Mista Hollywood
03-08-2007, 03:20 PM
from hopkinssports.com
Setting the Scene: Johns Hopkins and Hofstra meet for the 19th time in a series that dates back to an 18-10 JHU victory in the 1974 NCAA Quarterfinals.
Looking Back: Johns Hopkins won its second straight game on Tuesday night with a 15-6 win at UMBC. The Pride slipped to 1-1 with a 7-6 loss at Brown last Saturday.
Poll Position: Johns Hopkins is ranked fifth in this week's USILA Coaches Poll and fifth in this week's Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office uses the USILA Poll to reflect JHU's official ranking at the time of a game.
These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters the game against UMBC with an all-time record of 860-269-15 (.758). The Blue Jays own eight NCAA Championships, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 43 national championships.
Welcome Home: For the fourth consecutive game, Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala will match wits with an opposing coach with a strong tie to Homewood. Albany (Scott Marr) and UMBC (Don Zimmerman) are both coached by Hopkins' graduates and Princeton is coached by Bill Tierney, who coached Pietramala during his playing career at JHU. Hofstra is led by first-year coach Seth Tierney, who played two years with Pietramala and four years with associate head coach Bill Dwan at JHU. Tierney also spent six years as the offensive coordinator at JHU (2001-06) before taking over at Hofstra this season.
Another Welcome: Hofstra assistant coach Matt Rewkowski was a starting midfielder on Johns Hopkins' 2005 national championship team.
Petro Moves Up: Not only did Johns Hopkins inch its record above the .500 mark with the win over UMBC on Tuesday night, but the victory also marked a milsetone for head coach Dave Pietramala,
who moved into sole possession of fourth place on JHU's career coaching victories list. Pietramala now sports a 74-16 (.822) record since taking over at Homewood prior to the 2001 season. Ironically, Pietramala moved past Don Zimmerman on the list with the victory against Zimmerman's Retrievers. Pietramala played for Zimmerman during his four years as a player at JHU (1986-89).
Pietramala Stands Alone: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala is the only person in lacrosse history who has won an NCAA Division I Championship as a player (1987) and a head coach (2005). He is also the only person who has been named the national player of the year and the national coach of the year.
Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 58-8 in its last 66 regular season games dating back to the end of the 2001 season and 66-12 overall since the start of the 2002 season.
One-Goal Turnarounds: The 7-6 double-overtime victory against Princeton improved Hopkins' recent run of success in one-goal games as JHU is 25-6 in one-goal games under head coach Dave Pietramala. The Blue Jays have won 12 of their last 14 and 16 of their last 19 one-goal games. In its previous 31 one-goal games (covering a span from a 6-5 win over North Carolina in 1988 through the 2000 season), Hopkins was 17-14.
More One-Goal Notes: The Blue Jays have come from behind to win 11 times during their last 12 one-goal wins. In eight of those 11 come-from-behind one-goal wins the Blue Jays have come back from a deficit of two goals or more. The latest of these come-from behind wins was last Saturday's 7-6 double-overtime victory against Princeton as the Blue Jays erased deficits of 2-0, 3-1, 4-3 and 5-4 before prevailing.
Overtime Notes: The 7-6 double-overtime victory against Princeton improved the Blue Jays' record to 11-2 in overtime under head coach Dave Pietramala. The Blue Jays have currently won seven straight overtime games. Players on the 2007 team who have scored game-winning goals in overtime:
• Junior Kevin Huntley punched home the game-winner in the second OT against Duke in 2005.
• Sophomore Brian Christopher scored 1:22 into OT against Loyola on May 6, 2006.
• Junior Paul Rabil fired home the game-winner 56 seconds into the second OT against Princeton on March 3, 2007.
Amazing, But True: Johns Hopkins dropped its final game of the 2006 season against Syracuse in the NCAA Quarterfinals (13-12) and the 2007 season-opener against Albany (8-7). This marked the first time Johns Hopkins has lost back-to-back games under head coach Dave Pietramala. However, the win over Princeton extended JHU's streak of not losing back-to-back games in the same season under Pietramala. The last time JHU lost back-to-back games in the regular season was early in the 2000 season (Syracuse and Virginia) under John Haus.
Marching Orders: Johns Hopkins is 26-8 under head coach Dave Pietramala in games played in the month of March.
What's Back: The Blue Jays were one of the youngest teams in the nation last season, but still fought their way to within one goal of reaching the final four. The Blue Jays return players who accounted for 125 of their 138 (90.6%) goals last season and 55 of 69 (79.7%) assists they accumulated a year ago.
More Back: While injuries toyed with the depth chart last season, a quick look reveals more about what is back this season. Of the top 17 players who regularly appeared on the depth chart last season, six were freshmen, three were sophomores and five were juniors. Only three of the 17 graduated. Returning players combined for 112 starts last season.
Boyle, Kimmel Spark Offense: With nine of its top 10 scorers from a year ago back, it figured that the Johns Hopkins offense would have a chance to be more efficient this season. After scoring a total of 14 goals in their first two games, the Blue Jays exploded for 15 in Tuesday night's win over UMBC.
The surprising part of offensive success of the Blue Jays thus far has been the peformance of freshmen Steven Boyle and Michael Kimmel, who have combined for nine goals and eight assists through three games and rank first and second, respectively, on the team in scoring.
Both notched one goal and one assist in the season-opener against Albany and have alternated as the giver and the deliverer in the last two games. Boyle sprung for three goals in the win over Princeton, while Kimmel added three assists (all on second-half goals) to fuel the victory over the Tigers.
In Tuesday's win over UMBC it was Kimmel who punched them home (three goals on three shots) with Boyle counting three assists on his four-point night. For the record, Johns Hopkins has not been led in scoring by a freshman since Brian Piccola had a team-high 61 points in 1992.
Extra-Man Offense Bounces Back: After going 0-for-2 with the extra man against Albany, Johns Hopkins bounced back and converted 2-of-4 in the win over Princeton and 2-of-6 in the win over UMBC. The Blue Jays got extra-man goals from juniors Kevin Huntley and Michael Doneger (both goals were assisted by freshman Michael Kimmel) in the win over Princeton, while Huntley and Kimmel scored with the extra man against the Retrievers (both goals assisted by Jake Byrne).
Johns Hopkins has finished in the top 10 in the nation in extra-man offense four times in the last five years (2002-T4th, 2003-1st, 2004-5th, 2006-9th).
A Quick Start: Johns Hopkins was held scoreless in the first quarter of its season-opening loss against Albany and in the first quarter against Princeton as well. It took the Blue Jays less than a minute to find the back of the net against UMBC as junior Stephen Peyser scored 52 seconds into the game. The Blue Jays went on to score five first-qurter goals against the Retrievers.
35 in a Row: Last year's NCAA Tournament bid was the 35th straight for Johns Hopkins, which missed the inaugural NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament in 1971, but has qualified for every one since. This is the longest streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in any Division I Team sport.
10 in a Row: The Blue Jays drew the number four seed in last year's NCAA Tournament. This marked the 10th consecutive year Johns Hopkins has been seeded in the top four in the tournament. By comparison, only two other schools (Syracuse & Georgetown) have even qualified for the tournament in each of the last 10 years.
One of Two: Junior midfielder Paul Rabil is one of just two Division I men's lacrosse players returning this season who earned First Team STX/USILA All-America honors (he joins Princeton goalie Alex Hewitt). Rabil became the first Johns Hopkins sophomore since A.J. Haugen in 1998 to earn First Team All-America when he took top honors a year ago. He led the Blue Jays in scoring last season with 25 goals and 13 assists for 38 points.
Leader of the Pack-I: Junior attackman Kevin Huntley led the Blue Jays with 30 goals last season and ranked second in points with 36. His 56 career goals entering the Hofstra game are the most of any active player.
Leader of the Pack-II: Senior attackman Jake Byrne punched up 18 goals and 10 assists last season and finished third on the team in scoring with his 28 points. Best known for scoring the game-tying goal with 1.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the 2005 NCAA Semifinal victory over Virginia, Byrne enters this week's game as JHU's career active scoring leader with 83 points (51 goals/32 assists) after a two-goal, two-assist effort in Tuesday's win over UMBC.
Setting the Scene: Johns Hopkins and Hofstra meet for the 19th time in a series that dates back to an 18-10 JHU victory in the 1974 NCAA Quarterfinals.
Looking Back: Johns Hopkins won its second straight game on Tuesday night with a 15-6 win at UMBC. The Pride slipped to 1-1 with a 7-6 loss at Brown last Saturday.
Poll Position: Johns Hopkins is ranked fifth in this week's USILA Coaches Poll and fifth in this week's Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office uses the USILA Poll to reflect JHU's official ranking at the time of a game.
These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters the game against UMBC with an all-time record of 860-269-15 (.758). The Blue Jays own eight NCAA Championships, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 43 national championships.
Welcome Home: For the fourth consecutive game, Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala will match wits with an opposing coach with a strong tie to Homewood. Albany (Scott Marr) and UMBC (Don Zimmerman) are both coached by Hopkins' graduates and Princeton is coached by Bill Tierney, who coached Pietramala during his playing career at JHU. Hofstra is led by first-year coach Seth Tierney, who played two years with Pietramala and four years with associate head coach Bill Dwan at JHU. Tierney also spent six years as the offensive coordinator at JHU (2001-06) before taking over at Hofstra this season.
Another Welcome: Hofstra assistant coach Matt Rewkowski was a starting midfielder on Johns Hopkins' 2005 national championship team.
Petro Moves Up: Not only did Johns Hopkins inch its record above the .500 mark with the win over UMBC on Tuesday night, but the victory also marked a milsetone for head coach Dave Pietramala,
who moved into sole possession of fourth place on JHU's career coaching victories list. Pietramala now sports a 74-16 (.822) record since taking over at Homewood prior to the 2001 season. Ironically, Pietramala moved past Don Zimmerman on the list with the victory against Zimmerman's Retrievers. Pietramala played for Zimmerman during his four years as a player at JHU (1986-89).
Pietramala Stands Alone: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala is the only person in lacrosse history who has won an NCAA Division I Championship as a player (1987) and a head coach (2005). He is also the only person who has been named the national player of the year and the national coach of the year.
Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 58-8 in its last 66 regular season games dating back to the end of the 2001 season and 66-12 overall since the start of the 2002 season.
One-Goal Turnarounds: The 7-6 double-overtime victory against Princeton improved Hopkins' recent run of success in one-goal games as JHU is 25-6 in one-goal games under head coach Dave Pietramala. The Blue Jays have won 12 of their last 14 and 16 of their last 19 one-goal games. In its previous 31 one-goal games (covering a span from a 6-5 win over North Carolina in 1988 through the 2000 season), Hopkins was 17-14.
More One-Goal Notes: The Blue Jays have come from behind to win 11 times during their last 12 one-goal wins. In eight of those 11 come-from-behind one-goal wins the Blue Jays have come back from a deficit of two goals or more. The latest of these come-from behind wins was last Saturday's 7-6 double-overtime victory against Princeton as the Blue Jays erased deficits of 2-0, 3-1, 4-3 and 5-4 before prevailing.
Overtime Notes: The 7-6 double-overtime victory against Princeton improved the Blue Jays' record to 11-2 in overtime under head coach Dave Pietramala. The Blue Jays have currently won seven straight overtime games. Players on the 2007 team who have scored game-winning goals in overtime:
• Junior Kevin Huntley punched home the game-winner in the second OT against Duke in 2005.
• Sophomore Brian Christopher scored 1:22 into OT against Loyola on May 6, 2006.
• Junior Paul Rabil fired home the game-winner 56 seconds into the second OT against Princeton on March 3, 2007.
Amazing, But True: Johns Hopkins dropped its final game of the 2006 season against Syracuse in the NCAA Quarterfinals (13-12) and the 2007 season-opener against Albany (8-7). This marked the first time Johns Hopkins has lost back-to-back games under head coach Dave Pietramala. However, the win over Princeton extended JHU's streak of not losing back-to-back games in the same season under Pietramala. The last time JHU lost back-to-back games in the regular season was early in the 2000 season (Syracuse and Virginia) under John Haus.
Marching Orders: Johns Hopkins is 26-8 under head coach Dave Pietramala in games played in the month of March.
What's Back: The Blue Jays were one of the youngest teams in the nation last season, but still fought their way to within one goal of reaching the final four. The Blue Jays return players who accounted for 125 of their 138 (90.6%) goals last season and 55 of 69 (79.7%) assists they accumulated a year ago.
More Back: While injuries toyed with the depth chart last season, a quick look reveals more about what is back this season. Of the top 17 players who regularly appeared on the depth chart last season, six were freshmen, three were sophomores and five were juniors. Only three of the 17 graduated. Returning players combined for 112 starts last season.
Boyle, Kimmel Spark Offense: With nine of its top 10 scorers from a year ago back, it figured that the Johns Hopkins offense would have a chance to be more efficient this season. After scoring a total of 14 goals in their first two games, the Blue Jays exploded for 15 in Tuesday night's win over UMBC.
The surprising part of offensive success of the Blue Jays thus far has been the peformance of freshmen Steven Boyle and Michael Kimmel, who have combined for nine goals and eight assists through three games and rank first and second, respectively, on the team in scoring.
Both notched one goal and one assist in the season-opener against Albany and have alternated as the giver and the deliverer in the last two games. Boyle sprung for three goals in the win over Princeton, while Kimmel added three assists (all on second-half goals) to fuel the victory over the Tigers.
In Tuesday's win over UMBC it was Kimmel who punched them home (three goals on three shots) with Boyle counting three assists on his four-point night. For the record, Johns Hopkins has not been led in scoring by a freshman since Brian Piccola had a team-high 61 points in 1992.
Extra-Man Offense Bounces Back: After going 0-for-2 with the extra man against Albany, Johns Hopkins bounced back and converted 2-of-4 in the win over Princeton and 2-of-6 in the win over UMBC. The Blue Jays got extra-man goals from juniors Kevin Huntley and Michael Doneger (both goals were assisted by freshman Michael Kimmel) in the win over Princeton, while Huntley and Kimmel scored with the extra man against the Retrievers (both goals assisted by Jake Byrne).
Johns Hopkins has finished in the top 10 in the nation in extra-man offense four times in the last five years (2002-T4th, 2003-1st, 2004-5th, 2006-9th).
A Quick Start: Johns Hopkins was held scoreless in the first quarter of its season-opening loss against Albany and in the first quarter against Princeton as well. It took the Blue Jays less than a minute to find the back of the net against UMBC as junior Stephen Peyser scored 52 seconds into the game. The Blue Jays went on to score five first-qurter goals against the Retrievers.
35 in a Row: Last year's NCAA Tournament bid was the 35th straight for Johns Hopkins, which missed the inaugural NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament in 1971, but has qualified for every one since. This is the longest streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in any Division I Team sport.
10 in a Row: The Blue Jays drew the number four seed in last year's NCAA Tournament. This marked the 10th consecutive year Johns Hopkins has been seeded in the top four in the tournament. By comparison, only two other schools (Syracuse & Georgetown) have even qualified for the tournament in each of the last 10 years.
One of Two: Junior midfielder Paul Rabil is one of just two Division I men's lacrosse players returning this season who earned First Team STX/USILA All-America honors (he joins Princeton goalie Alex Hewitt). Rabil became the first Johns Hopkins sophomore since A.J. Haugen in 1998 to earn First Team All-America when he took top honors a year ago. He led the Blue Jays in scoring last season with 25 goals and 13 assists for 38 points.
Leader of the Pack-I: Junior attackman Kevin Huntley led the Blue Jays with 30 goals last season and ranked second in points with 36. His 56 career goals entering the Hofstra game are the most of any active player.
Leader of the Pack-II: Senior attackman Jake Byrne punched up 18 goals and 10 assists last season and finished third on the team in scoring with his 28 points. Best known for scoring the game-tying goal with 1.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the 2005 NCAA Semifinal victory over Virginia, Byrne enters this week's game as JHU's career active scoring leader with 83 points (51 goals/32 assists) after a two-goal, two-assist effort in Tuesday's win over UMBC.