BALTIMORE, MD – Sophomore attackman Wells Stanwick punched up career highs of five goals and four assists and the sixth-ranked Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team scored 13 second-half goals as the Blue Jays knocked off visiting Mount St. Mary’s, 19-9, at Homewood Field Tuesday evening. The win improves the Blue Jays’ record to 4-1, while the Mountaineers slip to 2-4.

The Blue Jays led just 5-3 late in the second quarter after Brett Schmidt scored with 3:30 remaining in the period for the Mount. The second of Brandon Benn’s four goals with just 29 seconds left in the first half extended the lead to 6-3 at intermission and jump-started a 9-2 Johns Hopkins run that put the game away.

After Rex Sanders and Andrew Scalley traded goals in the first two minutes of the third quarter to make it 7-4, the Blue Jays got some breathing room with a four-goal spurt that took less than four minutes – for the second time in the game Stanwick had a hand in all four goals in a 4-0 run.

After assisting on an extra-man goal by freshman Ryan Brown with 9:42 remaining in the period, Stanwick sandwiched his third and fourth goals of the game around another Benn strike that he assisted on to push JHU’s lead to 11-4.

The Mount temporarily halted the run when Anthony Golden took a skip-pass from Bryant Schmidt and had time and room to beat Blue Jay goalie Eric Schneider from nine yards out, but the senior John Ranagan bookended a three-goal Blue Jay run that bridged the third and fourth quarters with his only two goals of the game to push the lead to 14-5.

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.

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2012 – The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced Peter Baum of Colgate University and Katie Schwarzmann of the University of Maryland as the winners of the 12th annual Tewaaraton Award, presented Thursday at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The Tewaaraton Award annually honors the top male and top female college lacrosse players in the United States.

Colgate didn’t enter the season on the national radar, but Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Peter Baum ensured the Raiders quickly emerged as contenders. Baum took off after an early-season move to attack and terrorized defenses with his hybrid style. The nation’s scoring leader broke eight school and conference records and led Colgate’s second-ranked offense to a school-record 14 wins and its first-ever NCAA tournament victory.

The Portland, Ore., native is the first men’s Tewaaraton finalist and winner from west of the Mississippi, and the first in Colgate history. The junior ended the season with 97 points (67 g, 30 a), tying Duke’s Matt Danowski (2008) for the most ever by a men’s Tewaaraton finalist.

The winner of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Lt. Raymond J. Enners Award for Outstanding Player of the Year, Baum was also named to the USILA All-America first team and earned All-Patriot League, All-Patriot League Tournament (tournament-record 18 points) and Academic All-Patriot League honors. His 5.39 points per game and 3.72 goals per game both led the country.

Baum currently ranks second in Colgate and Patriot League history with 130 career goals and fifth in program history with 176 career points. His 67 goals and 97 points this season rank sixth and 13th all-time in NCAA history. He is the first Patriot League representative and the seventh attackman to receive the men’s Tewaaraton Award.

A returning finalist in her junior season, Katie Schwarzmann continued to make her mark in Maryland’s record book. The ACC Offensive Player of the Year was a threat between the lines and ruled the fast break. Schwarzmann finished 2012 first in the ACC and second nationally in goals (72), while ranking second on the Terrapins in points (94), ground balls (31), draw controls (52) and caused turnovers (17).

A three-time Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-American and three-time All-ACC performer, Schwarzmann was a member of the 2011-12 U.S. women’s national team. The Sykesville, Md., native joins Jen Adams (2001) and Caitlyn McFadden (2010) as the Terps’ Tewaaraton winners.

Schwarzmann scored in every game this season and boasted eight games with five or more points. Her 72 goals ranked fifth in Maryland single-season history. The ACC Championship Most Valuable Player tallied a tournament-record 11 goals in three games while leading the Terrapins to a fourth straight ACC crown. She was also named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team.

Schwarzmann is the fifth women’s Tewaaraton winner in ACC history, the third women’s winner from the state of Maryland and the eighth midfielder to receive the Tewaaraton award on the women’s side.

“Every year, there are 10 worthy candidates and it is a credit to Peter and Katie that they have been recognized as the most outstanding players this year,” said Jeffrey Harvey, chairman of The Tewaaraton Foundation. “We are thrilled to have them join this elite list of those who have received the Tewaaraton Award.”

The five men’s finalists were Baum, Duke University midfielder CJ Costabile, University of Massachusetts attackman Will Manny, Loyola University attackman Mike Sawyer and University of Virginia attackman Steele Stanwick.

The five women’s finalists were Schwarzmann, University of Florida midfielder Brittany Dashiell, University of North Carolina attacker Becky Lynch, Northwestern University midfielder Taylor Thornton and Syracuse University attacker Michelle Tumolo.

Finalists were selected from a pool of 25 men’s and 25 women’s nominees. The selection committees are comprised of 12 men’s and 10 women’s current and former college coaches.

For more information on the Tewaaraton Award, visit www.tewaaraton.com. Like and follow The Tewaaraton Foundation at www.facebook.com/tewaaraton and www.twitter.com/tewaaraton.

About The Tewaaraton Foundation

First presented in 2001 at the University Club of Washington DC, the Tewaaraton Award is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award, annually honoring the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States. Endorsed by the Mohawk Nation Council of Elders and US Lacrosse, the Tewaaraton Award symbolizes lacrosse’s centuries-old roots in Native American heritage. The Tewaaraton Foundation ensures the integrity and advances the mission of this award. Each year, the Tewaaraton Award celebrates one of the six tribal nations of the Iroquois Confederacy – the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora – and presents two scholarships to students of Iroquois descent. To learn more about The Tewaaraton Foundation, visit www.tewaaraton.com.

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland will play for the NCAA Championship for the third time in the school’s 73 seasons of lacrosse history when it takes on the University of Maryland at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 28.

Despite just 30.67 miles (as the crow flies according to DaftLogic.com) separating the campuses, the game will be played 338 miles from Loyola’s campus at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

On The Tube, Web And Radio

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN with Eamon McAnaney and Quint Kessenich calling the action. Paul Carcaterra will be the sideline analyst.

The action can also be seen worldwide on ESPN3, the broadband arm of the ESPN, and on the WatchESPN app on mobile devices.

Westwood One Sports/Dial Global will provide the NCAA Radio Network broadcast of the Championships with Dave Ryan on the play-by-play and Steve Panarelli on analysis. It can be heard on Sirius/XM 91 worldwide. A complete list of stations can be found at dialglobalsports.com.

Series History

Loyola and Maryland will meet for the 21st time in series history – the Terrapins hold an 18-2 lead in the previous 20 games – and the second time in NCAA Championships play. (complete list of games on page six of notes)

The teams have not squared off since Maryland won a 19-8 decision on May 23, 1998, in the NCAA Semifinals at Rutgers University. Monday’s game will be just the third meeting of the teams since 1989 and the third since Loyola joined NCAA Division I in 1982.

Loyola won the initial meeting between the schools, 17-6, on April 6, 1940, but the Terrapins then won 17 in a row before the Greyhounds scored a 10-8 victory on March 19, 1989.

NCAA Championships History

Loyola is making its 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships, 18th at the Division I level. The Greyhounds are 11-19 all-time in Championships play, 11-17 at the Division I level.

Monday’s game will be Loyola third appearance in an NCAA Championship Game and second at the Division I level.

Loyola, with current Head Coach Charley Toomey as the team co-captain and goalkeeper, last played in the title game on May 28, 1990, when Syracuse defeated the Greyhounds, 21-9.

The Greyhounds also took part in the NCAA Division II-III Championship Game on May 17, 1981, when it lost to Adelphi, 17-14.

As an institution, Loyola has won one national title, the 1976 NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer crown.

Five, Twice In A Row

Eric Lusby scored five goals in the NCAA Semifinal against Notre Dame, duplicating a performance he had in the Quarterfinal round against Denver. Lusby is the first Loyola player to score five in consecutive games since Mike Sawyer did it against Bellarmine (March 5) and Duke (March 11) during the 2011 season.

Lusby’s Tournament

Eric Lusby is thus far the leading scorer in this year’s NCAA Tournament, tallying 13 goals and five assists for 18 points. He is three goals shy of tying the tournament record of 16 set in 2006 by Matt Ward and matched in 2007 by Duke’s Zach Greer.

His 13 are tied for seventh all-time. Loyola’s Chris Colbeck scored 14 in the 1990 tournament and is tied for fourth with Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins, 2008) and Gary Gait (Syracuse, 1988). Gait is also third with 15 in 1990.

He has hat tricks in all three games Loyola has played after scoring three in the First Round against Canisius and five in both sequential games.

Runkel Stops 15

Loyola goalkeeper Jack Runkel set a career-high in the NCAA Semifinals with 15 saves against Notre Dame, setting a career-high. He narrowly eclipsed his previous best of 14 set on April 28 against Johns Hopkins.

The game was Runkel’s seventh this season with 10 or more saves in goal. The others came against Duke (12), at UMBC (13), at Fairfield (12), Johns Hopkins (14), at Denver in the ECAC Semifinals (10) and versus Denver in the Quarterfinals (11).

Runkel has played to a 5.97 goals against average and .622 saves percentage in three NCAA Tournament games.

Defense Limits Chances

Loyola’s defense held Notre Dame to just 28 shots, four below the Fighting Irish’s season average of 32.3 heading into the game, and the Greyhounds’ unit helped goalkeeper Jack Runkel make 15 saves by limiting inside chances.

As a unit, Loyola forced Notre Dame into 14 turnovers, although the team was credited with just seven caused turnovers.

Joe Fletcher caused three of the turnovers and picked up a career-high seven ground balls, while Reid Acton, Scott Ratliff, Josh Hawkins and Runkel each had a caused turnover.

50-50

Eric Lusby and Mike Sawyer became the first duo in Loyola history with 50 goals each in the same season. Sawyer now stands with 51 goals, a Loyola single-season record, while Lusby has 50, tied with Tim Goettelmann for second in season history at the school.

They are two of three players in the NCAA this season to score 50 or more goals, joining Colgate’s Peter Baum (67). Last season, just one player (Robert Morris’ Trevor Moore, 50) had 50 or more.

The last time a pair of Division I teammates had 50 or more goals was 2010 when Duke’s Max Quinzani finished the year with 68, and Zach Howell tallied 51.

And, 60-60

Lusby and Sawyer are also the only Loyola players to reach 60 points in the same season.

With his six-point effort on Saturday afternoon, Lusby set the school Division I record for points in a season with 67, eclipsing the 66 (29g, 37a) Brian Duffy had during the 1995 season.

Gary Hanley has the top three points marks in school history with 89 in 1981, 86 in 1980 and 83 in 1979 when Loyola played Division II lacrosse.

Seven Earn All-America Honors

Attacker Mike Sawyer was named to the USILA All-America Second Team, and long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff earned Third Team honors earlier this week from the coaches’ association.

Five other Greyhounds – attacker Eric Lusby, midfielders Davis Butts and Josh Hawkins and defenders Reid Acton and Joe Fletcher – received honorable mention.

The seven honorees are the most for Loyola since seven received plaudits following the 1999 season. Sawyer and Ratliff are also the first Loyola players to receive All-America nods other than honorable mention since Gavin Prout was a first teamer in 2001.

Sawyer Sets Goals Record

Mike Sawyer scored the first goal of Loyola’s NCAA Quarterfinal game against Denver and broke the school single-season record for goals in the process.

Sawyer now has 51 goals this season, breaking the previous best of 50 set by Tim Goettelmann in 2000. Goettelmann went on to become Major League Lacrosse’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Earlier this season, against Hobart, he became the first Loyola player to reach 40 goals in a season since Tim Goettelmann and Gavin Prout scored 50 and 41, respectively, in 2000. They are the only three Loyola players to top 40 this century.

In the ECAC Semifinal against Denver, Sawyer pushed his season point total to 50, a number that is now at 60, making him the first Greyhound to reach 50 in a season since Prout had 58 (37g, 21a) in 2001. It is the fourth time this century that a Loyola player has scored 50 or more points in a season. Goettelmann (65) and Prout (53) both reached the mark in 2000, and Prout did it again the following season. Sawyer’s teammate, Eric Lusby, has since joined him with more than 50 points (more later).

Three-For-Three

Loyola completed a three-game sweep of Denver with its 10-9 NCAA Quarterfinal victory last Saturday, marking the first time in school history the Greyhounds had ever played a team three times in a season.

It is the third time a team has beaten another three times in a season (thanks to Patrick Stevens of The Washington Times for the research). Loyola joins the 1992 Maryland (vs. Duke), 2007 Duke (vs. North Carolina) and 2009 Duke (vs. North Carolina) teams to have accomplished the feat.

Sawyer, Lusby Form Rare Tandem

Graduate student Eric Lusby and junior Mike Sawyer have formed the top attack tandem in the nation this season, combining for 101 goals in 18 games this season, an average of 5.61 per game.

Sawyer has scored 51 goals, and his 2.83 goals per game average is sixth-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 50 goals and a 2.78 goals per game mark, a number that is eighth in the country. Loyola is the only school to have two players in top 10 nationally.

The Greyhounds have not had two players score 40 or more goals in the same season since 2000 when Tim Goettelmann set the school single-season record with 50, and Gavin Prout tallied 41. As a side note, the Goettelmann-Prout duo has gone on to highly successful professional careers. Goettelman recently retired from Major League Lacrosse as the league’s all-time leading scorer with 268 goals in 11 seasons. Prout has been an MLL Champion and has scored 314 National Lacrosse League goals to go with 625 assists as a multiple-time all-star.

The duo is now the top goal-scoring tandem in Loyola single-season history, eclipsing the performance in 2000 by Goettelmann and Prout.

A Lot Of Everything

The adage that a player does a little bit of everything does not necessarily apply to long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff. The Loyola junior does a lot, as he leads the team in ground balls (83) and caused turnovers (35), is fifth in goals (12) and is seventh in assists (7). His 34 caused turnovers are second-most in Loyola history – behind P.T. Ricci’s 51 in 2009 – since the stats became official that year.

A Tewaaraton Award nominee earlier in the year, Ratliff was named the Most Outstanding Player of the ECAC Championships after scoring three goals, one a game-winner, and recording two assists and 16 ground balls.

He had two goals, including the winner just eight seconds into overtime, and an assist versus Denver while picking up a career-high nine ground balls.

Ratliff, who was also an All-ECAC First Team honoree and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, then scored twice in the first quarter against Canisius to go along with six ground balls and three faceoff wins in the game.

Ratliff’s Scoring

Scott Ratliff had his third multi-goal game of the season in the NCAA First Round against Canisius, and he then added a goal in the Quarterfinal against Denver, raising his season totals to 12 goals and seven assists.

With his game-opening goal against the Golden Griffins, he set the Loyola single-season record for long-pole scoring, surpassing the record of 16 points set by current assistant coach Matt Dwan his senior season in 1995 when he tallied 11 goals and five assists and earned All-America honors.

Ratliff is second nationally this season in goals and points by a long pole, and his seven assists are tops in the country. Bryant’s Mason Poli leads all long poles this year with 19 goals and 24 points.

Ward Dishes Out Assists

Justin Ward was credited an assist on an Eric Lusby goal against Notre Dame raising his season total to 31, and his 1.72 assists per game are 21st nationally. Those numbers are tops among the players on the four teams in the NCAA Semifinals.

Ward is the first Loyola player this century to reach 30 assists, and his total is the most since Brian Duffy had 34 in 1996.

Top Spot

Loyola entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed for the third time in school history. The Greyhounds were also the top seed in 1998 when they defeated Georgetown, 12-11, in the Quarterfinals to move on to the Final Four for the second time in school history. There, the Greyhounds lost, 19-8, to Maryland. They were then the No. 1 seed in 1999 when they fell in the Quarterfinals to Syracuse, 17-12.

School Record In Wins

Loyola’s victory over Notre Dame in the NCAA Semifinals was its 17th of the season, setting a school record for victories in a year. The Greyhounds eclipsed the previous best of 13 that the 1998 squad achieved with a 13-2 record.

This is Loyola’s 15th season all-time with 10 or more wins with 12 coming since the Greyhounds joined Division I in 1982.

The Hardware Department

In the span of seven days, three teams in Loyola’s Department of Athletics advanced to their respective NCAA Championships by winning titles in three different conferences.

The men’s golf team started the trend with its fifth-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference crown on April 29, and the men’s lacrosse team followed by taking the ECAC title on May 4. The women’s lacrosse team completed the trifecta on May 5 when it defeated then-No. 2 Syracuse to win its second-straight BIG EAST Championship. Also, in March, Loyola’s men’s basketball team won its first MAAC title in 18 years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.

Sawyer Named One Of Five Tewaaraton Finalists

Mike Sawyer was named one of five Tewaaraton Award finalists on Thursday, joining Colgate A Peter Baum, Duke LSM C.J. Costabile, Massachusetts A Will Manny and Virginia A Steele Stanwick.

Sawyer is the first Loyola men’s player to be named a finalist, and he is also the first player from to hail the State of North Carolina to be so honored. He was one of three Greyhounds on the Tewaaraton Watch List where he was joined by Eric Lusby and Scott Ratliff, and Ratliff was a fellow semifinalist. The Award, which is given annually to the top player in college lacrosse, will be presented on May 31 at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Midfield Scoring

Loyola’s first midfield line of Davis Butts (20g, 33p), Sean O’Sullivan (16, 27) and Chris Layne (11, 22) has combined for 47 goals and 35 assists this season, while the second midfield unit of Pat Byrnes (9, 7), J.P. Dalton (9, 4) and Phil Dobson (7, 2) has added 25 and 13. Additionally, Nikko Pontrello has started to mix in with the second midfield, allowing Loyola’s attackers the opportunity to invert, and he has four goals and six assists.

Twelve In A Row Ties Mark

Loyola’s 12-straight to start the season tied the school record for consecutive victories, matching the number put up by the 1998 (3/14-3/17) and 1999 (3/6-3/8).

It also matched the best start to a season, equaling the 1999 team that finished the regular-season unblemished at 12-0.

Toomey Tabbed ECAC Coach Of The Year

Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his seven-year career. This season, Toomey has guided the Greyhounds to a 17-1 mark during the regular-season and the ECAC regular-season crown with a 6-0 mark in conference play. The NCAA Championship Game will be Toomey’s 100th as a head coach.

The Greyhounds became the second team in USILA Coaches Poll history to start a season unranked and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. The only other team was Duke in 2007 – a year after the Blue Devils had their season suspended in March – which accomplished the feat after being unranked in the first poll, moving to second in the next version and first in the third. Duke was knocked from its perch as No. 1 that season when it lost to the Greyhounds at the First Four in San Diego.

The win over Canisius in the First Round was the 60th victory of his coaching career, becoming the fourth coach in Loyola history to win 60 or more – Dave Cottle (181-70, 1983-2001), Charles Wenzel (62-104, 1954-1970), Jay Connor (61-46, 1975-1982).  Toomey’s .626 winning percentage trails only Cottle’s .721 at Loyola.

All-ECAC Honors

Five Loyola players earned All-ECAC Lacrosse League honors form the conference’s coaches. Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff, who was also named ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, earned a spot as a defender on the First Team, where he was joined by Mike Sawyer on attack and Davis Butts in the midfield.

Sawyer led the ECAC during the regular-season, and is now second nationally, in goals (51). Butts has scored 20 goals and assisted on 13 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also regularly playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 39 ground balls.

Attack Eric Lusby and defender Joe Fletcher were tabbed to the All-ECAC Second Team. Lusby is second on the team and is third nationally with 50 goals, and he also has 17 assists this season. Fletcher came on as one of the top lock-down defenders around, earning Midseason All-American honors from Inside Lacrosse last month. He has 39 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers entering the NCAA title game.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 18 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 36 occasions this season.

Loyola scored the first four goals of the ECAC Semifinal game against Denver and then tallied three-straight after the Pioneers pulled within 4-2. The Greyhounds then reeled off five in a row during the third quarter to take a 13-6 lead.

The Greyhounds used two 3-0 runs against Notre Dame in the NCAA Semifinal to advance to the title game.

On The Flip Side

Conversely, the Greyhounds have allowed a run of three or more goals just 12 times this year, with the most recent coming when Canisius scored three in the second quarter. Only Denver (seven in ECAC Semifinal), Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds have now outscored opponents 65-22 in the third quarters of games and 119-63 overall this year in the second half (including overtime).

The second-half scoring continues a trend from the last two seasons. Last year, Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56 two years ago.

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland will make its third appearance in the NCAA Semifinals on Saturday, May 26, 2012, when it takes on the University of Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m.

The team will faceoff on the field at Gillette Stadium, home of the National Football League’s New England Patriots, in Foxborough, Mass. The winner of the game will face the winner of the other national semifinal between Duke and Maryland.

On The Tube, Web And Radio

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Eamon McAnaney and Quint Kessenich calling the action. Paul Carcaterra will be the sideline analyst.

The action can also be seen worldwide on ESPN3, the broadband arm of the ESPN, and on the WatchESPN app on mobile devices.

Westwood One Sports/Dial Global will provide the NCAA Radio Network broadcast of the Championships with Dave Ryan on the play-by-play and Steve Panarelli on analysis. It can be heard on Sirius/XM 91 worldwide. A complete list of stations can be found at dialglobalsports.com.

Series History

Loyola and Notre Dame will meet for the 20th time in series history on Saturday and the third time in NCAA Championships play. Loyola holds a 13-6 advantage in the all-time series, but the Fighting Irish have won the last four meetings and six of the last nine. (Complete series history on page six of the notes)

The teams last played on March 6, 2010, in another NFL stadium. They met at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home of the Ravens, in the Konica-Minolta Face-Off Classic where Notre Dame came away with an 11-9 victory. In all, this will mark the third time the teams have played in an NFL venue. They also faced off in the 1998 IKON Classic at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, former home of the Baltimore Colts.

The last seven meetings in the series have been decided by a total of nine goals with five of the games coming down to a one-goal difference.

Loyola and Notre Dame have played twice in the NCAA Championships, both in the first round, and each team has been the victor once. The Fighting Irish defeated the Greyhounds, 15-12, in Baltimore in the 2000 First Round, and Loyola was a 21-5 first-round winner in 1997.

NCAA Championships History

Loyola is making its 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships, 18th at the Division I level. The Greyhounds are 10-19 all-time in Championships play, 10-17 at the Division I level.

Saturday’s game will be the Greyhounds third appearance in the NCAA Semifinals, first since 1998 when then lost 19-8 to Maryland in Piscataway, N.J. Loyola is 1-1 in NCAA Semifinal games having defeated Yale, 14-13 in overtime, in 1990 to advance to the title game.

Sawyer Sets Goals Record

Mike Sawyer scored the first goal of Loyola’s NCAA Quarterfinal game last Saturday and broke the school single-season record for goals in the process.

Sawyer now has 51 goals this season, breaking the previous best of 50 set by Tim Goettelmann in 2000. Goettelmann went on to become Major League Lacrosse’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Earlier this season, against Hobart, he became the first Loyola player to reach 40 goals in a season since Tim Goettelmann and Gavin Prout scored 50 and 41, respectively, in 2000. They are the only three Loyola players to top 40 this century.

In the ECAC Semifinal against Denver, Sawyer pushed his season point total to 50, a number that is now at 59, making him the first Greyhound to reach 50 in a season since Prout had 58 (37g, 21a) in 2001. It is the fourth time this century that a Loyola player has scored 50 or more points in a season. Goettelmann (65) and Prout (53) both reached the mark in 2000, and Prout did it again the following season. Sawyer’s teammate, Eric Lusby, has since joined him with more than 50 points (more later).

Lusby Right Behind After 5-Goal Game

After tying his career-high with five goals in the Greyhounds 10-9 victory over Denver, Eric Lusby leads the team with 61 points and is not far behind Mike Sawyer in the goals column with 45.

Lusby recorded a career-high seven points in the win over the Pioneers and was involved in all but three of the Greyhounds goals after recording two assists. He scored back-to-back goals twice, once during the second quarter and again in the third.

Three-For-Three

Loyola completed a three-game sweep of Denver with its 10-9 NCAA Quarterfinal victory last Saturday, marking the first time in school history the Greyhounds had ever played a team three times in a season.

It is the third time a team has beaten another three times in a season (thanks to Patrick Stevens of The Washington Times for the research). Loyola joins the 1992 Maryland (vs. Duke), 2007 Duke (vs. North Carolina) and 2009 Duke (vs. North Carolina) teams to have accomplished the feat.

Faceoff Turnaround

Loyola’s J.P. Dalton dominated the faceoff ‘X’ on Saturday against Denver, winning 17-of-22 (.772) against Denver’s Chase Carraro. It was a vast departure from the first two times the teams squared off where the Pioneers went a combined 30-of-45 (.667).

In the regular-season meeting between the teams, Carraro was 13-of-14 at the X, and he went 16-of 29 against the Greyhounds in the ECAC Semifinal game.

Dalton’s 17 wins were one off his career-high set earlier this season against Air Force.

Sawyer, Lusby Form Rare Tandem

Graduate student Eric Lusby and junior Mike Sawyer have formed the top attack tandem in the nation this season, combining for 96 goals in 17 games this season, an average of 5.65 per game.

Sawyer has scored 51 goals, and his 3.0 goals per game average is third-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 45 goals and a 2.65 goals per game mark, a number that is 11th in the country. Loyola is one of two schools to have two players in the top 11 of goals per game nationally (Robert Morris).

The Greyhounds have not had two players score 40 or more goals in the same season since 2000 when Tim Goettelmann set the school single-season record with 50, and Gavin Prout tallied 41. As a side note, the Goettelmann-Prout duo has gone on to highly successful professional careers. Goettelman recently retired from Major League Lacrosse as the league’s all-time leading scorer with 268 goals in 11 seasons. Prout has been an MLL Champion and has scored 314 National Lacrosse League goals to go with 625 assists as a multiple-time all-star.

The duo is now the top goal-scoring tandem in Loyola single-season history, eclipsing the performance in 2000 by Goettelmann and Prout.

Two Over 40/50

Mike Sawyer (51g, 59p) and Eric Lusby (45g, 62p) became the first set of Loyola teammates to score 40 goals and 50 points in a season since Tim Goettelmann (50, 65) and Gavin Prout (41, 53) accomplished the feat in 2000.

They are one of only two duos in the nation this year – Robert Morris’ Kiel Matisz (40, 64) and Jake Hayes (42, 61) are the other – to post 40 and 50.

A Lot Of Everything

The adage that a player does a little bit of everything does not necessarily apply to long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff. The Loyola junior does a lot, as he leads the team in ground balls (79) and caused turnovers (34), is fifth in goals (12) and is seventh in assists (7). His 34 caused turnovers are second-most in Loyola history – behind P.T. Ricci’s 51 in 2009 – since the stats became official in 2008.

A Tewaaraton Award nominee earlier in the year, Ratliff was named the Most Outstanding Player of the ECAC Championships after scoring three goals, one a game-winner, and recording two assists and 16 ground balls.

He had two goals, including the winner just eight seconds into overtime, and an assist versus Denver while picking up a career-high nine ground balls.

Ratliff, who was also an All-ECAC First Team honoree and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, then scored twice in the first quarter against Canisius to go along with six ground balls and three faceoff wins in the game.

Ratliff’s Scoring

Scott Ratliff had his third multi-goal game of the season in the NCAA First Round against Canisius, and he then added a goal in the Quarterfinal against Denver, raising his season totals to 12 goals and seven assists.

With his game-opening goal against the Golden Griffins, he set the Loyola single-season record for long-pole scoring, surpassing the record of 16 points set by current assistant coach Matt Dwan his senior season in 1995 when he tallied 11 goals and five assists and earned All-America honors.

Ratliff is second nationally this season in goals and points by a long pole, and his seven assists are tops in the country. Bryant’s Mason Poli leads all long poles this year with 19 goals and 24 points.

Ward Dishes Out Assists

Justin Ward was credited with two assists in the NCAA Quarterfinal against Denver, raising his season total to 30, and his 1.76 assists per game are now tied for 19th nationally. Those numbers are tops among the remaining players on the four teams in the NCAA Semifinals.

Ward is the first Loyola player this century to reach 30 assists, and his total is the most since Brian Duffy had 34 in 1996.

NCAA Semifinals Connections

Kevin Ryan’s family will have a rare connection to Loyola’s place in the NCAA Semifinals historically after this weekend. Ryan, who scored an EMO goal in the Quarterfinals against Denver, is the cousin of Sean Quinn and Kevin Quinn who played on Loyola’s semifinal teams in 1990 and 1998, respectively. Sean was a starting defender on the 1990 team, and Kevin a midfielder on the 1998 team.

Phil Dobson, a Loyola midfielder, will face his older brother, Devon, for the first time on a collegiate lacrosse field. Devon is a defensive midfielder for the Fighting Irish.

Top Spot

Loyola entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed for the third time in school history. The Greyhounds were also the top seed in 1998 when they defeated Georgetown, 12-11, in the Quarterfinals to move on to the Final Four for the second time in school history. There, the Greyhounds lost, 19-8, to Maryland. They were then the No. 1 seed in 1999 when they fell in the Quarterfinals to Syracuse, 17-12.

School Record In Wins

Loyola’s victory over Denver in the NCAA Quarterfinals was its 16th of the season, setting a school record for victories in a year. The Greyhounds eclipsed the previous best of 13 that the 1998 squad achieved with a 13-2 record.

This is Loyola’s 15th season all-time with 10 or more wins with 12 coming since the Greyhounds joined Division I in 1982.

Second-Half Run

Loyola used 13 unanswered goals to break open a 4-3 halftime lead against Canisius in a 17-5 victory over the Golden Griffins in the NCAA Championships First Round.

The Greyhounds took a 4-0 lead in the first quarter before Canisius scored three unanswered in the second. Mike Sawyer corralled a rebound of an Eric Lusby shot off the pipe and scored 1:20 into the second quarter to start the run. During the stretch, Sawyer scored all five of his goals, and Lusby had two of his three.

The run was the second longest in the brief, three-year history of Ridley Athletic Complex. Only a 14-0 run to start the game on March 20, 2010, against Air Force had more goals.

The Hardware Department

In the span of seven days, three teams in Loyola’s Department of Athletics advanced to their respective NCAA Championships by winning titles in three different conferences.

The men’s golf team started the trend with its fifth-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference crown on April 29, and the men’s lacrosse team followed by taking the ECAC title on May 4. The women’s lacrosse team completed the trifecta on May 5 when it defeated then-No. 2 Syracuse to win its second-straight BIG EAST Championship. Also, in March, Loyola’s men’s basketball team won its first MAAC title in 18 years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.

Sawyer Named One Of Five Tewaaraton Finalists

Mike Sawyer was named one of five Tewaaraton Award finalists on Thursday, joining Colgate A Peter Baum, Duke LSM C.J. Costabile, Massachusetts A Will Manny and Virginia A Steele Stanwick.

Sawyer is the first Loyola men’s player to be named a finalist, and he is also the first player from to hail the State of North Carolina to be so honored. He was one of three Greyhounds on the Tewaaraton Watch List where he was joined by Eric Lusby and Scott Ratliff, and Ratliff was a fellow semifinalist. The Award, which is given annually to the top player in college lacrosse, will be presented on May 31 at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Midfield Scoring

Loyola’s first midfield line of Davis Butts (19g, 32p), Sean O’Sullivan (16, 27) and Chris Layne (11, 21) has combined for 46 goals and 34 assists this season, while the second midfield unit of Pat Byrnes (9, 7), J.P. Dalton (9, 4) and Phil Dobson (7, 2) has added 25 and 13. Additionally, Nikko Pontrello has started to mix in with the second midfield, allowing Loyola’s attackers the opportunity to invert, and he has four goals and six assists.

Spreading Out The Scoring Wealth

Loyola’s first 11 goals against Denver in the ECAC Semifinal night were scored by 11 different players. Eric Lusby, Phil Dobson and Scott Ratliff finished the game with two goals, and eight others had one.

All three members of the Greyhounds’ first midfield – Davis Butts, Chris Layne and Sean O’Sullivan – scored goals. They received four goals from the four players who make up the second midfield line – Dobson (2), Pat Byrnes and Nikko Pontrello (J.P. Dalton did not score). Extra-man attackman Kevin Ryan scored, and two of the team’s three attackmen – Mike Sawyer and Lusby (2) – recorded goals. Ratliff scored twice in transition, and short-stick defensive midfielder Josh Hawkins added one. The Greyhounds’ other attack player, Justin Ward, did not score but had a game-high three assists.

In the title game, 10 different players scored for Loyola with all three attackers scoring and two of three from the first midfield like tallying goals.

Twelve In A Row Ties Mark

Loyola’s 12-straight to start the season tied the school record for consecutive victories, matching the number put up by the 1998 (3/14-3/17) and 1999 (3/6-3/8).

It also matched the best start to a season, equaling the 1999 team that finished the regular-season unblemished at 12-0.

Toomey Tabbed ECAC Coach Of The Year

Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his seven-year career. This season, Toomey has guided the Greyhounds to a 16-1 mark during the regular-season and the ECAC regular-season crown with a 6-0 mark in conference play.

The Greyhounds became the second team in USILA Coaches Poll history to start a season unranked and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. The only other team was Duke in 2007 – a year after the Blue Devils had their season suspended in March – which accomplished the feat after being unranked in the first poll, moving to second in the next version and first in the third. Duke was knocked from its perch as No. 1 that season when it lost to the Greyhounds at the First Four in San Diego.

The win over Denver in the Quarterfinals was the 60th victory of his coaching career, becoming the fourth coach in Loyola history to win 60 or more – Dave Cottle (181-70, 1983-2001), Charles Wenzel (62-104, 1954-1970), Jay Connor (61-46, 1975-1982).  Toomey’s .619 winning percentage trails only Cottle’s .721 at Loyola.

All-ECAC Honors

Five Loyola players earned All-ECAC Lacrosse League honors form the conference’s coaches. Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff, who was also named ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, earned a spot as a defender on the First Team, where he was joined by Mike Sawyer on attack and Davis Butts in the midfield.

Sawyer led the ECAC during the regular-season, and is now third nationally, in goals (51) and goals per game (3.0). Butts has scored 19 goals and assisted on 13 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also regularly playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 38 ground balls.

Attack Eric Lusby and defender Joe Fletcher were tabbed to the All-ECAC Second Team. Lusby is second on the team and is 11th nationally with 45 goals (2.68 per game), and he also has 16 assists this season. Fletcher came on as one of the top lock-down defenders around, earning Midseason All-American honors from Inside Lacrosse last month. He has 32 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers entering the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 17 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 34 occasions this season.

Loyola scored the first four goals of the ECAC Semifinal game against Denver and then tallied three-straight after the Pioneers pulled within 4-2. The Greyhounds then reeled off five in a row during the third quarter to take a 13-6 lead.

In the ECAC title game, Loyola used an 8-1 run that was comprised of runs of 3-0 and 5-0 to take control of the game.

On The Flip Side

Conversely, the Greyhounds have allowed a run of three or more goals just 12 times this year, with the most recent coming when Canisius scored three in the second quarter. Only Denver (seven in ECAC Semifinal), Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.

On The EMO

This season, the Greyhounds are ranked second in the nation in man-up offense, scoring 48-percent of the time (24-of-50). Only Lehigh (.553) has a better mark this year. Loyola dropped below 50-percent for the first time this year by going 4-of-10 in the game against Denver.

The last time Loyola finished at or above .500 in man-up offense was in 1997 when it converted 39-of-77 (.506).

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds have now outscored opponents 63-22 in the third quarters of games and 117-61 overall this year in the second half (including overtime).

The second-half scoring continues a trend from the last two seasons. Last year, Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56 two years ago.

WASHINGTON, May 21, 2012 – Two men’s and four women’s Tewaaraton Award finalists will compete at the NCAA men’s and women’s lacrosse championships this weekend in Foxborough, Mass., and Stony Brook, N.Y., respectively.

The Tewaaraton Foundation will announce the award’s 12^th annual winners May 31 at the Tewaaraton Award Ceremony in Washington, D.C., at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Indian.

Men’s finalists to reach championship weekend include C.J. Costabile (Duke) and Mike Sawyer (Loyola). Tewaaraton finalists are represented among each of the women’s national semifinalists, including Brittany Dashiell (Florida), Katie Schwarzmann (Maryland), Taylor Thornton (Northwestern) and Michelle Tumolo (Syracuse).

Senior midfielder C.J. Costabile (New Fairfield, Conn.) picked up 15 groundballs and won 14-of-20 face offs as No. 3 Duke advanced to the final four with a convincing 17-6 win over Colgate, marking the program’s sixth consecutive championship weekend appearance. With two ground balls in Saturday’s semifinal game against Maryland, Costabile will become the nation’s ground ball leader.

Junior attackman Mike Sawyer (Waxhaw, N.C.) scored his 51^st goal of the season in Loyola’s 10-9 victory over Denver as the top-seeded Greyhounds advanced to their first NCAA final four since 1998, where they will face No. 4 Notre Dame. With the goal, Sawyer set a Loyola single-season record, eclipsing the 50 scored by Tim Goettelmann in 2000.

The five men’s finalists are Costabile, Sawyer, Colgate attackman Peter Baum, Massachusetts attackman Will Manny and Virginia attackman Steele Stanwick.

Junior midfielder Brittany Dashiell (Bel Air, Md.) led Florida’s balanced offense with three goals and two assists in a 15-2 quarterfinal win over Penn State. The top-seeded Gators, who will next face No. 4 Syracuse, are the second program in the 30-year history of the NCAA women’s lacrosse tournament to advance to the final four in only its third season.

Junior midfielder Katie Schwarzmann (Sykesville, Md.) racked up a career-high eight points (4 g, 4 a) in No. 3 Maryland’s 17-11 defeat of in-state opponent Loyola while adding seven draw controls and playing suffocating defense on the Greyhound’s top scorer, Marlee Paton. The Terrapins have reached the national semifinals in each of Schwarzmann’s three seasons and four consecutive seasons overall.

Junior midfielder Taylor Thornton (Dallas, Texas) turned in a solid all-around performance in No. 2 Northwestern’s 12-7 win over Duke, grabbing four ground balls, causing three turnovers and winning two draws to go along with one goal. Thornton and the Wildcats have advanced to their eighth consecutive national semifinals and will face Maryland in a rematch of the last two national title games.

Junior attacker Michelle Tumolo (Mullica Hill, N.J.) led No. 4 Syracuse to a thrilling 17-16 comeback win against North Carolina. Tumolo recorded a team-leading four goals and five points, including the game-winning goal with five seconds remaining in regulation. Tumolo saved her best work for the game’s final three minutes, rallying the Orange from a two-goal deficit and notching two goals, an assist and a crucial forced turnover. Tumolo and Syracuse will make their second final four appearance in three years.

The five women’s finalists are Dashiell, Schwarzmann, Thornton, Tumolo and North Carolina attacker Becky Lynch.

The Tewaaraton Award annually honors the top male and top female college lacrosse player in the United States. Finalists were selected from a pool of 25 men’s and 25 women’s nominees. The selection committees are comprised of 12 men’s and 10 women’s current and former college coaches.

For more information on the Tewaaraton Award or to attend the ceremony, visit www.tewaaraton.com. Like and follow The Tewaaraton Foundation at www.facebook.com/tewaaraton and www.twitter.com/tewaaraton.

About The Tewaaraton Foundation

First presented in 2001 at the University Club of Washington DC, the Tewaaraton Award is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award, annually honoring the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States. Endorsed by the Mohawk Nation Council of Elders and US Lacrosse, the Tewaaraton Award symbolizes lacrosse’s centuries-old roots in Native American heritage. The Tewaaraton Foundation ensures the integrity and advances the mission of this award. Each year, the Tewaaraton Award celebrates one of the six tribal nations of the Iroquois Confederacy – the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora – and presents two scholarships to students of Iroquois descent. To learn more about The Tewaaraton Foundation, visit www.tewaaraton.com.

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland travels to nearby Annapolis, Md., and Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium for the NCAA Quarterfinals on Saturday, May 19, 2012.

The top-seeded Greyhounds will face fellow ECAC Lacrosse League member University of Denver for the third time this season at 2:30 p.m.

On The Tube And Web

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Eamon McAnaney and Quint Kessenich calling the action. Paul Carcaterra will be the sideline analyst.

The action can also be seen worldwide on ESPN3, the broadband arm of the ESPN, and on the WatchESPN app on mobile devices.

Series History

Loyola and Denver will meet for the fifth time in series history and third time this season when the teams take the field Saturday. The Greyhounds and Pioneers have met during the regular-season in each of the last three seasons and then earlier this month in an ECAC Semifinal. The series is tied 2-2 through the first four meetings.

Denver won the first two meetings, 12-4 at Invesco Field in 2010 and 12-8 last year at Ridley Athletic Complex.

This season, Loyola used a 5-1 run to close the game, overcoming an 8-7 third-quarter deficit on April 14 in Denver to beat the Pioneers, 12-9.

The teams met again with Loyola as the No. 1 seed, and Denver the fourth, in the ECAC Semifinals on May 2, again in Denver. Loyola opened up a 13-6 lead with 13:14 left in regulation before the Pioneers scored seven-straight to tie the game at 13-13 with 3:30 remaining on the clock. Scott Ratliff picked up the ground ball to start overtime, and he scored eight seconds later, lifting Loyola to the ECAC title game.

NCAA Championships History

Loyola is making its 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships, 18th at the Division I level. The Greyhounds are 9-19 all-time in Championships play, 9-17 at the Division I level.

The Greyhounds are making their 13th NCAA Quarterfinals appearance and the first since 2001. They are 2-10 in Quarterfinal games with their last victory in the round coming in 1998 against Georgetown in a 12-11 decision.

NCAA Rematches

Saturday will be the first time in Loyola men’s lacrosse history (since 1938) that the Greyhounds will have played the same team three times in the same season.

A rematch with a regular-season opponent in the NCAA Championships is not unusual for Loyola. It will be the 12th time that the Greyhounds have faced a team in the NCAAs that they played earlier in the year. Including a game in the 1979 Division II-III Tournament, Loyola is 2-9 in those games. The last time it happened, Duke defeated the Greyhounds, 12-7, in the 2008 First Round.

This Season Against Denver

Loyola has featured balanced scoring in its two games against Denver with 13 players tallying goals in the two games and eight scoring two or more. Mike Sawyer and Eric Lusby lead the way with four goals each, while Scott Ratliff has three. Davis Butts, Pat Byrnes, Sean O’Sullivan, Phil Dobson and Nikko Pontrello each have scored two against the Pioneers this year. Justin Ward is tops on Loyola with four assists in the two games.

Top Spot

Loyola entered the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed for the third time in school history. The Greyhounds were also the top seed in 1998 when they defeated Georgetown, 12-11, in the Quarterfinals to move on to the Final Four for the second time in school history. There, the Greyhounds lost, 19-8, to Maryland. They were then the No. 1 seed in 1999 when they fell in the Quarterfinals to Syracuse, 17-12.

School Record In Wins

Loyola’s victory over Canisius in the NCAA Championships First Round was its 15th of the season, setting a school record for victories in a year. The Greyhounds eclipsed the previous best of 13 that the 1998 squad achieved with a 13-2 record.

This is Loyola’s 15th season all-time with 10 or more wins with 12 coming since the Greyhounds joined Division I in 1982.

In The Polls

Loyola moved up to No. 2 in both the USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media Polls following their ECAC Championship. The Greyhounds were ranked No. 1 for two weeks before losing their only game of the season on April 28 to Johns Hopkins.

The Greyhounds finished the regular-season with the No. 1 RPI in the NCAA, as well.

Denver entered the NCAAs 13th in both versions.

Second-Half Run

Loyola used 13 unanswered goals to break open a 4-3 halftime lead against Canisius last Saturday in a 17-5 victory over the Golden Griffins in the NCAA Championships First Round.

The Greyhounds took a 4-0 lead in the first quarter before Canisius scored three unanswered in the second. Mike Sawyer corralled a rebound of an Eric Lusby shot off the pipe and scored 1:20 into the second quarter to start the run. During the stretch, Sawyer scored all five of his goals, and Lusby had two of his three.

The run was the second longest in the brief, three-year history of Ridley Athletic Complex. Only a 14-0 run to start the game on March 20, 2010, against Air Force had more goals.

Sawyer Ties Single-Season Record

Mike Sawyer scored five times in the game against Canisius – his fourth game in 2012 with five or more goals – raising his season total to 50 goals to match the 2000 school record set by Tim Goettelmann. Goettelmann went on to become Major League Lacrosse’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Earlier this season, against Hobart, he became the first Loyola player to reach 40 goals in a season since Tim Goettelmann and Gavin Prout scored 50 and 41, respectively, in 2000. They are the only three Loyola players to top 40 this century.

In the ECAC Semifinal against Denver, Sawyer pushed his season point total to 50, a number that is now at 53, making him the first Greyhound to reach 50 in a season since Prout had 58 (37g, 21a) in 2001. It is the fourth time this century that a Loyola player has scored 50 or more points in a season. Goettelmann (65) and Prout (53) both reached the mark in 2000, and Prout did it again the following season. Sawyer’s teammate, Eric Lusby, has since joined him with more than 50 points (more later).

Two Over 40/50

Mike Sawyer (50g, 58p) and Eric Lusby (40g, 54p) became the first set of Loyola teammates to score 40 goals and 50 points in a season since Tim Goettelmann (50, 65) and Gavin Prout (41, 53) accomplished the feat in 2000.

They are one of only two duos in the nation this year – Robert Morris’ Kiel Matisz (40, 64) and Jake Hayes (42, 61) are the other – to post 40 and 50.

A Lot Of Everything

The adage that a player does a little bit of everything does not necessarily apply to long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff. The Loyola junior does a lot, as he leads the team in ground balls (74) and caused turnovers (34), is tied for sixth in goals (11) and is seventh in assists (7).

A Tewaaraton Award nominee earlier in the year, Ratliff was named the Most Outstanding Player of the ECAC Championships after scoring three goals, one a game-winner, and recording two assists and 16 ground balls.

He had two goals, including the winner just eight seconds into overtime, and an assist versus Denver while picking up a career-high nine ground balls.

Ratliff, who was also an All-ECAC First Team honoree and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, then scored twice in the first quarter against Canisius to go along with six ground balls and three faceoff wins in the game.

Ratliff’s Scoring

Scott Ratliff had his third multi-goal game of the season in the NCAA First Round against Canisius, raising his season totals to 11 goals and seven assists.

With his game-opening goal against the Golden Griffins, he set the Loyola single-season record for long-pole scoring, surpassing the record of 16 points set by current assistant coach Matt Dwan his senior season in 1995 when he tallied 11 goals and five assists and earned All-America honors.

Ratliff and Dwan are now tied for the lead with 11 goals each.

Ratliff is second nationally this season in goals and points by a long pole, and his seven assists are tops in the country. Bryant’s Mason Poli leads all long poles this year with 19 goals and 24 points.

The Hardware Department

In the span of seven days, three teams in Loyola’s Department of Athletics advanced to their respective NCAA Championships by winning titles in three different conferences.

The men’s golf team started the trend with its fifth-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference crown on April 29, and the men’s lacrosse team followed by taking the ECAC title on May 4. The women’s lacrosse team completed the trifecta on May 5 when it defeated then-No. 2 Syracuse to win its second-straight BIG EAST Championship. Also, in March, Loyola’s men’s basketball team won its first MAAC title in 18 years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.

Sawyer Named One Of Five Tewaaraton Finalists

Mike Sawyer was named one of five Tewaaraton Award finalists on Thursday, joining Colgate A Peter Baum, Duke LSM C.J. Costabile, Massachusetts A Will Manny and Virginia A Steele Stanwick.

Sawyer is the first Loyola men’s player to be named a finalist, and he is also the first player from to hail the State of North Carolina to be so honored. He was one of three Greyhounds on the Tewaaraton Watch List where he was joined by Eric Lusby and Scott Ratliff, and Ratliff was a fellow semifinalist. The Award, which is given annually to the top player in college lacrosse, will be presented on May 31 at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Midfield Scoring

Loyola’s first midfield line of Davis Butts (18g, 30p), Sean O’Sullivan (16, 26) and Chris Layne (10, 20) has combined for 44 goals and 32 assists this season, whiel the second midfield unit of Pat Byrnes (9, 7), J.P. Dalton (9, 4) and Phil Dobson (7, 2) has added 25 and 13. Additionally, Nikko Pontrello has started to mix in with the second midfield, allowing Loyola’s attackers the opportunity to invert, and he has four goals and six assists.

Balanced Scoring In ECAC Championships

Loyola traveled to Denver for the 2012 ECAC Lacrosse League Championships and left the Mile-High City with a 97-pound trophy (no, really). The Greyhounds, who earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament and finished the regular-season 6-0 in the league, beat host and No. 4 seed Denver, 14-13, in overtime to advance to the final. There, Loyola topped Fairfield, 14-7.

Fifteen different Greyhounds scored goals in the two games with 11 tallying goals in the semifinal and 10 in the title game. Mike Sawyer led the team with four goals in the two games, a trio coming in the final, while Eric Lusby, Chris Layne and Scott Ratliff each had three.

Justin Ward led the Greyhounds with eight total points, dishing out three assists in the semifinal and three along with two goals in the championship.

Two players scored their first collegiate goals in the games, one in each contest. Kevin Ryan tallied a first-quarter goal on a man-up possession against Denver, and Brian Schultz recorded his first in the fourth quarter versus Fairfield.

Sawyer, Lusby Form Rare Tandem

Graduate student Eric Lusby and junior Mike Sawyer have formed the top attack tandem in the ECAC Lacrosse League this year and one of the most balanced in the nation. The duo has combined for 90 goals in 16 games this season, an average of 5.625 per game.

Sawyer has scored 50 goals, and his 3.13 goals per game average is third-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 40 goals and a 2.5 goals per game mark, a number that is tied for 14th in the country. Loyola is one of two schools to have two players in the top 14 of goals per game nationally (Robert Morris).

The Greyhounds have not had two players score 40 or more goals in the same season since 2000 when Tim Goettelmann set the school single-season record with 50, and Gavin Prout tallied 41. As a side note, the Goettelmann-Prout duo has gone on to highly successful professional careers. Goettelman recently retired from Major League Lacrosse as the league’s all-time leading scorer with 268 goals in 11 seasons. Prout has been an MLL Champion and has scored 314 National Lacrosse League goals to go with 625 assists as a multiple-time all-star.

Spreading Out The Scoring Wealth

Loyola’s first 11 goals against Denver in the ECAC Semifinal night were scored by 11 different players. Eric Lusby, Phil Dobson and Scott Ratliff finished the game with two goals, and eight others had one.

All three members of the Greyhounds’ first midfield – Davis Butts, Chris Layne and Sean O’Sullivan – scored goals. They received four goals from the four players who make up the second midfield line – Dobson (2), Pat Byrnes and Nikko Pontrello (J.P. Dalton did not score). Extra-man attackman Kevin Ryan scored, and two of the team’s three attackmen – Mike Sawyer and Lusby (2) – recorded goals. Ratliff scored twice in transition, and short-stick defensive midfielder Josh Hawkins added one. The Greyhounds’ other attack player, Justin Ward, did not score but had a game-high three assists.

In the title game, 10 different players scored for Loyola with all three attackers scoring and two of three from the first midfield like tallying goals.

Twelve In A Row Ties Mark

Loyola’s 12-straight to start the season tied the school record for consecutive victories, matching the number put up by the 1998 (March 14-May 17) and 1999 (March 6-May 8).

It also matched the best start to a season, equaling the 1999 team that finished the regular-season unblemished at 12-0.

Ratliff Named ECAC Defender Of The Year

Junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff was named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, marking the second time in four years a Greyhounds’ long pole has received the award. P.T. Ricci earned the honor in 2009, as well.

Ratliff leads the ECAC with 34 caused turnovers (2.13 per game) and is sixth nationally in that category, and he is tops on the Greyhounds with 74 ground balls (4.5 per contest).

The native of Marietta, Ga., also has scored nine goals and has seven assists this year, keying the Greyhounds’ transition game on many occasions. He earned ECAC Co-Specialist of the Week twice during the year and was the Defensive Player of the Week early in the season.

Toomey Tabbed ECAC Coach Of The Year

Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his seven-year career. This season, Toomey has guided the Greyhounds to a 15-1 mark during the regular-season and the ECAC regular-season crown with a 6-0 mark in conference play.

The Greyhounds became the second team in USILA Coaches Poll history to start a season unranked and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. The only other team was Duke in 2007 – a year after the Blue Devils had their season suspended in March – which accomplished the feat after being unranked in the first poll, moving to second in the next version and first in the third. Duke was knocked from its perch as No. 1 that season when it lost to the Greyhounds at the First Four in San Diego.

Earlier this season, Toomey won the 50th game of his coaching career, becoming the fourth coach in Loyola history to win 50 or more – Dave Cottle (181-70, 1983-2001), Charles Wenzel (62-104, 1954-1970), Jay Connor (61-46, 1975-1982).  Toomey’s .618 winning percentage trails only Cottle’s .721 at Loyola.

All-ECAC Honors

Five Loyola players earned All-ECAC Lacrosse League honors form the conference’s coaches. Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff earned a spot as a defender on the First Team, where he was joined by Mike Sawyer on attack and Davis Butts in the midfield.

Sawyer led the ECAC during the regular-season, and is now third nationally, in goals (50) and goals per game (3.13). Butts has scored 18 goals and assisted on 12 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also regularly playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 36 ground balls.

Attack Eric Lusby and defender Joe Fletcher were tabbed to the All-ECAC Second Team. Lusby is second on the team and is 14th nationally with 40 goals (2.5 per game), and he also has 14 assists this season. Fletcher came on as one of the top lock-down defenders around, earning Midseason All-American honors from Inside Lacrosse last month. He has 30 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers entering the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 6 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 32 occasions this season.

Loyola scored the first four goals of the ECAC Semifinal game against Denver and then tallied three-straight after the Pioneers pulled within 4-2. The Greyhounds then reeled off five in a row during the third quarter to take a 13-6 lead.

In the ECAC title game, Loyola used an 8-1 run that was comprised of runs of 3-0 and 5-0 to take control of the game.

On The Flip Side

Conversely, the Greyhounds have allowed a run of three or more goals just 10 times this year, with the most recent coming when Canisius scored three in the second quarter. Only Denver (seven), Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.

Following six of the nine opponent runs of three or more, Loyola has answered in kind with a run of 4-0 or better.

On The EMO

This season, the Greyhounds are ranked second in the nation in man-up offense, scoring 50-percent of the time. Only Lehigh (.553) has a better mark this year.

The last time Loyola finished at or above .500 in man-up offense was in 1997 when it converted 39-of-77 (.506).

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds have now outscored opponents 60-20 in the third quarters of games and 113-56 overall this year in the second half (including overtime).

The second-half scoring continues a trend from the last two seasons. Last year, Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56 two years ago.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The next chaper in “Lacrosse’s Greatest Rivalry” will be for a trip to the 2012 Final Four as Maryland and No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins will meet in the quarterfinals of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The 109th meeting between the Terps and the Blue Jays will take place on Saturday, May 12, at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with faceoff set for noon.

• The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2, as well as streamed on ESPN3.com. Fans can also watch the game on their wireless device with the WatchESPN app. Eamon McEnaney will provide the play-by-play, while the analysis will come from Quint Kessenich. Paul Carcaterra will be the sideline reporter.

• The Terps, who received an at-large bid, are making their 35th NCAA Tournament appearance, the second most of any school in NCAA history, while Hopkins, which also received an at-large berth, is making its 41st consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament.

• The winner of the Maryland/Hopkins game will advance to the Final Four in Foxborough, Mass., and will face the winner of the No. 3 seed Duke (14-4)/Colgate (14-3) game on Saturday, May 26 at Gillette Stadium. The Blue Devils and the Raiders play in the second game on Sunday, which is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. start at PPL Park in Philadelphia.

• Maryland is 10-5 on the season following a 10-9 win over No. 7 seed Lehigh on May 13 in Bethlehem, Pa. The Terps are the one of three unseeded teams to advance to this year’s quarterfinals. The Terps are led by senior attackman Joe Cummings, who has 29 goals and 14 assists for 43 points. Junior attackman Owen Blye is the team leader with 16 assists on the season. Maryland’s defense is led the co-ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jesse Bernhardt, who is tops on the squad with 55 groundballs and 29 caused turnovers.

• Johns Hopkins is 12-3 after defeating Stony Brook, 19-9, in the first round on Sunday afternoon at Homewood Field. The Blue Jays are led on offense by junior attackman Zach Palmer, who has 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points. Fellow Canadian, Brandon Benn is the team leader in goals with 29. The Hopkins defense is ranked third in the NCAA in scoring defense, allowing just 7.13 goals per game. That unit is led by junior defender Tucker Durkin (32 gb, 18 ct) and junior goalie Pierce Bassett, who boasts a 7.23 goals-against average.

The Count Down
10 … Since 2002 Maryland has won 91 of the 100 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .910 winning percentage.
9 … Maryland is 109-24 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .820 winning percentage.
8 … All eight teams remaining in the tournament field rank among the top 15 in the NCAA in scoring defense.
7 … Mike Chanenchuk has totaled seven points (4 goals, 3 assists) in Maryland’s last two games.
6 … Joe Cummings has six points in four career meetings with Johns Hopkins.
5 … Joe Cummings and Drew Snider each have five goals in their last four NCAA tournament games.
4 … Owen Blye tied his career high with four goals vs. the Blue Jays earlier this season at Homewood Field.
3 … Three unseeded teams advanced into the 2012 quarterfinals.
2 … Maryland is playing the No. 2 seed in the tournament for the 15th time in program history.
1 … This will be the first meeting between Maryland and Johns Hopkins in the NCAA tournament since the tournament expanded to its current 16-team format.

Coaching Match-Up
• John Tillman is in his fifth season as a head coach, and second with the Terps, with a 43-29 career record for a 59.7 winning percentage. Tillman is 23-10 (.697) as Maryland’s head coach. He had a 20-19 record in three seasons as the head coach at Harvard.

• Hopkins’ Dave Pietramala is in his 12th season at Hopkins and has a 138-44 (75.8) record with the Jays. He is 161-61 overall in 15 years as a coach for a 72.5 win percentage at both Hopkins and Cornell.

• Tillman has a 1-1 career record against Hopkins, losing 11-10 in OT at home in 2011 and winning 9-6 at Homewood Field earlier this season.

Tillman in the NCAA Tournament
• The meeting with Johns Hopkins will be John Tillman’s sixth NCAA tournament game as a head coach.

• Last Sunday’s 10-9 victory at No. 7 seed Lehigh made Tillman 2-0 in first round games and 4-1 in the NCAA tournament.

• Maryland’s run to the 2011 NCAA title game gave Tillman his first four NCAA tournament games as a head coach. He had a 3-1 record after the Terps defeated No. 8 seed UNC in the first round on May 15, No. 1 seed Syracuse on May 22 and No. 5 seed Duke on May 28 before losing to No. 7 seed Virginia.

• As an assistant coach, Tillman helped guide Navy to four consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2004-07, including a run to the 2004 championship game.

Maryland’s 35th Time in the NCAA Tournament
All-Time NCAA Tournament Results

• Maryland is making its 35th overall NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012. The Terps have played in the second-most tournaments since the event began in 1971. Only Hopkins has played in more, making its 41st appearance this season. Virginia is also making its 35th NCAA appearance.

• The Terps have captured two NCAA championships, 1973 and 1975.

Maryland’s Record in the NCAA Tournament
• The Terps have won the fourth-most Division I NCAA Tournament games, compiling a 46-32 overall record in 77 games. Only Johns Hopkins (67-31), Syracuse (59-21) and Virginia (48-29) have won more Division I tournament games.

• Maryland is seventh by percentage (.590) among all teams ever to play in the tournament. Only Syracuse (59-21, .738), Johns Hopkins (67-31, .684), Princeton (30-14, .682), Virginia (48-29, .623) and Duke (23-14, .622) are ahead of the Terps.

• The Terps have captured two titles. Only seven other schools have ever won the NCAA Championship: Syracuse (10), Johns Hopkins (9), Princeton (6), North Carolina (4), Virginia (5), Cornell (3) and Duke (1).

Maryland Unseeded in the NCAA Tournament
• This season marks the sixth time that Maryland has been unseeded since the tournament began in 1972. The Terps were previously unseeded in 1993, 1994, 1997, 2009 and 2011. Maryland is 8-5 (.615) all-time as an unseeded team.

• In those first two unseeded-years Maryland lost its first round game to the No. 8-seeded team, which were Army and Duke, respectively.

• The Terrapins were much more successful in 1997, advancing to the NCAA championship game. Maryland defeated No. 7-seed Georgetown in the first round before knocking off No. 2 Virginia in the quarters. In the 1997 Final Four Maryland upset No. 3 Syracuse, but couldn’t topple No. 1-seed Princeton in the finals.

• The 2009 Terps were the lone unseeded team to win a first round game, knocking off previously unbeaten Notre Dame, 7-3. The Terps lost to eventual national champion Syracuse in the quarterfinals.

• Last season saw the Terps head into the tournament unseeded, but Maryland advanced to the NCAA title game, knocking off No. 8 seed North Carolina in the first round, No. 1 seed Syracuse in the quarterfinals and No. 5 seed Duke in the semifinals. The Terrapins’ run ended with a 9-7 loss to No. 7 seed Virginia in the championship game.

• In the first round this season, Maryland knocked off No. 7 seed Lehigh, 10-9, on a goal by Joe Cummings with just six seconds left in the fourth quarter.

The Terps vs. the No. 2 Seed
• This marks the 15th time that Maryland has faced the No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament. Maryland is 3-11 all-time when playing the No. 2 seed.

1971 Semifinals: #3 Maryland 10, #2 Navy 7
1973 Championship: #1 Maryland 10, #2 Johns Hopkins 9, 2OT
1974 Championship: #2 Johns Hopkins 17, #1 Maryland 12
1976 Championship: #2 Cornell 16, #1 Maryland 13, OT
1977 Semifinals: #2 Johns Hopkins 16, #3 Maryland 9
1978 Semifinals: #2 Johns Hopkins 17, #3 Maryland 11
1982 First Round/Quarterfinals: #2 Johns Hopkins 14, #7 Maryland 9
1983 Semifinals: #2 Syracuse 12, #6 Maryland 5
1991 Quarterfinals: #7 Maryland 16, #2 Brown 13
1998 Championship: #2 Princeton 15, #5 Maryland 5
2003 Semifinals: #2 Virginia 14, #3 Maryland 4
2005 Semifinals: #2 Duke 18, #3 Maryland 9
2008 Quarterfinals: #2 Virginia 8, #7 Maryland 7, OT
2009 Quarterfinals: #2 Syracuse 11, Maryland 6

• This will mark just the second time that Maryland has played the No. 2 seed as an unseeded team.

Series History vs. Johns Hopkins
• Maryland and Hopkins are the two most storied lacrosse programs in the nation, with the rivalry beginning with back in 1895 as Hopkins defeated the Maryland Agricultural College. The Blue Jays (41) and Terps (35) have played in the first and third most NCAA Tournaments since the event began in 1971, respectively. Maryland (111) and Hopkins (181) have produced the most first team All-Americans in the history of lacrosse dating to the first awards in 1922.

• While this will be the 109th meeting between the two schools, Maryland’s official record vs. Hopkins is 39-61-1. The first seven meetings between the two happened before lacrosse was an official sport at Maryland.

• The return to Homewood Field for the first time since 2008 was a memorable one for the Terps as Owen Blye scored four goals, all in the second half, and the Maryland defense held the Blue Jays scoreless for the final 29:17 in a 9-6 Maryland win.

• The 100th official meeting for Maryland between the Terps and the Jays was another classic, but it was Hopkins’ Kyle Wharton scoring the game-winning goal with just 16 seconds left in the first overtime to give the Jays a 12-11 victory in College Park. Joe Cummings led the Terps with four goals, while Ryan Young had a goal and two assists. Niko Amato made 12 saves in the game, while Curtis Holmes won 15-of-27 faceoffs with a career-high nine groundballs.

• In 2010 the Terps and Blue Jays once again played at the Smartlink Day of Rivals at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore and again the game ended with a 10-9 final. But this time it was Maryland that took home the victory thanks in large part to its quartet of attackmen - Grant Catalino, Travis Reed, Will Yeatman and Ryan Young - who combined for six goals and 11 points. The Terps trailed 4-1 early in the second quarter, but scored eight of the next nine goals to take control of the game. Maryland never trailed after taking the lead, but Hopkins pulled to within a goal by scoring twice in the last two minutes to make it a another one-goal game.

• The 2009 match-up was another one-goal game with the Blue Jays edging the Terps, 10-9, at the inaugural Smartlink Day of Rivals at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Hopkins was the beneficiary of nine second-half penalties called against the Terps. Dan Groot had a hat trick for the Terps, while Grant Catalino (2-1=3), Jeremy Sieverts (2-1=3) and Ryan Young (1-2=3) also had three points apiece.

• The 2008 game was not a one-goal affair as Hopkins controlled the game on their home field and took a 10-4 decision. The game was tight in the first half, with the Blue Jays taking a 3-2 lead into halftime. But the third quarter saw Hopkins outscore the Terps 6-1 to put the game out of reach. Grant Catalino was the Terps’ lone multi-point scorer with a goal and an assist, but the highlight of the game for Maryland came on Brian Farrell’s highlight-reel one-handed bounce shot with a pair of Blue Jay defenders draped on him.

• The series returned to its one-goal history in 2007 with the Blue Jays pulling out an 8-7 victory in overtime. Paul Rabil hit a running left-handed shot just 43 seconds into the extra session. Senior midfielder Chris Feifs had the finest outing of his college career in the game, scoring his first-ever hat trick.

• The Terps snapped a four-game losing skid to Hopkins in 2006 with a decisive 11-4 win at Homewood Field on April 14. Leading the way was Attackman of the Year Joe Walters, who scored six goals and added two assists. Eight points and six goals were the most ever by a Maryland player against the Blue Jays. Bill McGlone chipped in with a pair of goals, while junior goalie Harry Alford was solid in the cage, stopping nine shots.

• The 2005 game saw the Blue Jays use a four-goal run in the third quarter to secure an 11-6 victory over the ninth-ranked Terrapins on April 15. Six different Terps scored in the game, led by Joe Walters, Xander Ritz and Dave Matz, who each scored one and added an assist. The loss dropped the Terps to 5-5 on the season, but they would go on a six-game winning streak en route to an ACC Tournament championship and a berth in the Final Four.

• At Homewood Field on April 17, 2004, Hopkins raced out to an 8-1 lead in the first quarter en route to a 14-10 victory in the 100th meeting between the two schools. Sophomore Brendan Healy led the Terps with three goals.

• In the 2003 meeting at Byrd Stadium, on April 12, Joe McDermott scored the game-winner 1:21 into overtime for the 6-5 Hopkins win in front of 8,183 in attendance. Dan LaMonica was the only Terp with multiple points with three on a goal and two assists. Michael Howley finished with a game-high six groundballs.

• Mike Mollot had three goals and an assist to lead the Terps, but Hopkins’ Kyle Barrie scored the game-winning goal at the 1:45 mark of the first overtime to give the Blue Jays a 9-8 victory at Homewood Field. The game was tied at 7-7 going into the fourh, but Mollot’s third goal of the game gave Maryland an 8-7 lead with 13:12 to go in the fourth. The defense tried to hold off the third-ranked Blue Jays, but Kevin Boland scored his only goal of the game at the 3:59 mark of the fourth to tie the score and send the game to overtime.

Maryland vs. Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament
• Maryland and Johns Hopkins have player 108 times, but despite playing in a combined 76 tournaments only 12 of those games have come in NCAA tournament play. The Blue Jays hold a 9-3 series advantage in NCAA tournament games vs. the Terrapins.

• The Terps and Blue Jays have met in the quarterfinals four times with Hopkins winning the first three. Maryland won the last meeting between the two in the quarters, 11-10 in OT, in 1998 (see page 5 for a complete recap). That game was the last time the Terps and Blue Jays met in the tournament.

• Five times the two teams have met in the semifinals (4-1 Hopkins) and three times for the NCAA championship (2-1 Hopkins).

1972 Semifinals: #4 Johns Hopkins 9, #1 Maryland 6
1973 Championship: #1 Maryland 10, #2 Johns Hopkins 9, 2OT
1974 Championship: #2 Johns Hopkins 17, #1 Maryland 12
1977 Semifinals: #2 Johns Hopkins 22, #3 Maryland 12
1978 Semifinals: #2 Johns Hopkins 17, #3 Maryland 11
1979 Championship: #1 Johns Hopkins 15, #2 Maryland 9
1981 First Round/Quarterfinals: #1 Johns Hopkins 19, #8 Maryland 14
1982 First Round/Quarterfinals: #2 Johns Hopkins 14, #7 Maryland 9
1987 Semifinals: #4 Johns Hopkins 13, #1 Maryland 8
1995 Semifinals: #4 Maryland 16, #1 Johns Hopkins 8
1996 Quarterfinals: #7 Johns Hopkins 9, #2 Maryland 7
1998 Quarterfinals: #5 Maryland 11, #4 Johns Hopkins 10, OT

Cummings Named Male Athlete of the Year at the Inaugural Terp Awards
• Senior Joe Cummings took home the top honor at the inaugural Terp Awards celebration on Tuesday, May 8, being selected as the 2012 Male Athlete of the Year. The Towson, Md., native was also recognized by the ACC for his community service efforts.

• Junior Owen Blye was the recipient of the men’s lacrosse Academic Achievement Award, which is presented to the junior or senior from each team with the highest cumulative GPA.

• Senior Jake Bernhardt may have been sidelined from the field this season due to injury, but that didn’t stop him from contributing in the community and he was honored with the men’s lacrosse Community Service Award.

Bernhardt, Murray Earn Annual ACC Awards
• Junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt and freshman defender Goran Murray were among the five student-athletes recognized as recipients of the annual ACC men’s lacrosse individual awards, the conference announced Tuesday.

• Bernhardt, a native of Longwood, Fla., shares the inaugural ACC Defensive Player of the Year award with Duke’s CJ Costabile. Bernhardt, who is also a 2012 Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, leads the Terps with 22 caused turnovers and leads the conference with 2.0 caused turnovers per game. He is also averaging 3.3 groundballs per game and is the captain of a Maryland defense that currently ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 7.45 goals per game.

• Murray, a native of Merion Station, Pa., becomes the seventh Terp to be named the ACC Freshman of the Year. He is the first since 2007 when Brian Phipps earned the honor and the first Maryland defender since Michael Howley won the honor. Murray was a long-pole midfielder coming into preseason practice, but was converted to close defense and has become Maryland’s shutdown defender. Murray has started all 11 games for the Terps and became the first freshman close defender to start a season opener since 2008. He currently ranks sixth in the conference with 1.1 caused turnovers per game.

• Virginia senior Steele Stanwick earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors, while Duke’s John Danowski was named the ACC Coach of the Year.

League-Best Four Terps Named To All-ACC Team
• Maryland placed a league-high four players on the 2012 All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse Team, which was announced today by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Senior attackman Joe Cummings and sophomore goalie Niko Amato made the team for the second-straight season, while junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt and junior midfielder John Haus are first-time selections.

• All four ACC men’s programs are represented on the annual All-ACC team, which was determined by a vote of the four head coaches. Maryland’s four honorees were the most by any school. Duke and Virginia each had three selections, while North Carolina had one player make the team.

Going Purple
• Once again this season, the Terps will be wearing purple “MY” stickers, to show their support for the fight against pancreatic cancer, which touched everyone in the Maryland lacrosse family last season with the passing of Maria Young on April 17.

• This past fall the Terps, Maryland alums and family and friends came together for the inaugural Forever Young Walk/Run for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness. More on Ms. Young and her amazing story can be found here: Forever Young.

• If you’re interested in more information about the Lustgarten Foundation, including how to make a donation, click here to visit the foundation’s website. You can also get more information on pancreatic cancer at CurePC.org.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about pancreatic cancer from the American Cancer Society:
· More than 43,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer present each year
· There are more than 36,000 deaths from pancreatic cancer each year
· The lifetime risk of having pancreatic cancer is about 1 in 71.
· The risk is about the same for both men and women.

Going Gray
• Maryland players will also be wearing gray stickers with the number 42 in honor of Zack Wholley’s father, John, who passed away from brain cancer on August 28, 2011.

• If you’re interested in more information, please visit the National Brain Tumor Society website.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about brain and spinal cord tumors from the American Cancer Society:
· About 22,910 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord (12,630 in males and 10,280 in females) will be diagnosed. These numbers would likely be much higher if benign tumors were also included.
· About 13,700 people (7,720 males and 5,980 females) will die from these tumors.
· Overall, the chance that a person will develop a malignant tumor of the brain or spinal cord in his or her lifetime is about one in 150 for a man and one in 185 for a woman.

Get To 10 And Win
• One axiom of lacrosse is that if you score 10 goals or more your chances of winning are pretty good. Well, a look at the results since 2002 shows that when Maryland scores 10 or more goals there’s not just a pretty good chance the Terrapins will win; it’s an almost certainty. Since 2002 Maryland has won 91 of the 100 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .910 winning percentage.

• Maryland scored 10, but fell at North Carolina, 11-10, on March 24, 2012 and again came out on the losing end, despite scoring 11 in a 13-11 loss at Colgate on May 5, 2012. The Terps scored 11 vs. Johns Hopkins on April 16, 2011, but the Blue Jays won the game in overtime, 12-11. On April 3 of last season the Terps lost to No. 1 Virginia by a final of 11-10, giving Maryland its only loss when scoring 10 or more goals in 2010. In 2009 the Terps lost to Georgetown, 13-10 on Feb. 21 and lost again when scoring 10 in the ACC Semifinals in a 16-10 defeat at North Carolina. Prior to that, Maryland had not lost when scoring 10 or more goals since dropping an 11-10 decision to Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C. The Terrapins got to 10 goals in the 100th game against Johns Hopkins, but the Blue Jays took the game 14-10. Virginia is the only team to beat the Terps twice when allowing 10 or more goals. The Wahoos did it first in 2002 with another 11-10 decision.

Holding Opponents To Single-Digits
• The Terps have been extremely impressive (winning 91.0 percent of its games since 2002) when it scores 10 or more goals, they have been nearly as impressive when holding opponents to less than 10 goals during that span.

• Since 2002 Maryland is 109-24 in games, for a .820 winning percentage, when it has held opponents under 10 goals. The Terps have played 174 total games since 2002. Maryland has held opponents to nine goals or less 76.4 percent of the time.

Shooting Tells The Story
• The difference between winning and losing for Maryland this season is simple – when the Terps shoot well they win. As it turns out 30% is the magic number for the Terps this season. Maryland is 10-5 on the year and has shot 30% or better in eight of its 10 victories. In four of the Terps’ five losses Maryland failed to shoot 30%.

W- Hartford: 12 goals, 40 shots = 30%
W- at Georgetown: 16 goals, 41 shots = 39.0%
W- Duke: 10 goals, 28 shots = 35.7%
L- at UMBC: 7 goals, 30 shots = 23.3%
W- Marist: 17 goals, 43 shots = 39.5%
W- Villanova: 11 goals, 31 shots = 35.5%
L- at North Carolina: 10 goals, 35 shots = 28.6%
L- Virginia: 8 goals, 32 shots = 25.0%
W- Navy: 13 goals, 52 shots = 25.0%
W- at Johns Hopkins: 9 goals, 28 shots = 32.1%
L- vs. Duke: 5 goals, 31 shots = 16.1%
W- at Mount St. Mary’s: 12 goals, 29 shots = 41.4%
W- Bellarmine: 12 goals, 33 shots = 36.4%
L- at Colgate: 11 goals, 31 shots = 35.5%
W- at Lehigh: 10 goals, 37 shots = 27.0%

• Since 2005 the Terps are a remarkable 53-4 (.930) when shooting 30% or better in a game. The only four losses were: 13-10 to Georgetown in 2009 (the Terps shot 10 of 30 for 33.3% vs. the Hoyas), 11-10 to No. 1 Virginia on April 3, 2010 (10 of 33 for 30.3%), 12-11 in overtime on April 16, 2011 to No. 3 Johns Hopkins (11 of 28 for 39.3%) and 13-11 at Colgate on May 5, 2012 (11 of 31 for 35.5%).

Elite Company
• With four points in the Terps’ 12-8 win at Mount St. Mary’s on April 25, senior attackman Joe Cummings became a member of an elite club at Maryland – The 100-Point Club. Cummings became just the 38th player in the program’s 87-year history to reach the 100 point plateau. He is passed Bud Beardmore (1960-62) for sole possession of 34th on the all-time points list with 109 after scoring two goals at Lehigh in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

• Since men’s lacrosse became a fully-recognized championship sport by the NCAA in 1971 only 25 Maryland players have reached 100 career points. (Players who played their entire careers in the championship era).

• Cummings also joined another elite club with his 11th career hat trick at The Mount, becoming one of just 20 Terrapins players to have scored at least 75 career goals. He currently stands in 19th on the career goals list at Maryland with 84.

Consecutive 10-Win Seasons
• Maryland’s 10-9 win over the Mountain Hawks extended the Terps’ streak of double-digit win seasons to 10. (Special thanks to Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times).

• How does Maryland’s string of 10+ win seasons stack up against the rest of the college lacrosse programs? Take a look at programs with at least six-straight 10-win seasons:

Maryland (10): 2012 (10-5), 2011 (13-5), 2010 (12-4), 2009 (10-7), 2008 (10-6), 2007 (10-6), 2006 (12-5), 2005 (11-6), 2004 (13-3), 2003 (12-4)
Virginia (8): 2012 (12-3) 2011 (13-5), 2010 (16-2), 2009 (14-2), 2008 (14-4), 2007 (12-4), 2006 (17-0), 2005 (11-4)
Notre Dame (7): 2012 (12-2), 2011 (11-3), 2010 (10-7), 2009 (15-1), 2008 (14-3), 2007 (11-4), 2006 (10-5)
Duke (6): 2012 (14-4) 2011 (14-6), 2010 (16-4), 2009 (15-4), 2008 (18-2), 2007 ( 17-3)
Siena (6): 2012 (11-5), 2011 (13-5), 2010 (12-5), 2009 (12-6), 2008 (10-6), 2007 (10-6)

• Cornell’s string of seven-straight 10+ win seasons came to an end this season with a 9-4 final mark.

The 700 Club
• Maryland’s 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 was the program’s 700th victory in 84 seasons of varsity men’s lacrosse. The Terps join Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Navy and Army as the only programs with 700 or more Division I wins.

• Two things that make Maryland’s accomplishment all the more impressive is that the Terps reached the 700-win plateau in just their 84th season. Only Syracuse reached win No. 700 in as few seasons, but it took the Orange 53 more games than Maryland. In fact, Maryland needed only 940 games to reach 700 wins and only Johns Hopkins needed fewer games (932) to hit the historic number, but the Blue Jays did so in their 105th season.

Terps’ 87th Season Of Lacrosse
• The Terps boast an all-time record of 738-252-4 (.744), dating back to the first varsity team in 1924 (a team was not fielded in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II). Maryland has finished every one of its previous 85 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 10-6. The program reached the 700-win milestone with a 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 at Ludwig Field.

• During the decade of the 2000s, Maryland went 111-49 for a .694 win percentage, making it the winningest decade in Terrapin lacrosse history. In the decade of the 1990s, Maryland posted a 95-47 record. The .669 winning percentage matched Maryland’s win percentage of the 1980s when the Terps went 83-41 and also compiled a .669 win percentage. So far, Maryland is 25-9 in the 2010′s for a .735 winning percentage.

Youth Is Served
• Maryland started two sophomores (Michael Ehrhardt and Brian Cooper) and a freshman (Goran Murray) at close defense in the 2012 season-opening win over Hartford. The last time Maryland’s defense had two sophomore and one freshman starting was 2005 when sophomores Steve Whittenberg and Ray Megill started alongside freshman Joe Cinosky. The first game that group started together was April 23, 2005 at Fairfield (a 9-6 Terrapin win).

• Goran Murray became the first Maryland freshman to start at close defense in a season opener since 2008 when Max Schmidt started in an 11-6 win at Georgetown.

Face-Off Firsts
• Junior Curtis Holmes’ 19-of-20 (.950) performance facing-off vs. Hartford in the 2012 season opener is just the fifth time since 2000 that a Maryland face-off man has won at least 90% of his draws with at least 10 attempts.

• Holmes joins Andy Claxton and Brian Haggerty as the only Terps with multiple games of 19 or more face-off wins. Claxton did it three times (27 at Towson in 1991, 21 vs. Duke in 1991 and 19 at Brown in 1991), while Haggerty did it twice (20 vs. Butler in 1998 and 19 vs. Virginia in 1998). Holmes had 20 wins vs. Georgetown last season to go along with his 19 vs. the Hawks, which makes him the only Terp to win 19 or more face-offs in different seasons.

• The last 90% performance was in 2008 when Bryn Holmes, Curtis’ older brother, won 9-of-10 face-offs at Mount St. Mary’s.

• The last time a Terp faced-off with a winning percentage above 90% was on March 21, 2006 when David Tamberrino won 12-of-13 in a 14-2 win over Dartmouth.

Best Face-Off Performances Since 2000
Curtis Holmes - 19/20 (.950) vs. Hartford 2/18/12
Brian Carroll - 12/13 (.923) at Delaware 3/17/01
Davin Tamberrino – 12/13 (.923) vs. Dartmouth 3/21/06
Jeremy Pastula - 11/12 (.917) at Towson 3/8/03
Bryn Holmes - 9/10 (.900) at Mount St. Mary’s 2/26/08
Bryn Holmes - 12/14 (.857) vs. Presbyterian 2/13/09
Brian Carroll - 11/13 (.846) vs. Mount St. Mary’s 2/26/02
Bryn Holmes - 11/13 (.846) vs. Air Force 2/14/09
Ryan Moran - 10/12 (.833) vs. Bucknell 3/11/03
Will Dalton - 18/22 (.818) vs. Vermont 2/20/07
Curtis Holmes - 17/21 (.810) vs. Detroit Mercy 2/19/11

The Stretch: Carolina, Virginia, Navy, Hopkins
• Since 1978 Maryland’s schedule has been highlighted by a four-game stretch in the middle of its season: North Carolina, Virginia, Navy and Johns Hopkins. In the 35-year span only four times has the stretch been interrupted with another game added in between one of these traditional four (1981, 1997, 2001, 2003).

• Overall, Maryland is 64-76 (.457) since 1978 vs. those four teams during that time.

• The Terps have swept the four games only once – in 1987. Only twice (1981 & 1988) has Maryland lost all four games. Six times (1978, 1979, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001) the Terps have won three of the four games. Johns Hopkins broke up the Terps’ bid for a perfect stretch four times, while Carolina and Virginia broke it up one time each.

The Terps On ESPNU
• Maryland has had 43 games on ESPNU since 2006. Maryland is 23-19 (.558) all-time in games broadcast on ESPNU.

• The Terps played five games (at UNC, vs. Virginia, at Johns Hopkis, vs. Duke at the ACC tournament and at Lehigh in the NCAA tournament) on ESPNU in 2012.

First-Time Opponents
• Maryland has played 78 different opponents in its 87 seasons. The 2012 season added Hartford (a 12-6 win on 2/18) and will add Marist (3/10) to that list. In the Terps’ 78 first-time meetings Maryland is 74-4 (.949) in those games. Adelphi (12-13, 1982), Army (0-3, 1923), Syracuse (3-10, 1927) and Yale (3-5, 1925) are the only schools to beat the Terps the first time the schools met on a lacrosse field.

Maryland In Season Openers
• Maryland has a 83-3-1 (.960) lifetime record in season openers dating back to the 1924 season. The Terps have won their last 19 openers and 26 of the last 27, with the only loss coming to Duke in 1993, when they fell to Duke 9-5 on March 6.

• After losing their 1925 opener to Yale, 5-3, the Terps went on to win 40 consecutive season openers from 1926 through 1967. The streak was broken when Maryland tied Princeton, 6-6, in the 1968 opener. Following the deadlock, Maryland went on to win its next 14 openers, giving the Terps a 54-0-1 record over a 57-year span (Maryland did not field a team in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II.)

19 Straight in Season Openers
• After beating Hartford to open the 2012 season the Terps have an 19-game winning streak in season openers. Five of those wins came against Villanova (1994-98) and the last nine over Denver, Mount St. Mary’s, Air Force, Hobart, Duke, Georgetown (four times), Bellarmine (twice), Presbyterian, Detroit Mercy and Hartford. Over the 19-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 267-99 (an average score of 14.1-5.2) in those games.

• The Terps have not allowed more than seven goals to any opponent in a season opener over the last 18 years. Maryland has not allowed an opponent to score 10 or more goals in a season opener since Syracuse beat the Terps, 16-13 on March 9, 1983.

A Family Affair
• Many school’s refer to their sports programs as families, but the Maryland men’s lacrosse program is truely a family affair. Since 2002, the Terps have had 13 sets of brothers, including three on this season’s roster, don the red and black together for at least one season.

Harry & Thomas Alford: 2004-05-06-07
Jake & Jesse Bernhardt: 2010-11-12
Justin & Owen Blye: 2009-10-11
Brian & Kevin Cooper: 2011-12
Billy & Bobby Gribbin: 2012
Brendan & Ian Healy: 2003-04-05
Bryn & Curtis Holmes: 2010
Bryn & Travis Holmes: 2007
Dan & Mike LaMonica: 2002
Chris & Willy Passavia: 2002-03
Brian & Michael Phipps: 2007
Max & Xander Ritz: 2005-06
Mark & Michael White: 2008-09-10-11

The Game: Seventh-ranked and second-seeded Johns Hopkins (12-3) makes the short trip down to Navy’s Marine Corps Stadium to take on rival Maryland (10-5) in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Faceoff is set for 12:03 pm on Saturday, May 19 and the game will air live nationally on ESPN2.

Last Time Out: Johns Hopkins jumped out to a 7-1 lead and never looked back in a 19-9 victory over Stony Brook in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Maryland built an early 6-1 lead, fell behind and then rallied late to top host Lehigh in its first round game.

A Look Ahead: The winner of this week’s quarterfinal game between Johns Hopkins and Maryland will take on the winner of the Duke-Colgate game in the NCAA Semifinals next Saturday in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The time of that game will be determined on Sunday evening (May 20).

Noting JHU in the NCAA Tournament: Johns Hopkins is making its 41st consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament. By comparison, the next five longest active streaks of qualifying for the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament add up to 37 consecutive appearances (Maryland-10, Virginia-8, Notre Dame-7, Duke-6, North Carolina-6).

At Navy in the NCAAs: Johns Hopkins is 2-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played at Navy. The Blue Jays knocked off Notre Dame in the first round of the 1992 tournament (15-7) and Navy in the 2008 quarterfinals (10-4) before falling to Virginia (19-8) in the 2009 quarterfinals.

Series History: Johns Hopkins and Maryland are meeting for the 109th time in a series that dates to a 10-0 Johns Hopkins win in 1895. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series, 68-39-1, but Maryland picked up a 9-6 win at Homewood Field earlier this season (April 14).

JHU-Maryland in the NCAA Tournament: It’s been 14 years since Johns Hopkins and Maryland last met in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps took that meeting, 11-10, in overtime at Byrd Stadium.
Here are a few notes of interest about the JHU-Maryland series in the NCAAs: • Johns Hopkins and Maryland have met 12 times previously in the NCAAs with the Blue Jays holding a 9-3 advantage in those 12 games.
• Maryland has won two of the last three meetings (1998, 1995).
• The lower seeded team has won the last four NCAA Tournament meetings (JHU in 1987 and 1996 / Maryland in 1995 and 1998). Prior to that the higher seeded team had won five straight.
• Johns Hopkins ended Maryland’s season with a loss in the NCAAs five times in a six-year span from 1977-82.
• The teams met three times for the national championship in the 1970s with JHU winning in 1974 and 1979 and Maryland taking the crown in 1973.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against Maryland with an all-time record of 924-297-15 (.754). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

A Win For Johns Hopkins Would …
• Advance Johns Hopkins to the NCAA Semifinals for the 29th time.
• Give the Blue Jays 13 wins for the second consecutive year and the sixth time in 12 seasons under head coach Dave Pietramala.
• Give JHU 13 wins for the 13th time in school history.
• Improve Hopkins’ record to 34-9 (.791) under head coach Dave Pietramala in games played in the month of May.

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 season opener. He now sports an all-time record of 161-61 (.725), including a 138-44 (.758) 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: 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.

Homeschooled: Johns Hopkins’ entire coaching staff is comprised of former Blue Jay standouts. In addition to head coach Dave Pietramala ‘90, Hopkins is led by associate head coach Bill Dwan ‘91, assistant coach/offensive coordinator Bobby Benson ‘03 and volunteer assistant coach Jamison Koesterer ‘07. Between the four of them they have eight combined national championships as either players or coaches at JHU (Pietramala 3 (1 as a player, 2 as the head coach), Dwan (2 as an assistant coach), Benson (1 as an assistant coach), Koesterer (2 as a player).

Odd, But True: Johns Hopkins has advanced to at least the NCAA Semifinals every year since the inception of the NCAA Tournament in years ending in “2”. In 1972 and 1982 the Blue Jays lost in the national championship game; in 1992 and 2002 JHU fell in the NCAA Semifinals.

Second Time Around: Johns Hopkins and Maryland will be meeting for the second time this season on Saturday in the NCAA Quarterfinals. This will be the 18th time Johns Hopkins faces a team in the NCAA Tournament that it lost to during the regular season.
In 17 previous instances the Blue Jays avenged the loss 10 times (including three times in the championship game) and were swept seven times. This week’s game against Maryland marks the sixth time the Blue Jays have faced a team that beat them during the regular season under Dave Pietramala. JHU has avenged the regular season loss four times in the previous five instances.

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

Play it and They Will Come: Johns Hopkins played in front of its second sellout crowd in three weeks at Loyola (April 28) as LU sold all 6,000 tickets available for its home game against JHU. JHU also played in front of a packed house of 8,500 on April 14 when Maryland visited Homewood Field.
Playing in front of large crowds is nothing new for the Blue Jays, who lead the nation in average attendance for all games played (6,529).

Six Over Six: The crowd of 6,000 that watched the Johns Hopkins-Loyola game on April 28 was the sixth crowd of 6,000 or more that Johns Hopkins has played in front of in 2012.

Eight of Nine: Johns Hopkins has played in front of a crowd of 5,130 or more in eight of its last 10 games.

Five of Top 10: There have been 10 crowds of 6,500 or more at a Division I men’s lacrosse game this season and Johns Hopkins has been a participant in five of the 10.

Against Number One: The 10-9 overtime victory at Loyola (April 28) was JHU’s second win of the season against a team ranked number one in the nation. Earlier this season (March 24) the Blue Jays knocked off then top-ranked Virginia, 11-10, in overtime.
The game against Loyola was also the 11th Johns Hopkins has played against a team ranked number one under head coach Dave Pietramala. The Blue Jays are now 7-4 in their 11 games against the nation’s top-ranked team under his guidance. This is the first time in school history that Johns Hopkins has defeated a top-ranked team twice on the road in the same season.

Close Calls: Eight of the 11 games Johns Hopkins has played against teams ranked number one under head coach Dave Pietramala have been decided by one goal. JHU is 6-2 in those eight one-goal games.

Streaking: In case you didn’t notice, Johns Hopkins is 20-4 in its last 24 games, 25-6 since the start of the 2011 season and 27-8 in its last 35 games.

Striking the First Blow: Johns Hopkins has scored on its first (6x) or second (6x) shot of the game a total of 12 times in 15 games this season.

Attack Oriented: Despite being forced to start five different players in three different combinations, the starting attack units the Blue Jays have trotted out have been effective and efficient. The unit has combined for 77 goals and 53 assists (8.67 points per game) through 15 games.

On the Flip Side: While the Blue Jay attack is collectively averaging 8.67 points per game, the Blue Jay defense has not been nearly as giving. In fact, the starting attack units Johns Hopkins has faced this season have totaled just 52 goals and 27 assists (5.27 points per game).

Bassett Now 25-6 in Last 31 Starts: Junior goalie Pierce Bassett picked up his 28th career victory in goal with the 19-9 win over Stony Brook in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Bassett is now 25-6 in his last 31 starts dating back to the start of the 2011 season and counts a 28-10 career record to his credit.
Through 15 games Bassett currently ranks sixth in the nation in goals against average (7.23) and 21st in save percentage (.531).
Bassett concluded his first full season as the starter for the Blue Jays last season and posted a 7.07 goals against average and a .570 save percentage. He finished fifth in the nation in GAA and 10th in save percentage. Bassett’s 7.07 goals against average is the second best by a JHU goalie since 1993 (Jesse Schwartman’s 6.68 GAA in 2005 is the best since records became available in ‘93).

Boland Returns: Senior attackman Chris Boland returned to the lineup against North Carolina after missing seven consecutive games with an injury he suffered 35 minutes into the season opener against Towson. Despite missing the second half against Towson and seven full games, he ranks third on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 13 assists for 29 points.
He enters this weeks’ game against Maryland on a roll as he totaled three goals and two assists in a 13-6 win against Army and added three goals and four assists in last week’s win over Stony Brook in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
In his last five NCAA Tournament games (dating back to the first round of the 2009 tournament), he has 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points. He has played in seven career NCAA games, but all 25 of his points in the playoffs have come in his last five outings.
Boland pushed his career totals to 82 goals and 51 assists for 133 points with his effort against Stony Brook. He now has 12 career hat tricks, 31 career multi-point games and 20 games with four points or more.
Boland passed his older brother, Kevin ‘04, on JHU’s career scoring list with his seven-point effort against Stony Brook in the first round of the NCAA Tournament (133-129). The Bolands are the first brothers in school history to both surpass the 125 career point mark.

Stanwick in Rare Company: Freshman Wells Stanwick scored the fifth goal in JHU’s game-opening 5-0 run at top-ranked Loyola, added the final goal in a 4-1 game-opening run in the win over Army and chipped in one goal and one assist in the win over Stony Brook.
Stanwick has nine goals and 14 assists for 23 points in 12 games played this season. He missed three games early in the season with an injury, but still ranks second on the team in assists and tied for fifth in points.
Stanwick ran his streak of consecutive multi-point games to seven with one goal and two assists in the win over Albany before being held scoreless by Maryland and Navy. His run of seven straight multi-point games to open his career is the longest by a Johns Hopkins player (freshmen only – not transfers) since all-time leading scorer Terry Riordan opened his career with 18 consecutive multi-point games from 1992-93.

Palmer in Rare Company: Junior attackman Zach Palmer punched up three goals and three assists in last week’s 19-9 win over Stony Brook in the first round of the NCAA Tournament to push his season totals to 26 goals and 26 assists for 52 points. He also ran his career totals to 58 goals and 56 assists for 114 points.
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).

Offensive Notes of Interest: Below are several notes of interest about the JHU offense:
• JHU has scored at least one goal in 55 of 60 quarters this season and two or more in 46 of the 60 quarters.
• For all the talk about JHU being a slow-down team, the Blue Jays are averaging 36.2 shots per game. That number compares favorably to JHU’s averages in 2005 (38.1) and 2007 (36.3) – the most recent years in which Johns Hopkins won the national championship.
• Johns Hopkins ranks 20th in the nation in scoring offense (10.67), 11th in extra-man offense (.434) and seventh in scoring margin (+3.53).

Defensive Notes of Interest: Below are several notes of interest about the JHU defense:
• Hopkins is surrendering an average of just 28.2 shots per game.
• JHU has held the opposition scoreless in 16 of 60 quarters this season (26.7%). • The Blue Jays rank third in the nation in scoring defense (7.13), 15th in man-down defense (.714) and seventh in scoring margin (+3.53) this season.
• Johns Hopkins has held each of its 15 opponents scoreless for a stretch of at least 13:05 and 10 of the 13 have gone scoreless for 19:30 or longer.

Now That’s a Drought: The Johns Hopkins defense did not allow an even-strength goal for an amazing stretch of 116:37 from late in the win at Princeton through early in the fourth quarter of the win over UMBC.

About the Shutout: Shutouts in college lacrosse are rare, but JHU notched one with the 11-0 victory over Manhattan on March 6. Prior to that, the Blue Jays had last posted a shutout on March 26, 1988, when they knocked off Princeton, 9-0. The shutout vs. Manhattan was the 61st in JHU history with 57 of those coming prior to 1950.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays checked in at number seven in the final regular season USILA Coaches Poll and 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 week’s USILA Poll, there have been 396 weekly polls since the inception of the poll in 1973. Amazingly, JHU has been ranked in the top 20 in 394 of those 396 polls. The Blue Jays have been in the top 10 in 373 of the 396 and the top five in 295 of those 396. Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one 104 times since the poll debuted in 1973.

Home Cookin’: Johns Hopkins had its 12-game home winning streak snapped with the 9-6 loss to Maryland on April 14. The streak is the second-longest under head coach Dave Pietramala, who picked up his 75th career victory at Homewood Field with the win earlier this season against Delaware. Hopkins sports an 81-13 (.860) record in home games during his career at JHU.
JHU won a school and national-record 37 straight home games from 2001-06 under Pietramala’s guidance and the recent 12-game home winning streak is the fourth home streak of seven wins or more since he arrived.

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 wins this season vs. Towson, UMBC and Loyola and losses to Maryland and Navy, JHU is 56-6 (.903) against teams from Maryland under head coachDave Pietramala.

First to 900: Johns Hopkins’ 10-6 win at Towson in the 2011 season opener not only got the season off on the right foot for the Blue Jays, but also made history. The win was the 900th all-time in school history, making Johns Hopkins the first program to record 900 all-time wins. JHU now has 924 all-time wins.

That’s 627 Games Over .500: The Blue Jays’ all-time record is now 924-297-15 (.753) … that’s 627 games over .500. To put this in perspective: JHU has played an average of just over 15 games per season under head coach Dave Pietramala. Using a 15-game season as a reference, if the Blue Jays posted a 5-10 record for 125 straight seasons, they would still be seven games over .500.