Nov. 8, 2007

Complete Release in PDF Format

Bracketology... As the top seed in their section of the bracket for the second consecutive season, the Blue Jays earned the right to host the first and second rounds at historic Homewood Field.

This is the first time that Johns Hopkins has hosted a four-team site. Last season, the Blue Jays hosted a two-team second round match. Hopkins hosted in 2006 for the first time since 1975, due to the astroturf surface of Homewood and an NCAA ruling that games cannot be played on astroturf. During the summer of 2005, Homewood was renovated and the surface was replaced with Sportexe Momentum 151.

Series History... This will be just the third ever meeting between Johns Hopkins and DeSales, and second this season. The Blue Jays and the Bulldogs met earlier this season in the Citrano Medical Labs Kickoff Classic. Hopkins won that meeting on September 9, 2-0. The Blue Jays are now 2-0-0 against the Bulldogs.

Hopkins and Franklin & Marshall have 59 times in a series that dates to 1947. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series, 36-20-3. In their regular season meeting on October 20, the Diplomats defeated the Blue Jays for the first time since 1993. F&M won 2-1 in overtime in Lancaster.

Hopkins and N.C. Wesleyan have met just twice. The first meeting was a 4-4 draw on September 7, 1986. The second meeting came on September 10, 1994, a match Hopkins won 2-1.

How They Got Here... Johns Hopkins, as the 2007 Centennial Conference Champions, earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament.

DeSales (10-9-2) won the Freedom Conference title to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Franklin & Marshall (15-3-0) earned an at-large bid out of the Centennial Conference. N.C. Wesleyan (16-1-0) earned an at-large bid out of the USA South Conference.

Hopkins in the Big Dance... Johns Hopkins is making its 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and ninth under head coach Matt Smith (15th season). The Blue Jays are 10-10-3 in the NCAA Tournament and have advanced to the final four twice (1975, 1994). In 1994, Smith's second season at the helm, Hopkins advanced all the way to the championship game.

This is Hopkins second consecutive trip to the NCAAs. In 2006, the Blue Jays earned a bye in the first round and then defeated the visiting Christopher Newport Captains 3-1. In the sectionals at Williams College, Hopkins defeated Western New England 3-0 to advance to the Elite 8. The Blue Jays then lost to the Messiah Falcons, 2-1, who then went on to claim their third consecutive NCAA title.

Shootout HIstory... Johns Hopkins is 5-2 all-time in shootouts. The Blue Jays last went to a shootout in the 2006 Centennial Conference semifinals. Hopkins advanced 5-3 over Gettysburg. Hopkins went on to win its sixth Centennial Conference title.

One Goal Does the Trick... Under 15th year head coach Matt Smith, Hopkins is 36-9 (.800) in 1-0 games.

The Blue Jays have played seven games so far this season that have been decided by just one goal. Hopkins is 4-3 in those games. Overall under coach Smith, the Blue Jays are 40-13 (.755) in games decided by one goal.

simply the Best... Johns Hopkins claimed its unprecedented seventh Centennial Conference title last weekend. It was the Blue Jays first title in an odd-numbered year. Hopkins won the Centennial in 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2007.

After a 7-2-0 record in the Centennial this season, the Blue Jays are now 112-17-6 (.852) all-time in Centennial Conference regular-season action. Hopkins boasts the best win percentage and most overall wins of any school in the history of the conference. Muhlenberg ranks second with 99 wins and a .759 win percentage.

Rookie Sensations... The Johns Hopkins freshman class has combined to score 40 goals this season, led by freshmen Scott Bukoski (19 goals) and David Drake (14). The rookie's 40 goals accounts for 50 percent of Hopkins total goals this season.

Climbing the Charts... Senior Ben McAbee and junior Nick Gauna are steadily climbing up the Johns Hopkins career charts. Gauna enters the NCAA Tournament with 25 career goals and 22 career assists for 72 total points. He ranks tied for 10th in career points, 16th in goals and teid for fourth in assists.

McAbee ranks 16th in career points (55), tied for 19th in goals (20) and tied for 10th in assists (19).

Freshman Scott Bukoski is making his way up the Hopkins single-season charts. His 44 points this season rank as the eighth most in school single-season history. Bukoski has 19 goals to his credit so far, ranking seventh in single-season history. In fact, Bukoski needs just five points to tie Eric West's Centennial Conference freshman record of 49 points (1994).

Golden touch... Sophomore Max Venker once again proved to have the golden touch in the Centennial Conference tournament. His penalty kick in the 63rd minute against Gettysburg proved to be the gamewinner. In the 2006 CC title game, Venker scored the golden goal in the 97th minute to lead Hopkins to the title over Franklin & Marshall. He followed that up with the gamewinner against Christopher Newport and Western New England in the NCAA Tournament. For his career, Venker has seven gamewinning goals.

Home Sweet Home... Historic Homewood Field has been the definition of home field advantage for the Johns Hopkins men's soccer team. This season, the Blue Jays are 7-2-0 (.778) at home. Under head coach Matt Smith, the Blue Jays are 139-12-10 (.894) at Homewood Field. In addition, Hopkins is 12-1-3 (.644) in postseason games, including 2-0-0 in NCAA Tournament games, at Homewood Field.

Around the Nation... Freshman Scott Bukoski leads the Centennial Conference in goals (19) and points (44). In addition, he ranks 15th in the nation in goals per game and 22nd in points per game.

Johns Hopkins ranks fourth in the nation in scoring offense (4.0 goals/game) and 15th in winning percentage (.850).

Coaching History...The all-time winningest coach in Johns Hopkins men's soccer history, head coach Matt Smith finished last season with the seventh-best career winning percentage in NCAA history (all divisions) with a record of 222-41-19 (.821). In NCAA Division III history, he ranks second all-time behind Messiah coach Dave Brandt (among coaches with a minimum 10 years experience).

Coaching History - Part II... Smith enters this week's action with a career record of 239-44-19 (.823). He is the winningest coach in Centennial Conference history in overall wins (239) and conference wins (112). The next active coach in the conference is Haverford's Joe Amorim with 212 overall wins and 40 conference wins.

Happy Anniversary... The Johns Hopkins men's soccer team will celebrate the 100th anniversary of Homewood Field in 2007. The historic facility played host to its first game in 1907.

To celebrate, the team has added a commemorative patch to its home uniforms for the 2007 season. The Johns Hopkins men's and women's lacrosse teams wore the patch commemorating the 100th anniversary of Homewood Field last spring, while the women's soccer, football and field hockey teams will also wear them this fall.