May 4, 2003

BALTIMORE, Md. -- For the second consecutive year and the ninth time in school history the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team has earned the number one seed in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championships. The top-ranked, number-one-seeded Blue Jays will face Army in the first round at Homewood Field on Saturday, May 10. The time of the game will be announced on Monday, May 5. Army enters the tournament with a record of 8-7 after winning the Patriot League's automatic bid.

"Johns Hopkins has had a tradition of outstanding lacrosse games with the United States Military Academy," Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala stated after the tournament pairings were announced. "Although we haven't played in several years, we expect Army to play physical and with a lot of emotion. Coach (Jack) Emmer will have them ready to play when they get here and we expect this to be another great game in a great series."

This will be the 66th all-time meeting between Johns Hopkins and Army. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series, 52-13 and the teams last met in 1997, with Johns Hopkins winning, 23-5. The Blue Jays and Cadets have met once in the NCAA Tournament with the Blue Jays taking an 11-5 decision in the 1973 quarterfinals.

Johns Hopkins, 11-1 and riding an eight-game winning streak, has been on a roll since dropping its lone game of the season, 15-14 at Syracuse on March 15. After losing to the Orangemen, Hopkins completed a sweep of the ACC with wins over Virginia (8-7), North Carolina (11-10/OT), Duke (19-6) and Maryland (6-5/OT). The Blue Jays then pushed their winning streak to eight games with lopsided wins over Canisius (21-5), Navy (17-3), Towson (17-9) and Loyola (17-6).

The NCAA Tournament selection is the 32nd straight for Johns Hopkins, which has appeared in 14 NCAA title games and has advanced to the NCAA semifinals 23 times. The 32 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament are the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament by any NCAA Division I team in any sport. In addition, this is the 28th time in 32 years the Blue Jays have been seeded in the top four. This is the first time Johns Hopkins will play a first-round game since 1996. Under the old 12-team tournament format, Johns Hopkins was the only team in the nation to earn a bye every year between 1997 and 2002.

Under the guidance Pietramala, the Blue Jays have used a potent offense and an underrated defense throughout the year. Hopkins, which leads the nation in scoring offense (14.2 goals/game), features seven players with 14 or more goals and five players with 30 or more points. Sophomore attackman Kyle Barrie leads the team in scoring with 27 goals and 17 assists for 44 points. Senior Bobby Benson is the top goal-scorer with a career-high 30 to go along with 11 assists. In addition, junior attackman Peter LeSueur (21g, 16a), junior midfielders Conor Ford (14g, 21a), and Kevin Boland (18g, 13a), sophomore midfielder Kyle Harrison (17g, 12a) and senior midfielder Adam Doneger (22g, 6a).

Senior goalie Rob Scherr anchors the Blue Jay defense as he boasts a 7.45 goals against average and a .569 save percentage. He has held five of Hopkins' last six opponents to six goals or less. Senior Michael Peyser and sophomores Chris Watson and Tom Garvey have started all 12 games together on defense for the Blue Jays, who have allowed more than 10 goals just once this season.

Tickets for the game will be available in the Johns Hopkins Department of Athletics beginning Wednesday, May 7 at noon. They will also be available on game day 90 minutes before faceoff. Ticket prices are $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for students of either school, children under 12 and senior citizens.

2003 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament Schedule

Penn State (7-6) at Towson (8-5)

Albany (10-5) at #4 Princeton

Mount St. Mary's (10-7) at #2 Virginia (11-2)

First Round * Times To Be Announced on Monday, May 5

Georgetown (10-3) at Rutgers (10-4)

Ohio State (9-4) at #3 Maryland (10-3)

Dartmouth (11-2) at Syracuse (8-5)

Hofstra (11-5) at Massachusetts (12-2)

Quarterfinals * North

Syracuse/Dartmouth winner vs. Albany/Princeton winner

Maryland/Ohio State winner vs. Massachusetts/Hofstra

Quarterfinals * South

Rutgers/Georgetown winner vs. Mount St. Mary's-Virginia winner

Semifinals

First game at 11:30 am - second game 45 minutes after first game concludes

Finals

Semifinal winners - 11:00 am

All times TBA

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