Johns Hopkins to Host Notre Dame in NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament

Blue Jays, Fighting Irish to Meet in NCAAs for Fifth Time Since 1992

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Junior Stephen Peyser and the Blue Jays will host Notre Dame in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

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May 6, 2007

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BALTIMORE, MD -- The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team will host Notre Dame in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament it was announced tonight on ESPNU with the release of the 16-team NCAA bracket. The Blue Jays are making their record 36th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament and earned the number three seed in the tournament. This is the 11th straight year the Blue Jays have been seeded in the top four, the longest such streak in the nation. Notre Dame is making its 12th appearance in the tournament.

The winner of the Johns Hopkins-Notre Dame first round game will play the winner of the Georgetown-Princeton game at Princeton on May 19 as part of a doubleheader. Georgetown, which earned the number six seed, will host Princeton in the first round.

Johns Hopkins will carry a 9-4 record and a five-game winning streak into the game against Notre Dame. The game is scheduled for Saturday, May 12 at Homewood Field. The official time of the game will be announced on Monday, May 7.

The Blue Jays rallied to earn their bid to the tournament by winning their final five regular season games after posting a 4-4 record in their first eight games. An 8-7 overtime win at Maryland jump-started the season-ending run, which also included a one-goal win over Navy (10-9), a two-goal win at Towson (9-7) and a three-goal win (12-9) in the regular-season finale against Loyola. The Blue Jays have excelled in close games under head coach Dave Pietramala as JHU sports a 28-6 record in one-goal games under his guidance.

The Blue Jays feature a balanced offense that is paced by junior midfielder Paul Rabil, a 2006 First Team All-American. Rabil counts team highs of 23 goals and 16 assists for a career-high 39 points to his credit and enters the NCAA Tournament on a roll as he has scored at least three points in each of the last seven games and has 11 points in his last two games.

Freshman Steven Boyle has made an immediate impact on attack as he has 21 goals and 13 assists on the year, while senior Jake Byrne teams with Boyle to give the Blue Jays a solid one-two punch on attack as he has 21 goals and six assists this season. The other half of JHU's dynamic freshman tandem is Boyle's roommate, midfielder Michael Kimmel. Kimmel ranks fourth on the team in scoring with 17 goals and seven assists.

Defensively the Blue Jays have held 11 of their 13 opponents to nine goals or less and have allowed a total of just 35 goals during their five-game winning streak. Senior goalie Jesse Schwartzman paces the unit as he fashions an 8.32 goals against average and a .543 save percentage. The Blue Jays are 35-9 in his 44 career starts and he is 6-1 in the NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore Michael Evans, junior Matt Bocklet and senior Eric Zerrlaut provide the nucleus on close defense with senior Brendan Skakandi, junior George Castle and sophomore Andrew Miller comprising the rope unit.

The Fighting Irish enter the NCAA Tournament riding the crest of an eight-game winning streak during which they have out-scored the opposition 107-39. Notre Dame has held 10 straight opponents to nine goals or less and currently ranks second in the nation in scoring defense (6.36). Junior goalie Joey Kemp anchors the unit as he sports a 6.47 goals against average and a .630 save percentage.

Offensively Notre Dame is led by sophomore Ryan Hoff and freshman Will Yateman. Hoff counts a team-high 38 goals and four assists to his credit, while Yateman has emerged as one of the top rookies in the nation with 21 goals and 23 assists for a team-high 44 points. Seniors Brian Hubschmann (24g, 10a) and Lucius Polk (18g, 9a) and junior Michael Podgainy (22g, 13a) are also key figures in an offense that is averaging nearly 12 goals per game. The Irish have taken that production up a notch recently as they are averaging 13.4 goals per game during their eight-game winning streak.

This will be the fifth meeting between Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame in men's lacrosse with the Blue Jays leading the all-time series 3-1. The two teams met most recently in 2001 with the Fighting Irish taking a 13-9 decision in the NCAA Quarterfinals to advance to the national semifinals for the only time in school history. All four previous meetings have come in the NCAA Tournament with the Blue Jays winning in 1992 (15-7) and 2000 (15-11) at Homewood Field and in 1996 (12-7) at Navy.

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