April 29, 2009

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ALC Tournament Central

Setting the Scene: Fifth-seeded Johns Hopkins takes on fourth-seeded and 10th-ranked Vanderbilt in the opening round of the 2009 ALC Tournament on Thursday afternoon. The Blue Jays have lost three straight, including a 12-11 loss to the Nittany Lions of Penn State in their regular season finale. The Commodores meanwhile are coming off an 11-4 upset at the hands of #20 Cornell in their final regular season game.

ALC Tournament: Hopkins is the fifth seed, its lowest in the three year history of the tournament, in the 2009 ALC Tournament after going 0-4 in conference play during the regular season. Northwestern earned the top seed for the third consecutive season after going unbeaten against the field. Penn State came out of a three-way tie for the second spot with Ohio State and Vanderbilt. The three teams all went 2-2 in conference play and the tiebreaker came down to goals allowed in conference play. The Nittany Lions allowed the fewest goals in conference (49) to gain the second seed. The Buckeyes then took the third seed by virture of their win over the Commodores.

Hopkins and Vanderbilt will square off in the first round game on Thursday with the winner advancing to the first semifinal on Friday and a match-up with #1 Northwestern. Penn State and Ohio State will meet in the second semifinal with the winners advancing to Saturday’s championship game.

The Blue Jays are 1-2 in the ALC Tournament with one title game appearance (2007). Hopkins defeated Vanderbilt in the semifinals in 2007 before falling in the finals to Northwestern. The Blue Jays and the Commodores squared off in the semifinals again in 2008, with Vanderbilt winning the rematch.

I’m Honored: Junior defender Angela Hughes and freshman middies Colleen McCaffrey and Alyssa Kildare have been named to the American Lacrosse Conference All-Conference Team. Hughes earned first team honors while McCaffrey and Kildare were named to the second team.

Hughes a Second Team All-ALC pick in 2008 leads the Blue Jays and ranks third in the league with a career-high 20 caused turnovers. She also has a team-best and career-high 21 ground balls on the season. Hughes scored a career-high four goals against Penn State on Saturday, moving her into sixth on the team with nine goals on the season.

McCaffrey has started all 16 games and ranks second on the team in goals (26), points (29), ground balls (19) and draw controls (29). She became the second rookie this season to score five goals in a game this season when she turned the trick against #1 Northwestern in less than 11 minutes. She also leads the Blue Jays in free position goals, converting nine of 13 attempts.

Kildare has started 14 games this season and has scored four goals and added two assists. Three of her four goals have come on free position, where she is 3-of-5. She also has tallied 16 ground balls, 16 draw controls and eight caused turnovers.

Last Time Out: The Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse team rallied late in the second half on Saturday and had a chance to force overtime with time winding down, but #15 Penn State forced a turnover and the Nittany Lions held on for a 12-11 win.

Trailing 12-9 with 8:51 to play, Hopkins got goals from juniors Sam Schrum and Angela Hughes to make it a 12-11 game with 2:56 to play. Sophomore Brooke Lipinski won the ensuing draw but Stephanie Ellis forced a turnover with 1:57 to play and the Nittany Lions cleared the ball. But with just 36 seconds left, Penn State lost the ball out of bounds and Hopkins took over. The Blue Jays cleared the ball and called timeout with 20 ticks on the clock. With time winding down, Hughes dodged across the middle of the arc but Maggie Dunbar checked the ball out of her stick before she could get a shot off and the horn sounded.

The first half was a series of runs after freshman Colleen McCaffrey put Hopkins on the board first, scoring on a free position shot 3:35 in. Penn State answered with back-to-back goals to take a 2-1 lead with 22:41 to play. The Blue Jays responded, getting goals from freshman Candace Rossi and Hughes in just 75 seconds to take a 3-2 lead. Penn State answerd with a three-goal spurt to take a 5-3 lead.

Hopkins again answered with a two-goal run, as McCaffrey and Hughes both found the cage, to tie the game at 5-5 with 7:19 left in the half. Penn State would take a two-goal lead into the lockerroom however.

Penn State extended its run coming out of the half, scoring three straight to push out to a 10-5 lead with 22:51 to play. Junior Paige Ibello sandwiched a pair around a Hughes goal and the Blue Jays were down by two midway through the half. The teams went back and forth over the next five minutes and it was 11-9 with 9:55 remaining, setting up the Blue Jays last rally.

Against the Commodores: For the third straight year, Hopkins will face Vanderbilt in its first game of the ALC Tournament. The Blue Jays are 1-1 against the Commodores in the ALC Tournament with a win in the 2007 semifinals and a loss in the 2008 semifinals.

Thursday’s game is the 11th all-time meeting between the two conference rivals with the series tied at 5-5. The Commodores have won the last three meetings. The series has been a close one in recent years, with five of the last six meetings decided by three or fewer goals. With two of those decided in overtime.

Against the Wildcats: Hopkins and Northwestern have squared off nine times with the Wildcats leading the series 7-2. Hopkins won the first two meetings between the two schools but it has been all Northwestern since then as the Wildcats have won seven straight. The two faced off earlier this year under the lights at Homewood Field in front of a nationl televisions audience. Northwestern used a dominating first half and held off a second half Hopkins rally to take the win 16-7.

Hopkins and Northwestern have met just once in the ALC Tournament, the two matched up in the inaugural ALC championship game, played at Homewood Field. The Wildcats prevailed in that meeting, winning 22-6 to take home the trophy.

Against the Nittany Lions: Hopkins and Penn State have met eight times in a series that began in 2002. The Nittany Lions won the first five meetings between the two before the Blue Jays snapped that streak in 2007. Hopkins won the next two meetings before Penn State beat the Blue Jays 12-11 last weekend. The series has been a tightly contested one as five of the last six meetings have been decided by three or fewer goals.

The two have never met in the ALC Tournament.

Against the Buckeyes: Hopkins and Ohio State have met on the field eight times with the Blue Jays leading the series, 5-3. Hopkins had won three straight in the series before the Buckeyes beat the Blue Jays 22-12 in Columbus earlier this season. The first five games of the series were won by the home team, but Hopkins snapped that streak in 2007 with a 15-14 win in Columbus.

The Blue Jays and the Buckeyes have never met in the ALC Tournament.

Power in Pink: The Johns Hopkins women’s lacrosse team joined in the fight against breast cancer last Saturday as the Blue Jays wore specially designed pink jerseys from Under Armour. In addition, Hopkins autographed one of the jerseys and it was auctioned during the game with the proceeds given to the Komen Maryland.

When Last We Met: 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.

Scouting the Commodores: Vanderbilt boasts 10 players in double figures in points, including six who have scored 20+ goals and three who have 30+. Junior midfielder Sarah Downing leads the way with 67 points on 46 goals and 21 assists. Sophomore attacker Katherine Denkler is second with 33 goals and third with 44 points. Junior midfielder Carter Foote ranks third on the team in goals (30) and fourth in points (37).

Freshman midfielder Ally Carey has been a force all over the field this season and leads the Commodores with 40 draw controls and ranks fourth in ground balls (25). She’s also tallied 26 goals and 19 assists and caused 13 turnovers.

Freshman Natalie Willis has gotten the nod the majority this season in goals, starting 10 of 14 games and playing more then 632 minutes. She posts a 10.53 goals against average and a .511 save percentage.

Vanderbilt was on a roll midway through the season, rattling off six straight wins, including wins over Penn State and Johns Hopkins. Ohio State snapped that streak with a 15-13 win in Columbus.

Scouting the Wildcats: Northwestern has won 23 straight games coming into this weekend’s ALC Tournament and boast a 17-0 mark in 2009. The Wildcats, sporting the most prolific offense in the nation, average 18 goals per game while holding their opponents to just 6.53.

Eight different players have scored 10 or more goals for Northwestern this season, while four have scored 40+ goals. Senior Hannah Nielsen, the reigning Tewaaraton winner, leads the Wildcats and the nation with 112 points on 52 goals and 60 assists. Nielsen, the NCAA Division I all-time career assist leader, eclipsed the 200 mark for assists in Saturday’s win over Penn. She now holds the single-game (10), season (69) and career (201) assist records.

Junior Danielle Spencer joined Nielsen in the 50-goal club on Saturday and now has 51 on the season to go along with 16 assists. Freshman Alexandra Frank leads the Wildcats in draws (53) and caused turnovers (19). Nielsen is second on the team in draws (44).

Senior goalie Morgan Lathrop boasts a 5.96 goals against average, a .522 save percentage and leads the team in ground balls (30).

Scouting the Nittany Lions: The Nittany Lions enter Friday’s contest riding their first two-game winning streak since early March, downing Ohio State, 13-9, and Johns Hopkins, 12-11, to end the regular season. In their last outing on April 25 in Baltimore, junior Erica Mihm paced the Penn State attack with a game-high four goals in a narrow victory over the Blue Jays. For the second consecutive game, senior Marisa Lozano and freshman Theresa Zichelli were key to the offense, notching three assists and three goals, respectively.

Penn State boasts one of the nation’s most balanced offenses with eight players scoring in double figures and 19 in total tallying points. Lozano leads the team in assists (20) and points (37) while senior Kerry Shea and Mihm top the Nittany Lions in goals with 23. Zichelli has caught fire late in the season, netting six of her 18 goals in the final two games. Junior Theresa Bucci (17 goals), a preseason All-ALC selection, and sophomore Laura Lesnick (18 goals), whose goals have come in bunches this year, are also scoring threats.

The Nittany Lion defense is fronted by junior goalkeeper Stephanie Ellis and junior defender Margo Josephs. Ellis, a two-time ALC Defensive Player of the Week this season, owns a 10.65 goals against average and a .449 save percentage. Josephs leads the Nittany Lions with 23 caused turnovers.

Scouting the Buckeyes: The Buckeyes are showing their offensive prowess this season. In 16 games, Ohio State has outscored its opponents 247-171, including a 126-96 goal scoring advantage in the second half.

Junior Kelly Haggerty leads the squad with 50 goals and 38 assists for a team-best 88 points. The native of West Chester, PA, has collected twice as many points as she did a season ago, when she tallied 43 points in 18 games.

Freshman Alayna Markwordt is second on the squad with 70 points, followed by sophomore Maghan Beaudrault (45), senior Rachel Hawes (38), sophomore Jayme Beard (37), freshman Gabby Capuzzi (28) and junior Rachel Cornicello (16).

Backstopping Ohio State is Kristen Gilwee. The senior, who is 10-5, owns an 11.03 goals-against average, making 133 saves while allowing 153 goals (.465 save pct.). Just the second goalkeeper in Ohio State history to record more than 400 career saves, Gilwee now holds the Buckeye career record for saves with 497. The previous career leader was Megan Barnett, who recorded 448 saves from 1999-2001.

Gilwee also has set the record for career victories in goal with 29. Barnett was the OSU all-time leader with 26. Gilwee’s 19 saves against Johns Hopkins were the fifth-best single game effort in OSU history and her 17 saves at Notre Dame rank 10th-best. Her career high is 20 saves, set against Maryland in 2006 and against Notre Dame last season.

Clean Slate: Just days after facing a team that had yet to win a game in Fresno State (0-10) on April 9, Hopkins faced back-to-back undefeated teams in Maryland (14-0) and Northwestern (15-0).

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 108 (65.5%) of the Blue Jays’ 165 goals this season.

In fact, Hopkins three-leading goal scorers are either freshmen or sophomores. Freshman attacker Candace Rossi leads the way with 27 goals and 31 points this season. Freshman middie Colleen McCaffrey ranks second with 26 goals and 29 points. While sophomore middie Brianna Cronin is third with a career-high 17 goals.

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.

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 to become the first freshman in program history to notch five goals in back-to-back games. Rossi leads the Blue Jays in goals (27), points (31) and draw controls (33).

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. Cronin has scored in nine of the Blue Jays’ 16 games this season and ranks third on the team with 17 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 with over 180 schools waiting to adopt.

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.

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 36 helpers in her career, ranking eighth in school Division I history and just three shy of seventh-place Lauren Schwarzmann ‘08. Bathras also ranks 14th in JHU DI history with 71 career points and 20th in career goals (35).

Junior attacker Sam Schrum is Hopkins active goals and points leader with 69 and 93 respectively. She ranks 12th in school Division I history in goals and points, 11th in career assists (24) and sixth in career draw controls (85).

Junior defender Angela Hughes is steadily climbing the ranks in career caused turnovers. Hughes has caused a team-best and career-high 20 turnovers this season and is tied for 10th in program Division I history with 48 in her career. She also ranks 20th in career draw controls (31).

Junior attacker Danielle Ensley has moved into the top-20 in career assists and now has 14 to her credit to rank 18th. While freshman attacker Candace Rossi already ranks in the top-20 in career draw controls with 33 to rank 19th.

We’re Going Streaking: Four Blue Jays enter this weekend with active point streaks, led by freshman middie Colleen McCaffrey who has a goal and a point in each of her last eight games. While junior attacker Danielle Ensley and senior middie Gina Maranto have a point in each of their last three games. And freshman middie Rachel Ballatori has an assist in each of her last two games.

Junior attacker Brett Bathras had an 11-game point streak snapped in the loss to top-ranked Northwestern on Friday night. Earlier this season she had a streak of seven consecutive games with an assist earlier this season, which is tied for the sixth longest streak in program Division I history.

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.

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