Four Former Blue Jays Seek World Championship

Hopkins Well Represented at 2006 ILF World Championships

Three-time Hopkins First Team All-American A.J. Haugen is one of four former Blue Jays competing in the 2006 ILF World Championships.

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July 14, 2006

BALTIMORE, MD -- The 2006 ILF World Championships begin today in London, Ontario Canada with a record 21 nations competing for the title. A total of four former Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse players will compete with three representing the United States and another playing for England. All four are making their first appearance in the championship.

John Gagliardi, a standout defenseman who graduated from Johns Hopkins in 1997, is the most experienced of the former Hopkins players participating. Gagliardi was a two-time All-American at Hopkins (1996, 1997) and is a four-time MLL All-Star. He helped the Long Island Lizards to MLL titles in 2001 and 2003 and also played four seasons in the NLL. He is generally regarded as one of the top defensive players in the world.

A pair of the top midfielders in school history round out the three JHU representatives on the United States team as A.J. Haugen and Kyle Harrison combined to earn First Team All-America honors five times during their careers at Homewood and should see plenty of playing time.

Haugen, who was a member of the 1996 United States Under-19 World Championship team, remains one of just three midfielders in school history to earn First Team All-America honors three times as he turned the trick as a sophomore, junior and senior. He scored 85 goals and added 23 assists during his career at Homewood and has scored over 120 goals during his MLL career. He was also a member of the Long Island Lizards' MLL Championship teams in 2001 and 2003.

One of the most popular players in school history, Harrison led Johns Hopkins to the 2005 NCAA Championship during a season when he guided the Blue Jays to a 16-0 record and the program's eighth NCAA title. He twice earned First Team All-America honors and became the first Hopkins player to win the prestigious Tewaaraton Award (2005). A member of the New Jersey Pride and a 2005 MLL All-Star, Harrison scored 81 goals during his career at Hopkins and ranks second in school history in faceoff winning percentage (.611).

Rounding out the former Blue Jays who will participate in the ILF World Championships is attackman Peter LeSueur, who graduated from JHU in 2005 and will played for England. LeSueur started 60 of 61 games at Hopkins and was a team captain on the 2005 National Championship team. He totaled 60 goals and 59 assists during his career with a personal-best 24 goals and 21 assists as a sophomore in 2003. He is the first Johns Hopkins player to represent a country other than the United States since 1998, when Brian Carcaterra also played for England.

All four former Blue Jays will be in action early in the championship as the England-Iroquois game will be the first game played (12:30 pm on Friday, July 14) with the United States-Austtalia game to follow at 4:00 pm. The foursome will meet on Saturday, July 15 when the United States and England meet at 10:00 am.

The United States has won eight of the previous nine ILF World Championships and has won six straight since Canada won the 1978 title with a 17-16 overtime victory against the Americans. The 2006 United States team prepped for this year's championship with three recent exhibition games. The U.S. defeated Ireland (27-2), the Syracuse All-Stars (15-6) and the MLL All-Stars (18-10).

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