May 25, 2008

Johns Hopkins-Syracuse NCAA Men's Lacrosse Notes

Setting the Scene: Fifth-seeded Johns Hopkins (11-5) and third-seeded Syracuse (15-2) meet in the NCAA Championship Game at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Faceoff is set for 1 pm.

Looking Back: Johns Hopkins stunned top-ranked and top-seeded Duke, 10-9, in the semifinals to advance to the championship game, while the Orange came from behind to defeat Virginia, 12-11, in double overtime in the semifinals. This is the first time since 1997 that both semifinals were decided by one goal.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters the game against Syracuse with an all-time record of 882-277-15 (.758). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

Series History: This will be the 46th all-time meeting between Johns Hopkins and Syracuse and the 12th in the NCAA Tournament. A complete series history can be found elsewhere.

Eight Straight: The win over Duke in the NCAA Semifinals was Hopkins' eighth straight victory since dropping a 17-6 decision at Duke on April 5. The eight-game winning streak is the sixth winning streak of eight games or longer under head coach Dave Pietramala (2001-present). This season's streak very much resembles last season's nine-game winning streak to close the season. Last season the Blue Jays stood at 4-1 before a three-game losing streak dropped JHU to a 4-4. Nine wins later and the Blue Jays had won their ninth NCAA Championship.

Trying to Make History: Johns Hopkins (11-5) is bidding to become the first team to win the title with five losses. Virginia (1972) and Johns Hopkins (2007) are the only teams to win the title with four losses.

Title-Game Regulars: Monday's championship game appearance against Syracuse will mark JHU's third appearance in the NCAA Championship game in the last four years and its fourth appearance in the last six years. This is also the record 18th title-game appearance for the Blue Jays.

More Title-Game: Johns Hopkins is the first team to advance to the championship game in back-to-back years since Syracuse played in four straight from 1999-2002. The Blue Jays are also the first defending national champion to make it back to the title game the following year since Princeton won the title in 2001 and lost in the 2002 championship game.

Seniors Going for Three: The seniors on the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team are aiming for their third national championship. The Blue Jays defeated Duke in the 2005 (9-8) and 2007 (12-11) title games. A win against Syracuse would put this class in select company as it would become just the sixth class in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse history to win three championships.

Johns Hopkins Earns 37th Straight NCAA Bid: Johns Hopkins earned its record 37th straight bid to the NCAA Tournament this season. The 37 consecutive appearances is the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in any NCAA Division I Team sport.

Blue Jays Seeded Fifth: Johns Hopkins earned a number five seed in the 2008 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament. This is the 12th consecutive year the Blue Jays have been seeded in the top five. To put this in perspective, no other team in the nation has even qualified for the NCAA Tournament for 12 straight years. In fact, JHU's streak of 12 straight top-five seeds is twice as long as any other team's streak of qualifying for the tournament at all (Maryland - 6 straight bids).

Bouncing Back: The 10-9 win over Duke in the NCAA Semifinals avenged a 17-6 loss to the Devils during the regular season. This marks the fourth time the Blue Jays have avenged a regular season loss with a win in the playoffs under head coach Dave Pietramala. In fact, the Blue Jays have are now 4-0 in NCAA Tournament games under Pietramala in games against teams that beat them during the regular season.

More Bouncing Back: The win over Duke in the NCAA Semifinals marked the 10th time the Blue Jays have avenged a regular season loss with a win in the playoffs. However, the 11-goal margin of defeat is easily the biggest Hopkins has bounced back from. Previously, the largest margin of defeat Hopkins had avenged was a five-goal loss to Cornell in 1978 (16-11). That year, the Blue Jays defeated the Big Red 13-8 to snap Cornell's 42-game winning streak and win the first of three straight national championship games.

That's 605 Games Over .500: Including the win against Duke, the Blue Jays' all-time record is now 882-277-15 (.758) ... that's 605 games over .500. To put this in perspective: JHU has played an average of just under 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 120 straight seasons, they would still be five games over .500.

All-Americans: Johns Hopkins placed five players on the 2008 USILA All-America team. Paul Rabil (M) earned first team honors for the third straight year, while classmate and linemate Stephen Peyser (M) grabbed second team status. Senior Kevin Huntley (A), senior Matt Bocklet (D) and junior Michael Evans (D) were all named to the third team,

May Day: Johns Hopkins has posted a 36-4 (.900) record in the month of April under head coach Dave Pietramala and that success has carried over into the month of May. JHU is 27-5 (.844) in the month of May under Pietramala, including a perfect 13-0 at Homewood Field. Overall the Blue Jays have won 21 consecutive games at Homewood Field in the month of May. JHU's last loss at home in May came on May 2, 1992, when Towson dropped the Blue Jays, 14-13, in overtime.

Halftime Speech is Working: During the current eight-game winning streak the Blue Jays have out-scored the opposition 30-10 in the third quarter.

Man-Down Unit Improving: One area where the Blue Jays struggled during the middle of the season was in man-down situations. The opposition converted on 9-of-15 (.600) chances in a six-game span that started against Hofstra and ended against Maryland. However, in the last eight games the Blue Jays have found their way in man-down situations as Navy (both games), Towson, Mount St. Mary's, Loyola, Hofstra and Duke combined to convert on just 3-of-21 (.143) extra-man chanes. For the year the opposition is 17-of-46 (.370) with the extra man.

Extra-Man Unit Rolls On: Johns Hopkins has been opportunistic when given extra-man opportunities as the Blue Jays rank sixth in the nation in man-up offense as they've converted on 16-of-36 (.444) chances this season. The 36 chances are the fewest of any team ranked in the top 25 in the nation in this category. Senior Paul Rabil leads the team with five extra-man goals, while freshman Kyle Wharton (3), seniors Michael Doneger (3) and Kevin Huntley (2) and sophomore Steven Boyle (2) have also cashed in on these chances.

One-Goal Turnarounds: Hopkins picked up its first one-goal win of the season with the 10-9 victory over Duke. JHU improved to 30-10 all-time under head coach Dave Pietramala in one-goal games. JHU had lost all three of its previous one-goal games this season (Hofstra/8-7, Syracuse/14-13, Virginia/13-12) with all three losses coming in overtime. Comeback Kids: The Blue Jays have come from behind to win six times this season (Albany, UMBC, Towson, Loyola, Navy (NCAA) and Duke) and erased a two-goal deficit in the third quarter at Loyola. Johns Hopkins came from behind to win eight times last season, including six times during the season-ending nine-game winning streak.

Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 73-16 in its last 89 regular season games dating back to the end of the 2001 season and is 88-20 (.815) overall since the start of the 2002 season.

Defensive Turnaround: Johns Hopkins allowed 57 goals in consecutive losses to Syracuse, Virginia, North Carolina and Duke. However, the Blue Jay defense has rebounded nicely in the last month with standout showings in wins over Maryland (10-4), Navy (12-5), Towson (16-7), Mount St. Mary's (12-1), Loyola (9-6), Hofstra (10-4), Navy (10-4) and Duke (10-9). The 40 goals allowed over the last eight games are the fewest JHU has allowed in an eight-game span since 1967, when the Blue Jays surrendered just 36 goals in an eight-game run.

Defensive Notes of Interest:

• JHU held Duke more than six goals below its season scoring average in Saturday's 10-9 win. The Devils entered the game averaging 15.5 goals per gmae.

• Duke scored twice late in the first quarter, but was then held scoreless for 20 minutes. The Blue Devils were also held scoreless for a stretch of 16:05 later in the game.

• During the current eight-game winning streak the opposition has scored 40 goals on 263 shots for a shooting percentage of .152.

• Johns Hopkins has held the opposition scoreless for a streak of 14 minutes or longer 21 times in 16 games this season. Since the start of the 2007 season the Blue Jays have held the opposition scoreless for a streak of 14 minutes or longer 37 times.

• Hopkins has held the opposition scoreless for 25 minutes or longer 13 times since the start of the 2007 season, including seven times this season.

• The Blue Jays have held 18 of their last 22 opponents - including 13 of 16 this season - scoreless for a stretch of at least 18 minutes.

Don't Forget the Offense: While the focus of any Dave Pietramala-coached team will always be defense, the Blue Jay offense has been effective as well this season. Consider:

• As a team the Blue Jays have scored on 31.5% of their shots through 16 games (169-of-535). JHU connected on 28.8% of its shots en route to winning the national championship a year ago. The Blue Jays' highest shooting percentage in the Pietramala era came in 2003 when they connected on 31.7% (224-of-706) of their shots.

• Dating back to the end of last season, JHU has scored in double figures 17 times in its last 22 games and is averaging 10.95 goals per game during that time (241 goals in 22 games).

• Johns Hopkins has scored in all 32 quarters during its current eight-game winning streak and the Blue Jays have scored three or more goals in 19 of those 32 quarters.

Playing the Possession Game: JHU has won the ground ball war in 12 of its 16 games this season and has a 545-480 ground ball advantage on the year (+4.1 GBs per game). Hofstra (31-29), Duke-RS (40-38), MSM (31-30) and Navy (NCAA) (28-20) are the only teams to win the ground ball battle against JHU this season.

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