Dec. 14, 2007

BALTIMORE, MD - The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team placed nine players on the 2008 Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-America Team. The Blue Jays placed three players on the first team (Paul Rabil, Stephen Peyser, Michael Evans), one on the second team (Steven Boyle) and one on the third team (Matt Drenan). Four players also garnered honorable mention honors (Kevin Huntley, Michael Kimmel, Matt Bocklet and Andrew Miller).

Rabil was a finalist for the 2007 Tewaaraton Trophy and won the McLaughlin Award as the nation's top midfielder a year ago. He led the Blue Jays in scoring with a career-high 53 points on 27 goals and a team-best 26 assists and polished off the 2007 season with a one-goal, five-assist masterpiece against Duke in the national championship game. A two-time First Team USILA All-American, he enters his final season with a chance to become JHU's all-time leader among midfielders in goals, assists and points. He currently has career totals of 75 goals and 53 assists for 128 points.

Peyser earned Third Team USILA All-America honors last season as he totaled 16 goals and 10 assists for 26 points. He also paced the team with 80 ground balls, won 106-of-189 (.561) faceoffs and finished 17th in the nation in faceoff winning percentage and 20th in the nation in ground balls per game.

Evans emerged as the leader of the Blue Jay defense last season as he grabbed Honorable Mention USILA All-America honors. He started all 17 games on close defense and led the resurgence of the unit late in the season, when Hopkins held the opposition to just 7.22 goals per game during the season-ending nine-game winning streak.

Boyle provided an instant spark on offense as he tallied 23 goals and 14 assists for 37 points last season. He became the first freshman attackman at Hopkins to earn All-American honors since 1992 as he was named to the honorable mention squad. He ranked second on the team in assists, tied for second in points and third in goals. His 23 goals and 37 points are tied for the most ever by a freshman under head coach Dave Pietramala.

Drenan earned a nod to the third team on the strength of his performance as a freshman in 2006. He started all 14 games on close defense as a that year and finished fifth on the team - and first among defensemen - with 32 ground balls. Drenan led a defense that held nine of 14 opponents to nine goals or less in 2006. He missed the entire 2007 season with a knee injury.

Huntley started all 17 games on attack last season and finished fourth on the team in points (31) and assists (9) and fifth in goals (22). He sparked JHU's run to the national championship as he totaled 16 goals and six assists during Hopkins' season-ending nine-game winning streak. Huntley matched his career-highs with five goals and six points in the 14-6 win over Georgetown in the NCAA Quarterfinals and then fired home three goals, including the game-winner, in the 12-11 win over Duke in the NCAA title game.

Kimmel teamed with Boyle to give the Blue Jays one of the top freshmen tandems in the nation last season. He played in all 17 games - starting the final 16 - and finished fifth on the team in points (30), tied for third in goals (23) and tied for fifth in assists (7). Kimmel tallied at least one point in each of the first eight games of his career, scored the game-winning goal in overtime in the first round of the NCAA Tournament against Notre Dame and added a hat trick in the NCAA Semifinal victory against Delaware.

Bocklet made an immediate impact in his first season at Hopkins after transferring from Fairfield prior to the 2007 season. He spent the first half of the 2007 season filling a variety of roles before holding down a spot as a starter on close defense during Hopkins' nine-game season-ending winning streak. Bocklet finished second on the team in ground balls (70) and added one goal and one assist. His ground ball total is the highest by a non-faceoff specialist at Johns Hopkins since John Gagliardi had 72 in 1997.

Miller rounds out Hopkins' preseason All-America picks and is the latest in a long line of standout short-stick defensive midfielders who have played under Pietramala. He scored one goal and added one assist and 23 ground balls last season and spearheaded a defensive unit that sparkled down the stretch. Hopkins allowed more than a goal less per game during its season-ending nine-game winning streak than it did during its first eight games of the season.

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