The Game: Johns Hopkins welcomes Princeton to Homewood Field for the 83rd meeting in one of college lacrosse’s great rivalries.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins improved to 3-0 with a 17-8 win over Michigan last Saturday. Princeton opened its season with a 10-7 road victory at Hofstra on the same day.

Series History: This week’s game will be the 83rd between Johns Hopkins and Princeton. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 55-27 and grabbed a 10-8 win at Princeton last season to snap a three-game Princeton winning streak in the series.

A Top 12 Matchup: This week’s Johns Hopkins-Princeton game pits two teams ranked in the top 12 in both the USILA Coaches and Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Polls. JHU checks in at number three in both polls, while the Tigers are ranked 12th in both. The JHU-Princeton game is one of seven games this week that pit teams both ranked in the top 20.

Marching On: The calendar flips to March for this week’s game against Princeton and JHU will carry a six-game winning streak in the month of March into the contest. JHU last lost a game in March in 2011, when the Blue Jays dropped a 5-4 double-overtime decision at then top-ranked Syracuse.

Program Ties – Part I: Princeton sophomore attackman Brendan DeTommaso is the son of John DeTommaso, a three-time First Team All-American defenseman during his career at Johns Hopkins from 1983-86. John DeTommaso helped JHU to a pair of NCAA Championships during his career at Homewood and was a senior when current Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala was a freshman.

Program Ties – Part II: Princeton assistant coach Greg Raymond played at Johns Hopkins from 2001-05, was a three-time captain for the Blue Jays (2003-05) and helped Hopkins an undefeated record (16-0) and the 2005 National Championship as a senior.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against Princeton with an all-time record of 927-298-15 (.754). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

That’s 102 Games Over .500: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala picked up his 164th career win with last week’s win over Michigan and improved his record to 164-62 with the victory. Included in that mark is a 141-45 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.

Quick Starts: Johns Hopkins has been especially strong in the first and third quarter of its three games this season. The Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 15-2 in the first quarter and 11-3 in the third. By contrast, JHU holds a slim scoring margin in the fourth quarter (10-7) and is even in the second (8-8).

Balancing Act: Johns Hopkins counts seven players with four or more goals and nine players with four or more points through three games. In all, 12 different players have found the back of the net for JHU and 16 players have at least one point.

Among the Leaders: The NCAA issued its first national statistical report this week and Johns Hopkins is well represented among the national leaders. JHU ranks in the top 10 in the nation in eight different team categories and three individual categories.

Below is a look at JHU’s top-10 statistical national rankings:

Team Categories:
Faceoff Win Percentage (1st • .750)
Winning Percentage (T1st • 1.000)
Scoring Defense (3rd • 6.67)
Scoring Margin (3rd • +8.0)
Assists Per/Game (4th • 9.0)
Points Per/Game (5th • 23.67)
Scoring Offense (6th • 14.67)
Ground Balls/Game (9th • 37.0)

Individual Categories:
Faceoff Win Percentage (1st • Mike Poppleton • .800)
Goals Against Average (3rd • Pierce Bassett • 6.34)
Save Percentage (4th • Pierce Bassett • .667)

What Brown Does For Us: Freshman Ryan Brown has stepped in and made an immediate impact for the Blue Jays. Brown has four goals and two assists through three games and leads the team with three extra-man goals. He scored two goals and added an assist in the win last week against Michigan and has scored in all three games thus far.

Sanders Breaks Through: Junior midfielder Rex Sanders entered the 2013 season with one career goal to his credit. He’s needed just three games to surpass that total as he has scored five goals in wins vs. Siena, Towson and Michigan. Sanders is tied for second on the team in goals (5) and ranks fifth in points (5).

Poppleton Strong at the X: Senior Mike Poppleton enjoyed one of the great individual games by a Johns Hopkins faceoff specialist in last week’s win over Michigan.
Poppleton won all 14 faceoffs he took in the first half and finished with a 17-of-18 (.944) showing to go along with 12 ground balls. The 17 wins are the second-highest total of his career.
Poppleton has won 40-of-50 (.800) faceoffs through three games and has a team-high 23 ground balls to his credit. He currently leads the nation in faceoff winning percentage and ranks 12th in ground balls per game (7.67).

Bassett Solid Through Three: Senior Pierce Bassett hails from Arizona, but the chill of February in Baltimore didn’t slow him as he currently boasts a .667 save percentage and a 6.34 goals against average. He ranks third in the nation in goals against average and fourth in save percentage. He enters this week’s game vs. Princeton just 11 saves shy of 400 for his career. Only nine Johns Hopkins goalies in school history have amassed 400 or more saves.

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 (11) and leads the team with eight caused turnovers. Durkin counts almost half of JHU’s total caused turnovers (19) to his credit and is the anchor of a Johns Hopkins defense that ranks third nationally in scoring defense (6.67).

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 each of its three opponents scoreless for long stretches. Siena, Towson and Michigan have each drawn blanks of at least 15 minutes and all three have had two droughts that lasted at least 13 minutes.

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.

Did You Know That …
… Pierce Bassett ranks 10th in school history with 389 saves and sports a 28-7 record in his last 35 starts?

… Brandon Benn has scored at least one goal in 18 of 19 games since the start of the 2012 season and has 11 multi-goal games to his credit during that time?

… Tucker Durkin became the first JHU junior to win the William C. Schmeisser Award as the nation’s top defenseman since Dave Pietramala in 1988.

… Zach Palmer totaled 27 goals and 26 assists last season to become just the eighth JHU player since 1980 with 25 goals and assists in the same season.

… Rex Sanders scored twice in the win over Siena, once against Towson and twice more against Michigan. Prior to this, Sanders had scored one goal in six career games played.

Striking the First Blow: Johns Hopkins scored on its first (6x) or second (6x) shot of the game a total of 12 times in 16 games last season. The Blue Jays were back at it again in the win at Towson as Wells Stanwickscored on JHU’s second shot of the game. JHU scored on its third shot of the game against both Siena and Michigan.

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 23-5 in its last 28 games and 28-7 since the start of the 2011 season.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays are ranked third in this week’s USILA Coaches Poll and rank third 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 399 weekly polls since the inception of the poll in 1973. Amazingly, JHU has been ranked in the top 20 in 397 of those 399 polls. The Blue Jays have been in the top 10 in 376 of the 399 and the top five in 298 of those 399. Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one 104 times since the poll debuted in 1973.

Palmer in Rare Company: Senior attackman Zach Palmer led Johns Hopkins in scoring with 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points last season. With that effort, Palmer became the first player at Johns Hopkins with 25 goals and 25 assists in the same season since 2007, when Paul Rabil totaled 27 goals and 26 assists. The 25-25 feat is rare at Johns Hopkins as Palmer is just the eighth Blue Jay to reach this mark since 1980 (the eight have turned the trick a combined 13 times).

Palmer Among Career Active Assists Leaders: Senior attackman Zach Palmer notched three assists in the win against Michigan to run his career assist total to 63. He is currently tied for eighth among all active Division I players in career assists.

BALTIMORE, MD – The fourth-ranked Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team got 11 goals and nine assists from its starting attack and first midfield and senior Mike Poppleton won 17-of-18 faceoffs to fuel a 17-8 win over visiting Michigan at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. The win improves Hopkins’ record to 3-0, while the Wolverines slip to 0-3. The meeting was the first between Johns Hopkins and Michigan in men’s lacrosse.

The Blue Jays took all the drama out of the game with an 8-0 run that turned an early 1-0 deficit into an 8-1 lead early in the second quarter. Michigan was never closer than six the rest of the way as Poppleton’s effort on faceoffs repeatedly gave the Blue Jays possession throughout the game.

Junior Brandon Benn fueled the 8-1 run as he scored all three of his goals on the day during the spree, which took less than 13 minutes. Six different players scored during the run for Johns Hopkins, which scored the final five goals of the run in a span of less than three minutes.

The Wolverines halted the Blue Jay rally early in the second half as Dan Kinek and David Joseph sandwiched goals around the second tally of the day by JHU’s Zach Palmer, but the Blue Jay defense held UM to just one goal over the next 23 minutes as senior goalie Pierce Bassett recorded eight of his 10 saves in the second and third quarters.

Five different players combined to score JHU’s six goals in the second half with senior attackman John Kaestner notching both of his goals on the day during the second half.

Poppleton, who won all 14 of his faceoffs in the first half, added 12 ground balls to his 17-of-18 showing at the X. The 17 faceoffs won are the second-highest total of his career.

Palmer led a balanced scoring attack with two goals and three assists, while Benn (3g, 1a) and Kaestner (2g, 2a) added four-point efforts for the Blue Jays. In all, seven different players recorded multi-goal games for the Blue Jays and eight different players registered two points or more.

Kyle Jackson and Peter Kraus paced the Wolverines with two goals each and Joseph added one goal and one assist. Freshman goalie Gerald Logan posted 12 saves in goal for Michigan, but the Wolverines couldn’t overcome the decided possession advantage for the Blue Jays in their first trip to Homewood Field.

Johns Hopkins will return to action on Friday, March 1 when the Blue Jays welcome Princeton to Homewood Field. Faceoff is set for 5:00 pm.

The Game: Johns Hopkins welcomes Michigan to Homewood Field for the first-ever meeting between the two teams. This is the second of seven staight games away from home for UM, which won’t play at home again until March 23, when defending national champion Loyola visits Ann Arbor.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins improved to 2-0 on the year with a 12-6 win at Towson last Saturday night. Michigan slipped to 0-2 with a 12-6 loss at Bellarmine.

Series History: As noted above, this is the first-ever meeting between Johns Hopkins and Michigan in men’s lacrosse.

JHU, Michigan Among Top Five: Among NCAA Division I men’s team sports whose national champion is determined by a tournament, Johns Hopkins has the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship and Michigan has the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Championship.

Consecutive NCAA Tournament Appearancs (Active)
• By Division I Men’s Team Sports •
1. Johns Hopkins (Lacrosse) – 41 (1972)
2. Miami of Florida (Baseball) – 40 (1973)
3. Virginia (Soccer) – 32 (1981)
4. Kansas (Basketball) – 23 (1990)
5. Michigan (Hockey) – 22 (1991)

Johns Hopkins-Michigan Rank One-Two: Did you know that Johns Hopkins University performed $2.1 billion in medical, science, and engineering research in fiscal 2011, making it the leading U.S. academic institution in total research and development spending for the 33rd year in a row?
This week’s opponent, The University of Michigan, ranked second in R&D spending in FY2011 at $1.27 billion (data for 2011 is the most recent available).

In February: Johns Hopkins has played just 18 all-time games in the month of February and the Blue Jays are 15-3 in those 18 games. The Blue Jays have currently won 11 straight games played in the month of February.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against Michigan with an all-time record of 926-298-15 (.753). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

That’s 101 Games Over .500: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala picked up his 163rd career win with last week’s win over Towson and improved his record to 163-62 with the victory. Included in that mark is a 140-45 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.

Quick Starts: Johns Hopkins has been especially strong in the first and third quarter of its two games this season. The Blue Jays have outscored the opposition 8-1 in both of those quarters. By contrast, JHU has been outscored 6-4 in the second qurter and holds a 7-4 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Balanced Offense For the Jays: The Johns Hopkins offense has been fairly balanced through two games as JHU counts eight players with two or more goals and 10 players with two points or more.
Leading the way for the Blue Jays have been attackmen Brandon Benn and Wells Stanwick, who have combined for 11 goals and two assists.
Benn punched up his second straight hat trick with a four-goal effort at Towson, while Stanwick matched his career high for goals (2) and punched up a personal best four points in the win.

What Brown Can Do For Us: Freshman Ryan Brown has stepped in and made an immediate impact for the Blue Jays. Brown has scored an extra man goal in both games thus far and has an assist to his credit as well. He is tied for first on the team in extra-man goals and tied for fifth in points.

Sanders Breaks Through: Junior midfielder Rex Sanders entered the 2013 season with one career goal to his credit. It’s taken just two games for him to triple his previous career output as he scored twice in the season opening win against Siena and then added another goal in the win last week at Towson.
Sanders is tied for third on the team in goals (3) and tied for fifth in points (3).

Poppleton Strong at the X: Senior Mike Poppleton enjoyed a solid season a year ago as JHU’s primary faceoff specialist as he won 167-of-271 (.616) and led the team with 78 ground balls.
Poppleton has picked up right where he left off a year ago as he has won 23-of-32 (.719) faceoffs and leads the team with 11 ground balls.

Bassett Solid Through Two: Senior Pierce Bassett hails from Arizona, but the chill of February in Baltimore hasn’t slowed him thus far as he currently boasts a .667 save percentage and a 6.22 goals against average.

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 is currently tied for second on the team in ground balls (9) and leads the team with eight caused turnovers. Durkin counts almost half of JHU’s total caused turnovers (17) to his credit.

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 both Siena and Towson scoreless for long stretches. The Blue Jays held the Saints off the board for 14:43 at one point and 17:03 at another and then kept the Tigers scoreless for the first 16:40 of the game and 26:59 from the second to the fourth quarter.

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.

Did You Know That …
… Pierce Bassett ranks 10th in school history with 379 saves and sports a 27-7 record in his last 34 starts?

… Brandon Benn has scored at least one goal in 17 of 18 games since the start of the 2012 season and has 10 multi-goal games to his credit during that time?

… Tucker Durkin became the first JHU junior to win the William C. Schmeisser Award as the nation’s top defenseman since Dave Pietramala in 1988.

… Zach Palmer totaled 27 goals and 26 assists last season to become just the eighth JHU player since 1980 with 25 goals and assists in the same season.

… Rex Sanders scored twice in the win over Siena and once against Towson. Prior to this, Sanders had scored one goal in six career games played.

Striking the First Blow: Johns Hopkins scored on its first (6x) or second (6x) shot of the game a total of 12 times in 16 games last season. The Blue Jays were back at it again in the win at Towson as Wells Stanwick scored on JHU’s second shot of the game.

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 22-5 in its last 27 games and 27-7 since the start of the 2011 season.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays are ranked fourth in this week’s USILA Coaches Poll and rank fourth 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 398 weekly polls since the inception of the poll in 1973. Amazingly, JHU has been ranked in the top 20 in 396 of those 398 polls. The Blue Jays have been in the top 10 in 375 of the 398 and the top five in 297 of those 398. Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one 104 times since the poll debuted in 1973.

Palmer in Rare Company: Senior attackman Zach Palmer led Johns Hopkins in scoring with 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points last season. With that effort, Palmer became the first player at Johns Hopkins with 25 goals and 25 assists in the same season since 2007, when Paul Rabil totaled 27 goals and 26 assists. The 25-25 feat is rare at Johns Hopkins as Palmer is just the eighth Blue Jay to reach this mark since 1980 (the eight have turned the trick a combined 13 times).

Palmer Among Career Active Assists Leaders: Senior attackman Zach Palmer notched a pair of assists in the win at Towson to run his career assist total to 60. He is currently tied for eighth among all active Division I players in career assists. Below is a look at the top 10 career active leaders in assists nationwide.

TOWSON, MD – Visiting Johns Hopkins got eight goals and four assists from its starting attack unit and held host Towson scoreless for nearly 27 minutes midway through the game as the fourth-ranked Blue Jay lacrosse team posted a 12-6 victory over the Tigers Saturday night at Unitas Stadium. The win is the 18th straight for the Blue Jays against the Tigers and improves Hopkins’ record to 2-0 on the year. Towson slips to 0-2 with the loss.

The Blue Jays scored the final two goals of the first half to give themselves a 6-3 halftime lead and then added the first four of the second half to push out to what proved to be an insurmountable 10-3 lead early in the fourth quarter.

All three of the Blue Jays’ goals in the third quarter came in the first five minutes of the period as Hopkins seized control of what had been a tight game. An unassisted goal by Brandon Benn less than three minutes into the second half was followed less than a minute later by an extra-man goal from freshman Ryan Brown. When junior midfielder Rex Sanders ripped a shot home less than 90 seconds later after a beautiful split dodge at the top of the box, the Blue Jays had doubled their three-goal halftime lead.

Benn capped a four-goal night with an extra-man goal of his own just 22 seconds into the fourth quarter to make it 10-3, but Towson goal back-to-back goals from Greg Cuccinello and Robby Zoppo in a 36-second span to slice the deficit to 10-5.

The Tigers would get no closer than five the rest of the way as Phil Castronova and Zach Palmer sandwiched goals around an extra-man goal by Cory Dobyns in the final seven minutes to account for the 12-6 final.

The third quarter surge matched a game-opening spree by the Blue Jays as sophomore Wells Stanwick helped stake JHU to a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter as he had a hand in all three JHU strikes in the opening 15 minutes. He needed less than a minute to open the scoring as senior John Ranagan found him cutting across the crease and he went behind the back to give JHU a 1-0 lead just 53 seconds into the game.

The 1-0 lead held for more than eight minutes before Stanwick came from behind the goal and beat Towson goalie Andrew Wascavage from in tight to make it 2-0 and then completed his three-point first quarter with a nifty pass to the crease that Benn one-timed home to give the Blue Jays the three-goal lead.

The Tigers grabbed some momentum and trimmed the deficit to 4-3 with a 3-1 run in the first six minutes of the second quarter. An extra-man goal from Dobyns put the Tigers on the board with 13:19 remaining in the period, but senior Palmer answered with JHU’s first man down goal since 2008 less than a minute later to push the lead back to three.

Two-thirds of that three-goal lead were gone less than three minutes later as Cuccinello and Thomas DiNapoli scored unassisted goals from virtually the same spot on the field just to JHU goalie Pierce Bassett’s right to make it 4-3 with more than nine minutes remaining in the opening half.

The Blue Jays pushed the lead back to three by halftime as Stanwick fed Benn for his second of the game and junior Rob Guida blew a laser past Wascavage with the Blue Jays man-up to make it 6-3 at the half.

The lead went from three to six less than five minutes into the second half as JHU used a 6-0 run bridging the second and third quarters to put the game away. The Tigers were held scoreless from the 9:32 mark of the second quarter until Cuccinello’s goal early in the fourth.

Stanwick’s four points (2g, 2a) are a career-high, while Benn’s four goals were one shy of his career high and mark his sixth career hat trick. Palmer rounded out JHU’s trio of starting attackmen with four points on two goals and two assists.

Senior Mike Poppleton was again strong on faceoffs as he won 12-of-17 and grabbed six ground balls, while Bassett posted 12 saves in goal for the Blue Jays, who held advantages in shots (40-38) and ground balls (32-24).

Dobyns and Cuccinello led Towson with two goals apiece and Wascavage posted 13 saves in goal, but the Tigers solved Bassett only three times in even strength situations and the mid-game drought was more than they could overcome.

#4 Johns Hopkins (2-0) 3-3-3-3/12
Towson (0-2) 0-3-0-3/6

Goals: J:Benn-4, Stanwick-2, Palmer-2, Sanders, Brown, Castronova, Guida. T: Cuccinello, Dobyns, Zoppo, DeNapoli. Assists: J: Palmer, Ranagan, Stanwick, Guida. T: Mabus-2, Hodgson, Zoppo. Saves: J: Bassett-12. T: Wascavage-13. Shots: J-40. T-38. EMO: J: 3-for-4. T: 3-for-5. Attendance: 1,687.

The Game: Johns Hopkins makes its shortest road trip of the season as the Blue Jays travel five miles north to Towson to take on the Tigers at Unitas Stadium.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins picked up a 15-6 win over Siena in its season opener last Friday (Feb. 8). On the same day, the Tigers suffered a 9-7 season-opening loss at High Point.

Series History: Johns Hopkins and Towson are meeting for the 41st time in a series that dates to a 15-8 Johns Hopkins win on March 27, 1976. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 37-3 and have won 17 consecutive games against hte Tigers.

Check the Calendar: This year’s season opener against Siena was the earliest game played in the history of the Blue Jay lacrosse program. In fact, this week’s game against the Tigers will be the second-earliest game in school history as prior to this season the earliest game in school history was played on February 17, 2012, when the Blue Jays knocked off Towson, 12-6.

In February: Johns Hopkins has played just 17 all-time games in the month of February and the Blue Jays are 14-3 in those 17 games. The Blue Jays have currently won 10 straight games played in the month of February.

For Openers: Johns Hopkins improved to 11-2 under head coach Dave Pietramala in season-openers with last week’s 15-6 win over Siena.

More Openers: Johns Hopkins is 7-5 in its first road game of a season under head coach Dave Pietramala. JHU has won its last two road openers.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against Towson with an all-time record of 925-298-15 (.753). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

Program Ties: Towson University head coach Shawn Nadelen played at Johns Hopkins from 1998-2001 and was a senior captain on Dave Pietramala’s first team at JHU. Johns Hopkins assistant coach Dave Allan, who is in his second stint on Pietramala’s staff, spent the 2011 season as an assistant coach at Towson, where he worked with Nadelen, who was an assistant at Towson at the time.

Teacher vs. Pupil: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala has coached numerous games against coaches he worked under (Tony Seaman, Dave Cottle), played with at JHU (Seth Tierney, Brian Voelker, Scott Marr) and played under (Don Zimmerman, Bill Tierney), but Shawn Nadelen is the only one of his former Johns Hopkins players that he has ever coached against. The two met for the first time last season when JHU topped the Tigers, 12-6.

That’s 100 Games Over .500: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala picked up his 162nd career win with last week’s win over Siena and improved his record to 162-62 with the victory. Included in that mark is a 139-45 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.

It’s Been a While, Part I: Johns Hopkins punched up 15 goals in the win against Siena last week. That’s the most goals JHU has scored in a season opener since 1995, when the Blue Jays topped defending national champion Princeton, 15-14.

It’s Been a While, Part II: Johns Hopkins’ 15 goals came on 58 shots in last week’s win over Siena. The 58 shots mark the first time JHU has taken 50 or more shots since May 14, 2005, when the Blue Jays took 52 shots in a 22-6 win over Marist in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In addition, the 58 shots are the most by a Johns Hopkins team since March 9, 2004, when JHU took 61 in a 17-6 win over Albany.

Reviewing the New Rules: There are some new rules in place in college lacrosse this season, most notably the addition of a shot clock in a stall situation and a time-serving penalty on the third faceoff violation in one half against one team. In JHU’s win over Siena, neither team was called for stalling and neither team committed three FO violations in one half. Both teams were called for three FO violations in the game, but not in one half.

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.

Did You Know That …
… Pierce Bassett ranks 10th in school history with 367 saves and sports a 26-7 record in his last 33 starts?

… Brandon Benn has scored at least one goal in 16 of 17 games since the start of the 2012 season and has eight multi-goal games to his credit during that time?

… Tucker Durkin became the first JHU junior to win the William C. Schmeisser Award as the nation’s top defenseman since Dave Pietramala in 1988.

… Zach Palmer totaled 27 goals and 26 assists last season to become just the eighth JHU player since 1980 with 25 goals and assists in the same season.

… Rex Sanders scored twice in last week’s win over Siena. Prior to last week’s game, Sanders had scored one goal in six career games played.

Striking the First Blow: Johns Hopkins scored on its first (6x) or second (6x) shot of the game a total of 12 times in 16 games last season.

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 21-5 in its last 26 games and 26-7 since the start of the 2011 season.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays are tied for fourth in the USILA Preseason Coaches Poll and rank fifth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. 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 year’s Preseason USILA Poll, there have been 397 weekly polls since the inception of the poll in 1973. Amazingly, JHU has been ranked in the top 20 in 395 of those 397 polls. The Blue Jays have been in the top 10 in 374 of the 397 and the top five in 296 of those 397. Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one 104 times since the poll debuted in 1973.

Palmer in Rare Company: Senior attackman Zach Palmer led Johns Hopkins in scoring with 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points last season. He ran his career totals to 59 goals and 56 assists for 115 points with his effort a year ago.
Palmer is the first player at Johns Hopkins with 25 goals and 25 assists in the same season since 2007, when Paul Rabil totaled 27 goals and 26 assists. The 25-25 feat is rare at Johns Hopkins as Palmer is just the eighth Blue Jay to reach this mark since 1980 (the eight have turned the trick a combined 13 times).

Opening Face-Off
The Tigers face the No. 4 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays on Saturday, February 16 at 7 p.m. in Unitas Stadium. Towson is 0-1 after a 9-7 loss at High Point on February 8. Johns Hopkins is 1-0 after a 15-6 home win over Siena last Saturday. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and the game can be heard live on the Towson Sports Network on www.towsontigers.com with Spiro Morekas and Hunter Lochte calling the action.

Updating the Tigers
The Tigers traveled to High Point and dropped a 9-7 decision in their season opener Friday, Feb. 8 at Vert Stadium. Sophomore Cory Dobyns scored his first four goals as a Tiger, including two man-up tallies. Towson also got goals from Thomas DeNapoli, Andrew Hodgson, and Matt Hughes.

Scouting the Blue Jays
Johns Hopkins opened 2013 with a 15-6 win over Siena on Friday, Feb. 8 at home. Eight different Blue Jays scored for JHU, including Brandon Benn and John Ranagan, who each posted hat tricks. Ranagan added an assist for four points. The Jays outshot the Saints 58-26 and outdueled them on ground balls 39-17. Johns Hopkins scored five goals in the first quarter and four in both the third and fourth quarters for the win.

Towson-Johns Hopkins Series History
The Tigers and Blue Jays first met in 1976, with JHU taking a 15-8 win home to Charles Street. Since then, the Jays have taken a commanding 37-3 lead in the all-time series. Towson’s last victory came in 1996, a 13-12 decision at Homewood Field. Hopkins has won the last 17 straight. 

Towson vs. Johns Hopkins Facts and Figures

The Game: Johns Hopkins welcomes Siena to Homewood Field for the season opener for both teams. This will be the second time the teams have met in the first game of a season (2009).

Series History: Johns Hopkins and Siena are meeting for the fifth time in a series that dates back to 2009. All five meetings have taken place at Homewood Field and the Blue Jays have won each of the previous four meetings. Every meeting between the two teams has taken place in February.

Check the Calendar: This year’s season opener against Siena will be the earliest game played in the history of the Blue Jay lacrosse program. Previously, the earliest game in school history was played on February 17, 2012 when the Blue Jays knocked off Charles Street rival Towson, 12-6.

In February: Johns Hopkins has played just 16 all-time games in the month of February and the Blue Jays are 13-3 in those 16 games. The Blue Jays have currently won nine straight games played in the month of February.

For Openers: Johns Hopkins is 10-2 under head coach Dave Pietramala in season-openers and close calls have been the norm as six of the 12 games have been decided by three goals or less.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against Siena with an all-time record of 924-298-15 (.753). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins closed a successful 2012 season with an overall record of 12-4 and the program’s 41st consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

Program Ties: Lacrosse is a close-knit sport and it doesn’t take much to tie two teams together when they play, but Johns Hopkins and Siena are tied in a much different way this season.

Did you know that Johns Hopkins freshman Derrick Kihembo’s father ran cross country at Siena and is a member of the Saints’ Hall of Fame? His dad, Joe Rukanshagiza, was a four-time All-American at Siena (track & cross country) and the 1975 NCAA College Division Champion in the 5,000-meter run.

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.

Welcome Back: Head coach Dave Pietramala welcomes back eight starters from last season’s team, which posted a 12-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. Of note…
• The Blue Jays return two starters on attack - Zach Palmer and Brandon Benn - who combined for 57 goals and 33 assists last season.
• JHU’s entire first midfield returns with seniors John Ranagan and John Greeley and junior Rob Guida all back in the fold. This trio totaled 40 goals and 25 assists despite Greeley missing the final four games of the season.
• Seniors Tucker Durkin and Chris Lightner return on close defense after they started all 16 games together a year ago.
• Senior goalie Pierce Bassett returns after grabbing his second All-America nod last season. He finished seventh nationally with a 7.47 goals against average in 2012.

Did You Know That …
… Pierce Bassett ranks 10th in school history with 355 saves and sports a 25-7 record in his last 32 starts?

… Brandon Benn scored at least one goal in 15 of 16 games last season and had eight multi-goal games to his credit?

… Phil Castronova returns to the lineup after missing the 2012 season? He totaled four goals, three assists and 42 ground balls as a SSDM as a freshman in 2011.

… Tucker Durkin became the first JHU junior to win the William C. Schmeisser Award as the nation’s top defenseman since Dave Pietramala in 1988.

… Zach Palmer totaled 27 goals and 26 assists last season to become just the eighth JHU player since 1980 with 25 goals and assists in the same season.

Striking the First Blow: Johns Hopkins scored on its first (6x) or second (6x) shot of the game a total of 12 times in 16 games last season.

Career Win Number 150: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala picked up career win number 150 with the 12-6 victory vs. Towson in the 2012 season opener. He now sports an all-time record of 161-62 (.722), including a 138-45 (.754) record at Johns Hopkins. He 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.

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 20-5 in its last 25 games and 25-7 since the start of the 2011 season.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays are tied for fourth in the USILA Preseason Coaches Poll and rank fifth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. 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 year’s Preseason USILA Poll, there have been 397 weekly polls since the inception of the poll in 1973. Amazingly, JHU has been ranked in the top 20 in 395 of those 397 polls. The Blue Jays have been in the top 10 in 374 of the 397 and the top five in 296 of those 397. Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one 104 times since the poll debuted in 1973.

Palmer in Rare Company: Senior attackman Zach Palmer led Johns Hopkins in scoring with 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points last season. He ran his career totals to 59 goals and 56 assists for 115 points with his effort a year ago.

Palmer is the first player at Johns Hopkins with 25 goals and 25 assists in the same season since 2007, when Paul Rabil totaled 27 goals and 26 assists. The 25-25 feat is rare at Johns Hopkins as Palmer is just the eighth Blue Jay to reach this mark since 1980 (the eight have turned the trick a combined 13 times).

BALTIMORE, MD – The Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team will open the 2013 season on Friday, February 8 when the Blue Jays welcome Siena to Homewood Field for a 5 pm game. The game against the Saints will be the first of 13 nationally televised games for Johns Hopkins, which will have its games air on ESPNU, WatchESPN and the CBS Sports Network during the 2013 season.

In addition to the most extensive television coverage of any lacrosse team in the nation, Johns Hopkins will be providing an internet audio-only broadcast of each of its eight regular season home games on the official web site of Hopkins Athletics (www.HopkinsSports.com). Stu Johnson, the voice of Hopkins athletics, will provide the play-by-play, while former Blue Jay lacrosse players Drew Dabrowski and Pat Miller will provide analysis. Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse games will no longer air locally in the Baltimore area on the radio.

Johns Hopkins, which is now in the eighth year of an exclusive partnership with ESPNU that provides for the broadcast of every regular season home game, will appear on ESPNU 11 times and WatchESPN and the CBS Sports Network once each this season. The only Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse game that will not be televised during the 2013 season is the Blue Jays’ game at Towson on February 16.

Below is a breakdown of where each Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse game during the 2013 season can be seen:

ESPNU
Siena (Feb.
Princeton (March 1)
Mount St. Mary’s (March 5)
UMBC (March
@ Syracuse (March 16)
vs. Virginia (March 23)
@ North Carolina (March 30)
Albany (April 5)
@ Maryland (April 13)
Navy (April 20)
Loyola (April 27)

WatchESPN
Michigan (Feb. 23)

CBS Sports Network
@ Army (May 3)

BALTIMORE, MD – Less than two weeks from its season-opener, the Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team earned a pair of preseason top five rankings on Monday. The Blue Jays are tied for fourth in the USILA Preseason Coaches Poll and check in at number five in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Preseason Media Poll. The Blue Jays picked up one first-place vote and 186 points in the USILA Poll and earned one first-place vote and 402 points in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Poll.

The Johns Hopkins office of Athletic Communications uses the USILA Poll to represent Johns Hopkins’ official national ranking.

Johns Hopkins returns eight starters from last year’s team, which posted a 12-4 record and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. Among the returning starters are senior defenseman Tucker Durkin, the 2012 William C. Schmeisser Award winner as the nation’s top defenseman, Second Team All-American midfielders John Ranagan and Rob Guida, and senior Zach Palmer, who led the team in scoring last season with 27 goals and 26 assists.

Johns Hopkins will open the 2013 season at home against Siena on Friday, February 8.

2013 USILA Preseason Coaches Poll
Rk. Team (Pts/1st-Place Votes)
1. Loyola (232/10)
2. Maryland (221/1)
3. Notre Dame (198)
4T. Johns Hopkins (186/1)
4T. North Carolina (186)
6. Duke (185)
7. Virginia (170)
8. Cornell (168)
9. Denver (150)
10. Colgate (122)
11. Lehigh (113)
12. UMass (104)
13. Syracuse (103)
14. Princeton (88)
15. Penn State (68)
16. Fairfield (40)
17. Yale (36)
18. Bucknell (32)
19. Ohio State (23)
20. Hofstra (18)

Others Receiving Votes: Villanova, Drexel, Harvard, Bryant, Georgetown, Army, Delaware, Albany, Brown
2013 Nike/Inside Lacrosse Preseason Media Poll
Rk. Team (Pts/1st-Place Votes)
1. Loyola (494/21)
2. Maryland (459/2)
3. Notre Dame (427/2)
4. Duke (416)
5. Johns Hopkins (402/1)
6. Cornell (360)
7. North Carolina (354)
8. Denver (325)
9. Virginia (319)
10. Lehigh (272)
11. Colgate (251)
12. Syracuse (227)
13. UMass (194)
14. Princeton (182)
15. Penn State (126)
16. Fairfield (100)
17. Hofstra (70)
18. Bucknell (68)
19. Yale (56)
20. Ohio State (42)

Others Receiving Votes: Villanova, Bryant, St. John’s, Drexel, Georgetown, Albany, Robert Morris, Towson, Navy

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Tewaaraton Foundation has named former Johns Hopkins University lacrosse star and U.S. Lacrosse National Hall of Famer Joe Cowan as the recipient of the third annual Tewaaraton Legends Award, presented by LaxRags.

“Joe Cowan is a natural selection for the third Tewaaraton Legends Award,” said Jeff Harvey, Chairman of The Tewaaraton Foundation. “He was an outstanding player during a championship era at Johns Hopkins and, just as importantly, he has always been loyal to his alma mater and the game of lacrosse.”

Cowan’s illustrious lacrosse career began at Friends School in Baltimore, where he was a standout midfielder. In 1963, he helped the team win the Maryland Scholastic Association Championship.

Cowan did not stray far from home for his collegiate career at Johns Hopkins. He played on three consecutive USILA championship lacrosse teams (1967-69) and was also a standout on the football team. As a lacrosse player, Cowan earned first team All-America honors in each of Johns Hopkins three national championship seasons, and in 1968 and 1969 received the prestigious Turnbull Award as the nation’s outstanding attackman. In 1969, he was also the first recipient of the Enners Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding player. He was selected to play in the annual North/South game in 1969. As a football player, Cowan was drafted by the NFL’s Baltimore Colts.

Cowan stayed at Johns Hopkins for 14 years as an assistant coach, working with 2013 Spirit of Tewaaraton Recipient Bob Scott. Cowan played for the Mt. Washington Lacrosse Club in 1970-71 and also served on the Board of Directors of the Lacrosse Foundation, one of the predecessor organizations to US Lacrosse.

The Tewaaraton Legends Award annually honors one recipient who played college lacrosse prior to 2001, the first year in which the Tewaaraton Award was presented. Recipients are chosen on the basis that their collegiate performance would have earned them a Tewaaraton Award, had the award existed when they played. The previous two Legends Award winners were Syracuse’s Jim Brown (2011) and Cornell’s Eamon McEneaney (2012).