April 7, 2009

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Setting the Scene: Johns Hopkins returns home to take on the Fresno State Bulldogs in the first ever meeting between the two programs. The Blue Jays are looking to snap a four-game losing skid, while the Bulldogs are winless in their inaugural season.

Last Time Out: The 11th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores scored the game's first seven goals en route to an 18-8 win over visiting Johns Hopkins Saturday afternoon in American Lacrosse Conference action. The Commodores needed just 10:15 to put the game's first seven goals on the board as six different players scored in the opening run. Junior Brett Bathras finally snapped the run and put Hopkins on the board when she scored an unassisted tally with 17:31 to play. Freshman Rachel Ballatori then found the cage off an assist from freshman Candace Rossi and the lead was down to five at 7-2 with 9:46 remaining in the half.

Ally Carey and Allie Frank answered with back-to-back goals less than two minutes apart to push Vanderbilt's lead back to seven at 9-2. Junior Paige Ibello scored off a feed from freshman Colleen McCaffrey with just 19 ticks on the clock as the Commodores took a 9-3 lead into the half.

Coming out of the break, freshman Alyssa Kildare scored unassisted just 3:01 to make it a five-goal game. Vanderbilt answered with four straight from four different players to push its lead back to nine at 13-4. The teams then traded goals over the next 10 minutes as Hopkins could get no closer than 15-7 with 11:28 left in the game. The Commodores strung together three goals, including a pair from Carter Foote, to push out to an 18-7 lead. Junior Angela Hughes closed out the scoring with just 1:45 remaining to account for the 18-8 final.

Series History: Today's game marks the first ever meeting between the Blue Jays and the Bulldogs. Fresno State is in its first varsity season.

Youth Abounds: Johns Hopkins sports a young line-up in 2009. Of the 19 players that have started atleast one game this season, nine are either freshmen or sophomores, while just two of the 19 are seniors. In addition, freshmen or sophomores have scored 78 (67.2%) of the Blue Jays' 116 goals this season. In fact, in the loss at Towson on March 29, all seven of Hopkins goals were scored by freshmen or sophomores.

Its Been Awhile: When Johns Hopkins and Stanford last met on the lacrosse field, none of the players that played in the game on March 27 had yet to attend high school. The Blue Jays and the Cardinal had last met nine years ago, on March 22, 2000 at Homewood Field.

Extra Lacrosse: Johns Hopkins and George Washington treated fans to some extra lacrosse on March 19 as the two teams needed overtime to decide a winner. Hopkins rallied from a 9-4 deficit in the second half to take an 11-9 lead. The Colonials responded with two late goals to force overtime. In the first overtime period, Hopkins got goals from juniors Sam Schrum and Angela Hughes to take a 13-11 lead. In the second overtime, the Colonials got one back but could not get the tying goal as Hopkins held on for the 13-12 win.

Freshman Five: Freshman attacker Candace Rossi scored a game and career-high five goals in Hopkins win over Cincinnati on March 4 to become the first freshman to score five goals in a game since Mary Key turned the trick on April 14, 2004 against Villanova. Rossi followed that with a five-goal performance at Ohio State on March 7. She is the first freshman in program history to notch five goals in back-to-back games. Rossi leads the Blue Jays in goals (23), points (26) and draw controls (26). She had scored atleast one goal in eight straight games before having that streak snapped in the loss to #3 Penn on April 1.

Red, White and Blue: Three players with ties to Johns Hopkins were selected to the 2008-09 U.S. Developmental Team in the fall. Junior defender Angela Hughes and freshman middie Colleen McCaffrey, along with 2008 graduate Lauren Schwarzmann were named to the team. In fact, McCaffrey was the only player without college experience selected for the U.S. National Team pool when it was announced in August.

Welcome Back Brianna: Sophomore Brianna Cronin played in her first game on Feb. 21 since suffering a torn ACL on March 27, 2008. The middie scored nine goals in eight games last season and picked up where she left off, coming off the bench to score in the season-opening win over George Mason. She was held scoreless in the loss at Ohio State, snapping a five-game goal scoring streak that dated back to last year. Cronin has scored in eight of the Blue Jays' 12 games this season and ranks second on the team with 16 goals.

Friends of Jaclyn: In September 2008, the Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team welcomed a new member to their family. Through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation, the Blue Jays "adopted" Paige Setzer. Paige was diagnosed with an ependymoma brain tumor on Friday, January 14, 2005. After numerous surgeries and six weeks of radiation, she is now officially tumor and cancer free.

The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit, charitable organization that improves the quality of life for children suffering with pediatric brain tumors and helps fund research. FOJ matches a child with a college or high school sports team based on geographic location. Currently there are over 50 children paired with collegiate and high school teams in 17 different sports. There are over 180 schools waiting to adopt. FOJ is creating other programs that will continue to form life-changing relationships between children, their families and teams.

This year Hopkins participated in a "Friends of Jaclyn" game on March 4 against Cincinnati. The team collected donations for the foundation and had Paige on the sidelines.

Scouting the Bulldogs: Hopkins and Fresno State have had three common opponents in Stanford, Oregon and Cincinnati. The Bulldogs went 0-3 against those team, while getting outscored 58-4. The Blue Jays went 1-2 against the same three teams, with a 35-31 scoring edge.

Heather Jack scored five goals last Sunday against Presbyterian College and she now leads the team with eight goals after scoring a goal against Saint Mary's. She has played and started in all nine games this year. Seven of her goals have come in the last three games.

Since Emily Erwin has been inserted into the starting lineup four games ago she has recorded four goals and one assist. Her first goal of her career came against Cincinnati on March 18.

Molly Sovacool won the first ever draw control in the game versus Cal. Diana Aguilar had the first ever save for a goalie on a shot taken by Alyse Kennedy a minute into the game. The first Fresno State shot was taken by Heather Jack at the 27:59 mark of the first half. The attendance for the first ever lacrosse home game was 928. Jack scored the first ever goal in Bulldog Stadium in the game against Saint Mary's and scored the Bulldogs' first-ever goal against Stanford with 4:21 left in the game.

All-Time Record: The 2009 season marks the 34th season of women's lacrosse at Johns Hopkins and the Blue Jays post an all-time record of 330-204-4 (.617). As a Division I program, Johns Hopkins boasts a 113-69 (.621) record in 11 seasons.

Family Affair: The Johns Hopkins lacrosse program has become a family affair in recent years, with four sets of sisters in the last seven seasons. Joining her sister, junior attacker Sam Schrum, this season is freshman middie Megan. In addition, Gavin Crisafulli, a freshman on the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team, is the third Crisafulli to play on Homewood. He joins older sisters Anne `05 and Meghan `07, who both played under head coach Janine Tucker. Meghan `02 and Molly `06 Burnett began the trend, followed by the Crisafulli sisters. Next up were the Schwarzmann sisters, Ashley `06 and Lauren `08.

Kristen Miller `05 followed in her brother Pat's (`02) footsteps choosing to play college lacrosse for Hopkins. Marlena Wittelsberger `04 followed her father's path. Franz Wittelsberger `76 was a four-time All-American for Hopkins and stills rank third all-time in career goals with 151. Alex Nolan `07 followed in both her father and her mother's footsteps. Her father Bill `74 was a two-time All-American for the Blue Jays and a member of the 1974 national championship team. Her mother Shellee played for the Hopkins women's lacrosse team.

Records Watch: Junior attacker Brett Bathras is Hopkins active career assist leader with 32 helpers in her career, ranking eighth in school Division I history. Bathras also ranks 15th in JHU DI history with 65 career points and tied for 20th in career goals (33).

Junior attacker Sam Schrum is Hopkins active goals and points leader with 65 and 86 respectively. She ranks 12th in school Division I history in goals and points. She also ranks sixth in career draw controls (78) and needs just one to move into a tie with Heidi Pearce `05 for sixth all-time.

Junior defender Angela Hughes is steadily climbing the ranks in career caused turnovers. Hughes has caused a team-best and career-high 19 turnovers this season and is tied for 11th in program Division I history with 47 in her career.

We're Going Streaking: Three Blue Jays enter today's game with active point streaks, led by junior attacker Brett Bathras, who has atleast one point in her last nine games. Freshman middie Colleen McCaffrey has a goal and a point in each of her last four games, while junior defender Angela Hughes has scored a goal in each of the last two.

Preseason Honors: Junior defender Angela Hughes and junior attacker Sam Schrum were named to the 2009 ALC Preseason All-Conference team. Hughes anchored a Hopkins defense that held its opponents to 9.63 goals per game. In addition, the Blue Jays held five of their opponents to seven goals or less last season. Schrum led the Blue Jays in goals (30) and points (36) and was second in draw controls last season.

Oh Captain, My Captain: Hopkins will be captained this season by senior attacker Gina Maranto and junior attacker Sam Schrum, junior middie Kim Dubansky and junior defender Angela Hughes.

At the Helm: Head coach Janine Tucker is in her 16th season at the helm of the Blue Jay women's lacrosse program. Just the third coach in the 34-year history of the program, she is not only the longest tenured, but she is also the winningest with a record of 181-85 (.680). Tucker led JHU to a 68-16 (.809) in five seasons at the Division III level with three NCAA Final Four appearances. She then guided the program through its transition from DIII to DI in 1999.

On Tap: Johns Hopkins travels down I-95 on Tuesday to take on second-ranked Maryland in the 11th all-time meeting between the two schools. Game time at the Maryland Lacrosse & Field Hockey Complex is slated for 4:00 pm.

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