 26-7 in its last 33 games and 31-9 since the start of the 2011 season.

Honorable Mention: NBA-Washington Wizards @ Oklahoma City Thunder (Wednesday 8pm from Oklahoma City live on Comcast SportsNet), Washington Wizards @ Orlando Magic (Friday 7pm from Orlando live on Comcast SportsNet), Toronto Raptors @ Washington Wizards (Sunday 6pm from Verizon Center live on Comcast SportsNet); Boxing: Brandon Rios vs. Mike Alvarado (Saturday 10:15pm from Las Vegas live on HBO); Mixed Martial Arts: Bellator MMA (Thursday 10pm from Tampa, FL live on SpikeTV)

10. Florida Georgia Line (Saturday 9pm Rams Head Live); Jimmie’s Chicken Shack (Friday 6:30pm Recher Theatre); Cris Jacobs Band (Friday 8pm 8×10 Club), All Mighty Senators (Saturday 8pm 8×10 Club); The Pietasters (Thursday 7:30pm Ottobar); Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Tuesday 8pm Rams Head on Stage), Family Of The Year (Monday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); DJ ?uestlove (Saturday 11pm Howard Theatre); Gloriana (Tuesday 7pm 9:30 Club); Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell (Friday 8pm Strathmore); The Strokes “Comedown Machine” and Lil Wayne “I Am Not A Human Being II” available in stores/on iTunes (Tuesday)

Any day where I get to post a JCS video in T10BD should be considered a good day. No…it should be considered a freaking FANTASTIC day.

The Pietasters are fun. That was a sentence.

Every time Emmylou Harris comes to town I get excited because I know I’ll post the video of her doing “Long Black Veil” with Dave Matthews at a Johnny Cash tribute show.

I enjoy music made by The Strokes. Insert your own witty comment here.

9. Creed Bratton (Friday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); Aziz Ansari (Friday 7pm & 10:30pm D.A.R. Constitution Hall); Gary Gulman (Thursday-Saturday Magooby’s Joke House); Kevin Pollak (Thursday-Saturday DC Improv); “Lincoln” and “Killing Them Softly” available on Blu-Ray/DVD (Tuesday); “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” out in theaters (Friday); Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Presents Dragons (Wednesday-Sunday 1st Mariner Arena); Glenn Clark’s Easter plans (Sunday Time & Place TBA)

In a tradition unlike any other, this is the part of the year where I demand my fiancee make Cadbury Cream Eggs Benedict Sunday or risk this being our final Easter together.

(I actually have absolutely no idea if I would even enjoy this.)

We can all agree Staburst jelly beans >>>> Jelly Belly jelly beans, correct?

(Continued on Page 2…)

BALTIMORE, MD – One week after struggling to find a rhythm on both ends of the field, the 10th-ranked Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team found its stride early in Saturday’s game against 14th-ranked Virginia and posted its most impressive win of the season as the Blue Jays raced past the Cavaliers, 15-8, in the second game of the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic. Hopkins used a 9-0 run and held UVA scoreless for more than 31 minutes to fuel its third straight win in the series and return the Doyle Smith Cup to Homewood.

The Blue Jays (6-2) led 2-1 midway through the first quarter after Brandon Benn and Mike Poppleton scored goals just three seconds apart and Mark Cockerton answered less than 90 seconds later for Virginia. When the Cavaliers finally found the net again with less than six minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Blue Jays had stretched the 2-1 lead to 11-1.

Entering the game with 63% of its goals having been assisted, the Blue Jays won their individual battles during the game-deciding run as the first six goals in the spree were unassisted.

Sophomore Wells Stanwick and freshman Ryan Brown tallied first-quarter goals in the final 6:17 to push the lead to 4-1 and Lee Coppersmith and Drew Kennedy added strikes just four seconds apart before the second quarter was four minutes old to push the led to 6-1. A slow developing transition goal by Phil Castronova made it 7-1 and it looked like that score might hold until the half, but JHU struck twice in a seven-second span in the final minute of the second quarter to carry a 9-1 lead into the break.

Any hopes for a Virginia (5-4) comeback were dashed early in the third quarter when Stanwick completed his hat trick and Sanders added his second strike in a span of just 44 seconds to complete the 9-0 run and give JHU an 11-1 lead – the largest Johns Hopkins has held against Virginia since 1995, when the then second-ranked Blue Jays beat top-ranked Virginia, 22-13, at Homewood Field.

The Cavaliers, who were just 1-of-20 shooting in the first half, found their stride offensively late in the third quarter as a Nick O’Reilly strike and back-to-back goals by Cockerton trimmed the deficit to 11-4. Holden Cattoni’s opportunistic goal with 27 seconds left in the period made it 12-4 and Cockerton scored again just nine seconds later to make it 12-5 entering the final period.

The teams combined for six goals – three each – in the final 8:57 of the game to account for the 15-8 final. Charlie Streep scored two of Virginia’s three goals in the period, while Brown scored twice and Sanders once to complete their first career hat tricks for the Blue Jays.

Stanwick make it four straight games with four or more points as he added an assist to his three goals, while Brown added one assist to his three goals as well for a career-high four points. Sanders’ three goals boost his season total to 11 after he entered the season with just one in his first two years combined. In all, nine different players scored goals for JHU, which scored on 15 of its 44 shots. The Blue Jays were particularly sharp in the second quarter, when they scored on 5-of-12 shots; Virginia was 0-for-13 in that period as JHU took control.

While the 15 goals grabbed the headlines, the play of senior goalie Pierce Bassett was also strong. Bassett posted 16 saves – tied for the second-highest total of his career – including seven in the first half when Hopkins built its lead.

Cockerton, who entered the game ranked third nationally in goals per game, led the Cavaliers with four goals, while Streep scored twice and O’Reilly added two assist to his one goal. Virginia held advantages in shots (52-44), ground balls (32-30) and faceoffs (14-13), but the early Hopkins run was more than it could overcome.

#14 Virginia (5-4) 1-0-4-3/8
#10 Johns Hopkins (6-2) 4-5-3-3/15

Goals: V: Cockerton-4, Streep-2, O’Reilly, Emery. J: Stanwick-3, Sanders-3, Brown-3, Cattoni, Benn, Coppersmith, Poppleton, Kennedy, Castronova. Assists: V: O’Reilly-2, Van Arsdale, Harbeson. J: Brown, Cattoni, Greeley, Pellegrino, Stanwick. Saves: V: Heller-13. J: Bassett-16, Schneider-0. Shots: V-52. J-44. EMO: V: 1-for-3. J: 1-for-3. Attendance: 10,487.

Television:  ESPNU

The Game: Johns Hopkins (5-2) makes the 4.5-mile trip to downtown Baltimore and M&T Bank Stadium as the Blue Jays take on Virginia (5-3) in the second game of Inside Lacrosse’s Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic. Game time is tentatively set for 4:30 pm on Saturday, March 23. The JHU-UVA game will follow the Navy-Colgate game.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins slipped to 5-2 with a 13-8 loss at Syracuse last Saturday. Virginia dropped its second straight one-goal game as the Cavs fell to Ohio State, 11-10, at home.

Series History: Johns Hopkins and Virginia are meeting for the 86th time in a series that dates to a 9-0 JHU victory in 1904. The Blue Jays lead the series 56-28-1 and have won two straight against the Cavaliers.

Playing for the Cup: The winner of this week’s game between Johns Hopkins and Virginia will be presented with the Doyle Smith Cup, which goes to the winner of the annual regular season game between the two teams.

Doyle Smith arrived at Johns Hopkins from Corvallis, Oregon in 1962 and served as the manager of the lacrosse team throughout his tenure at Homewood. He graduated from Johns Hopkins Phi Beta Kappa and worked under the guidance of Hall of Fame coach Bob Scott before moving to the University of Virginia, where he served as the Director of Media Relations for the men’s lacrosse program for 30 years.

Doyle’s devotion to the sport of men’s lacrosse was remarkable. He served as the information director for the USILA for many years and was the official statistician at the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championships for over two decades. He also was responsible for the standardization and accuracy of men’s lacrosse statistics and became the face and voice of the USILA during his time at Virginia. In 2000, he became the first non-player, non-coach to be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame.

By a joint acclimation between Johns Hopkins University and the University of Virginia, it was established during the 2006 season that the regular-season game contested between the Blue Jays and the Cavaliers be known as the game for the Doyle Smith Cup.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against Virginia with an all-time record of 929-300-15 (.753). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

In the Face-Off Classic: Johns Hopkins is the only team to have played in every Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic since the event was formed in 2007. JHU will carry a 4-2 all-time record in the Face-Off Classic into this week’s game against Virginia. Below is a list of JHU’s all-time FOC results:

2007 – Princeton • W/7-6 (OT)
2008 – Princeton • W/14-9
2009 – Princeton • L/8-14
2010 – Princeton • L/10-11 (OT)
2011 – UMBC • W/16-5
2012 – UMBC • W/12-5

At M&T Bank Stadium: This week’s game against Virginia will be the 14th Johns Hopkins has played at M&T Bank Stadium. The Blue Jays are 8-5 all-time at the home of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.

JHU won all three of its games at M&T in 2007, including a 7-6 double-overtime win against Princeon in the Face-Off Classic and a 12-11 win against Duke in the NCAA Championship game. After dropping two of their first three games at M&T Bank Stadium in 2003 and 2004, the Blue Jays have won seven of their last 10 here. The 13 games JHU has played here have been equal parts nail-biter and equal parts blowout. Six of the 13 have been decided by two goals or less (including five one-goal affairs) and seven have been decided by five goals or more.

All-Time in NFL Stadiums: In addition to playing 13 previous games at M&T Bank Stadium, JHU has played seven other games in NFL stadiums in its history. JHU is 12-8 all-time in NFL stadiums with the 13 games at M&T accounting for 60% of the 20 all-time games in these stadiums. Below is a breakdown of JHU’s all-time record in the five different NFL venues the Blue Jays have played in:

M&T Bank Stadium (2003-04, 2007-) • 8-5
Lincoln Financial Field (2005) • 2-0
Gilette Stadium (2008) • 1-1
Met Life Stadium (2010-11) • 1-1
Houston Astrodome (1971) • 0-1

That’s 102 Games Over .500: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala picked up his 166th career win when JHU knocked off UMBC and he now stands at 166-64 overall. Included in that mark is a 143-47 record at JHU and a 23-17 record in three seasons as the head coach at Cornell.
Pietramala ranks second all-time in school history in career coaching victories as only Hall of Fame coach Bob Scott (158 wins from 1955-74) has more victories than Pietramala while patrolling the sidelines at Homewood.

Must be the Speech: There must be something to what Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala says in the locker room that sparks the Blue Jays as Johns Hopkins holds decided scoring advantages in the first and third quarters through seven games. JHU has outscored the opposition 28-13 in the first quarter and 25-13 in the third. By contrast, the Blue Jays hold just a 21-19 scoring margin in the fourth quarter and an 18-15 advantage in the second quarter.

Balancing Act: Johns Hopkins counts eight players with four or more goals and 10 players with four or more points through seven games. In all, 17 different players have found the back of the net for JHU and 20 players have at least one point.

EMO Clicking: The Johns Hopkins extra man unit connected on 5-of-6 chances against Mount St. Mary’s, 4-of-6 against UMBC, 3-of-6 against Syracuse and is now 20-of-35 (.571) on the year. Johns Hopkins currently ranks third in the nation in man-up offense.
Seven different players have scored at least one extra man goal for the Blue Jays with freshman Ryan Brown(7), sophomore Wells Stankwick (4) and junior Brandon Benn (3) leading the way. Brown’s seven extra man goals are already the most by a Johns Hopkins player since 2004, when Matt Rewkowski has 12 and Conor Fordhad eight.

Stanwick Breaks Out: Sophomore attackman Wells Stanwick continued his offensive roll at Syracuse as he scored three goals and had one assist against the Orange. Stanwick boosted his totals to 15 goals and 12 assists on the year with his effort at SU and he has already surpassed his goal (9) and point (23) totals from last season.
Stanwick enjoyed the finest game of his career in the 19-9 win over Mount St. Mary’s as he totaled five goals and four assists for nine points. Previously he had never had more than two goals, three assists or four points in a game.
He followed that with a two-goal, four-assist effort in the win over UMBC and the added the three-goal, one-assist performance at SU.
Stanwick is the first Johns Hopkins player to post nine points in a game since Kyle Barrie had five goals and four assists in a 17-3 win over Navy in 2003. He is also the first JHU player with back-to-back six-point games since Dan Denihan did it against Villanova (8), Ohio State (6) and Maryland (7) during the 2000 season.

Poppleton Rolls On: With a 14-of-23 performance at Syracuse, senior faceoff specialist Mike Poppleton continued his strong work at the X for the Blue Jays. Poppleton, who ranks first in the nation in faceoff winning percentage, is now 96-of-135 (.711) on the year and leads the team with 51 ground balls. He also improved to 286-of-445 (.643) in his career with his efforts last week at SU.

Benn Leads Team in Goals: Junior Brandon Benn continues to pace the team in goals (19) and ranks second in points (20) after scoring once at Syracuse last week. Benn’s one-goal showing at Syracuse brought to an end a five-game streak of scoring three goals or more. He is the first Johns Hopkins player with five straight hat tricks since Conor Ford turned the trick late in the 2004 season.

Cattoni Emerging: Freshman Holden Cattoni played in two of the Blue Jays’ first three games, but didn’t register a point in those two outings.
That changed quickly as the hard-shooting lefty punched up back-to-back two-point games against Princeton and Mount St. Mary’s. He fired home a pair of goals againt the Tigers and added one goal and one assist against the Mount. He scored an extra man goal against Syracuse and now has four goals and one assist for five points on the year.

What Brown Does For Us: Freshman Ryan Brown has stepped in and made an immediate impact for the Blue Jays. Brown has eight goals and three assists through seven games and leads the team with seven extra-man goals. He has registered at least one point in six of seven games this season and his seven extra-man goals are already the most by a Johns Hopkins player since 2004, when Matt Rewkowski (12) and Conor Ford (8) both topped that mark.

Sanders Breaks Through: Junior midfielder Rex Sanders entered the 2013 season with one career goal to his credit. He has already far surpassed that total as he has scored eight goals through seven games. Sanders is tied for fourth on the team in goals (8) and ranks eighth in points (8).

Bassett Solid Through Seven: Senior Pierce Bassett hails from Arizona, but the chill of the early season in Baltimore hasn’t slowed him as he currently boasts a .569 save percentage and an 8.37 goals against average. He ranks 12th in the nation in goals against average and 15th in save percentage. He posted 10 saves in the win against UMBC and became the 10th Johns Hopkins goalie to reach the 400-save mark in the process. He has 417 career saves to his credit – a mark that ranks 10th in school history.

Durkin Fuels Defense: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala has the luxury of returning the nation’s top defensive player in senior co-captain Tucker Durkin, who has picked up right where he left off a year ago. Durkin currently ranks third on the team in ground balls (17) and leads the team with nine caused turnovers. Durkin is the anchor of a Johns Hopkins defense that ranks 12th nationally in scoring defense (8.57).

Scoring Droughts Abound: Despite the new rules in place this season that aim to quicken the pace (and thus increasing scoring), the Johns Hopkins defense has been able to hold the opposition scoreless for long stretches this season.
Siena, Towson and Michigan each drew blanks of at least 15 minutes and all three had two droughts that lasted at least 13 minutes. Princeton was more productive in its win against JHU, but did have one scoring drought that covered more than 11 minutes, while Mount St. Mary’s went more than 18 minutes without a goal at one point and UMBC was held off the board for 24:04 to open the game and 13:01 later in the game.

A Game of Runs: In JHU’s five wins the Blue Jays have used a game-turning run to pull away. Against Princeton, the Blue Jays did have a 3-0 run in the second half before the Tigers pulled away for the victory, while a 6-2 run against Syracuse trimmed a 6-1 deficit to 8-7 before the Blue Jays ultimately fell.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays are ranked 10th in this week’s USILA Coaches Poll and 11th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll as well. The Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications Office uses the USILA Poll to represent JHU’s official ranking at the time of a game. Prior to falling out of the top 20 of the USILA Poll on April 26 and May 3, 2010 (JHU was receiving votes in both polls), the Blue Jays had been ranked in the top 20 in 367 consecutive polls dating back to the first poll in 1973.

More Poll Position: Including this week’s USILA Poll, there have been 402 weekly polls since the inception of the poll in 1973. Amazingly, JHU has been ranked in the top 20 in 400 of those 402 polls. The Blue Jays have been in the top 10 in 379 of the 402 and the top five in 299 of those 402. Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one 104 times since the poll debuted in 1973.

I’m Honored: The Blue Jays return four players who earned All-America honors last season in seniors Tucker Durkin, Pierce Bassett and John Ranagan and junior Rob Guida. Durkin earned First Team All-America honors on defense, while Ranagan and Guida grabbed second team honors at midfield. Bassett earned honorable mention honors in goal and he, Durkin and Ranagan are two-time All-America selections for the Blue Jays.

Odd, But True: Years ending in “3” have been kind, and unkind, to the Blue Jays. Since the formation of the NCAA Tournament in 1971, Johns Hopkins has advanced to the NCAA Championship game three times (1973, 1983, 2003) and the NCAA Semifinals once (1993) in the years ending in three. JHU fell in each of those three title games with the three loses coming by a total of four goals. In each of those instances the Blue Jays subsequently won a national championship within two years.

Representing the Stars and Stripes – Part I: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala will serve as an assistant coach for the United States at at the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships in Denver Colorado. Pietramala will serve under Richie Meade, the head coach at Navy from 1995-2011.

Representing the Stars and Stripes – Part II: Johns Hopkins sophomore defender Rob Enright was a member of the United States Team that won the 2012 FIL U-19 World Championship in Turku, Finland. Enright is the 17th Johns Hopkins player to represent the United States at the U-19 Championships since the formation of the event in 1988.

Working Overtime: The Blue Jays have won their last three overtime games dating back to the 2011 season and are 19-9 all-time in overtime under head coach Dave Pietramala.

Streaking: In case you didn’t notice, Johns Hopkins is 25-7 in its last 32 games and 30-9 since the start of the 2011 season.

Honorable Mention: Auto Racing-NASCAR Auto Club 400 (Sunday 3pm from Fontana, CA live on FOX), IndyCar Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg (Sunday 12pm from St. Petersburg, FL live on NBC Sports Network); Tennis: ATP Tour WTA Tour Sony Open (Friday 3pm & 8pm Saturday-Monday 11am from Miami live on Tennis Channel); Mixed Martial Arts: Bellator MMA (Thursday 10pm from Lewiston, ME live on SpikeTV); Golf: PGA Tour Arnold Palmer Invitational (Thursday & Friday 3pm live on Golf Channel Saturday & Sunday 12:30pm live on Golf Channel 2:30pm live on NBC. All golf from Orlando); LPGA Kia Classic (Thursday & Friday 6:30pm Saturday & Sunday 7pm from Carlsbad, CA live on Golf Channel)

10. Sigur Ros (Sunday 7:30pm Patriot Center); Aaron Lewis (Friday 9pm Rams Head Live); Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk (Sunday 8pm Baltimore Soundstage); Rockapella (Thursday 8pm Rams Head on Stage), Shovels & Rope (Saturday 8:30pm Rams Head on Stage), Kenny Wayne Shepherd (Monday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (Thursday 9pm Rams Head Center Stage); Anberlin (Saturday 7pm Fillmore Silver Spring), Garbage (Sunday 8pm Fillmore Silver Spring); Bad Religion (Friday 8pm 9:30 Club); Mint Condition (Tuesday & Wednesday 7:30pm Birchmere), Travis Tritt (Monday 7:30pm Birchmere); Orgy (Thursday 7pm House of Rock); Kevin Eubanks (Thursday-Sunday Blues Alley); Justin Timberlake “The 20/20 Experience” available in stores/on iTunes (Tuesday)

I want to be in Annapolis Saturday night for Shovels & Rope. Get me there. NOW.

Has Anberlin had more good songs since this one? Not that it matters, this one was funking amazing…

I honestly couldn’t tell you what my favorite Garbage song was. I just know how much I love Shirley Manson…

Justin Timberlake…I just…I don’t even know…oh my…

9. Mike Epps (Friday 8pm 1st Mariner Arena); Demetri Martin (Saturday 6pm & 10pm 9:30 Club); Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus (Thursday-Sunday Verizon Center); Flip Orley (Wednesday-Sunday DC Improv); “The Hobbit“, “Zero Dark Thirty“, “This is 40” and “Les Miserables” available on Blu-Ray/DVD (Tuesday); “Admission“, “The Croods” and “Olympus Has Fallen” out in theaters (Friday); Beer, Bourbon & BBQ Festival (Friday & Saturday Timonium Fairgrounds); Baltimore Greek Week (Tuesday-Sunday throughout Baltimore)

I’d love to tell you more about my past experiences at the Beer Bourbon and BBQ Festival, but we both know I don’t remember much about any of it. I did some sort of fighting that involved putting a massive bubble on my head and then attacking my friend. I have no recollection of how it went and I’m reasonably certain I got a concussion.

It was the best time ever. I went back through my phone to find any photos I may have taken and this is the only one I could find…

But you know what? It’s fairly appropriate.

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