Last Time Out: Johns Hopkins ran its winning streak to five games with a 14-5 win over Navy at Homewood Field last Saturday night. Loyola picked up an 11-8 win against Hobart last Saturday in its final home game of the season.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against Loyola with an all-time record of 909-293-15 (.753). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

Series History: Johns Hopkins and Loyola are meeting for the 49th time in a series that dates to a 20-1 Johns Hopkins win in 1939. JHU leads the series 45-3 and the Blue Jays have currently won 11 straight against the Greyhounds. All three of Loyola’s wins in the series came between 1994 and 1999. A complete look at the series history can be found on page 13.

First to 900: Johns Hopkins’ 10-6 win at Towson in the 2011 season opener not only got the season off on the right foot for the Blue Jays, but also made history. The win was the 900th all-time in school history, making Johns Hopkins the first program to record 900 all-time wins. JHU now has 909 all-time wins to its credit.

April Reign: Flipping the calendar to April has usually been a good sign for the Blue Jays, who are 47-7 (.870) under head coach Dave Pietramala in games played in April. JHU is 26-3 at home, 19-3 on the road and 2-1 on a neutral field in April under Pietramala’s guidance.

That’s 616 Games Over .500: The Blue Jays’ all-time record is now 909-293-15 (.753) … that’s 616 games over .500. To put this in perspective: JHU has played an average of just over 15 games per season under head coach Dave Pietramala. Using a 15-game season as a reference, if the Blue Jays posted a 5-10 record for 121 straight seasons, they would still be one game over .500.

Something Has to Give: Both Johns Hopkins and Loyola enter this week’s game riding five-game winning streaks. Neither team has lost a game since the calendar flipped to April.

Family Ties: Johns Hopkins associate head coach Bill Dwan is the older brother of Loyola assistant coach Matt Dwan, who serves as the Greyhounds’ defensive coordinator.

Senior Day: The 2011 Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team will honor its seniors and graduate students during a pregame ceremony before the JHU-Loyola game on Saturday.

Chris Gardner Awards to be Presented: Johns Hopkins will present Chris Gardner Player of the Game awards to a member of both teams at the conclusion of the JHU-Loyola game. Chris Gardner was a member of the Blue Jay men’s lacrosse team before being diagnosed with cancer. He received his treatment at the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center before losing his battle in the fall of 1997. Starting with the 1998 season, Johns Hopkins has played one game each season in Chris’s honor. A dollar is added to the cost of all tickets for the game each season with all proceeds benefitting the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center. Chris’s mom, Kathleen Van Haverbeke, has returned to Homewood every year to present the award to a member of both teams.

Putting the Comeback in Perspective: Maryland led the game against Johns Hopkins 7-2 at the half and 8-3 with less than nine minutes remaining in the third quarter before the Blue Jays rallied for the improbable 12-11 win in overtime. This comeback marked the first time Johns Hopkins has won a game after trailing by five goals since March 18, 2005, when the Blue Jays erased a 7-1 second-quarter deficit and beat Syracuse by, ironically, a score of 12-11.

A Tough Stretch: The game at fourth-ranked Maryland on April 16 capped a month-long run that included games against Syracuse (ranked #1 at the time of the game), Virginia (2nd), North Carolina (4th) and Maryland (4th). All four of those games were decided by one goal with the Blue Jays winning three of the four.

One-Goal Games: Johns Hopkins improved to 39-15 under head coach Dave Pietramala in one-goal games with the win at Maryland. The Blue Jays have won their last three games decided by one goal.

Working Overtime: JHU’s win over Maryland in overtime improved the Blue Jays’ record to 17-9 in overtime under head coach Dave Pietramala. JHU had lost three straight overtime games prior to the 12-11 win over Maryland.

Striking the First Blow: Senior Chris Boland opened the scoring for the Blue Jays with an unassisted goal just 45 seconds into last week’s win over Navy. Boland’s goal came on JHU’s first shot of the game and marked the seventh time the Blue Jays have scored on their first shot of the game this season. For good measure, graduate student Ben Smith scored six seconds later on JHU’s second shot of the game.

After 12: The win against Navy gave JHU a 10-2 record. This is the Blue Jays’ best record after 12 games since 2005, when they were 12-0. It also marks the fifth time since head coach Dave Pietramala took over that the Blue Jays have won at least 10 of their first 12 games.

Bassett Stands Tall: Sophomore goalie Pierce Bassett turned in an outstanding performance in the 5-4 loss at Syracuse and came back with another impressive showing against Virginia. The Arizona native posted 16 saves, including 14 in the second half, against Syracuse and came back with 14 saves in the win against Virginia. After battling a stomach flu for two days prior to the North Carolina game (he didn’t practice on Friday or Saturday before the game vs. UNC), he posted seven saves, including one in the final 20 seconds to help secure the win over the Tar Heels. He notched eight saves, including a big one in overtime, in the win at Maryland and eight more in the win over Navy.
Bassett currently ranks third in the nation in goals against average (6.57) and fifth in save percentage (.600).

Dolente Among National Leaders: Senior co-captain and faceoff specialist Matt Dolente continues to rank among the top faceoff specialists in the nation this season. He has won 138-of-206 (.670) and counts a team-high 78 ground balls to his credit. He currently ranks third in faceoff winning percentage and ninth in ground balls per game (6.50).
Dolente enjoyed a tremendous showing against North Carolina as he won a career-high 16 faceoffs (on 22 attempts) and grabbed a game-high six ground balls to fuel the victory. He matched those 16 faceoff wins against Albany (on 20 attempts) and grabbed a career-high 12 ground balls against the Great Danes. In last week’s win vs. Navy, he was 13-of-19 with seven ground balls and also assisted on Ben Smith’s goal early in the first quarter.
For his career he is now 386-of-720 (.536) and ranks fifth in JHU history in faceoff attempts and faceoff wins. He also grabbed the 200th ground ball of his career against Albany and now has 224 to his credit. He needs 11 ground balls to move into the top 20 in school history in that category.

Super Seven: While the Blue Jays may not have any midfielders destined to earn First Team All-America honors this season, they do have seven who have performed steadily throughout the season. The first unit of sophomores John Ranagan and John Greeley and freshman Rob Guida has started all 12 games together thus far, while the second group of senior Mark Goodrich, junior Marshall Burkhart, sophomore Lee Coppersmith and freshman Eric Ruhl has been nearly as productive. Among the seven, only Goodrich is a senior, and even he has a year of eligibility remaining after missing the entire 2010 season with an injury.
The seven have combined for 56 goals and 28 assists in 12 games – an average of seven points per game (4.7 goals, 2.3 assists). As the weather gets hotter, the luxury of having seven experienced and productive midfielders should pay dividends for the Blue Jays.
Below is a closer look at JHU’s top seven middies:

John Ranagan (So.)
14g, 11a (JHU’s leading scorer at midfield)

John Greeley (So.)
10g, 9a (Goal, assist and point totals already ahead of 2010)

Rob Guida (Fr.)
9g, 1a (Has started all 12 games)

Eric Ruhl (Fr.)
8g, 2a (Back-to-back 1g, 1a efforts after missing three games)

Lee Coppersmith (So.)
8g, 0a (First career hat trick vs. Virginia)

Mark Goodrich (Sr.)
5g, 2a (Only senior among JHU’s top seven middies)

Marshall Burkhart (Jr.)
2g, 3a (Key goal in comeback win at Maryland)

Attack Oriented: The Blue Jays got another strong performance from their starting attack of Kyle Wharton, Chris Boland and Zach Palmer in last week’s 14-5 win over Navy as the trio combined for 14 points on seven goals and seven assists. Wharton punched up four goals in the win, while Boland added two goals and two assists. Palmer scored once and added a career-high five assists to pace the Blue Jays with six points. The five assists are the most by a Johns Hopkins player since Paul Rabil had five in the 2007 national championship game against Duke. The 14 combined points, which came on the heels of a 12-point showing for the trio in the 12-11 overtime win at Maryland, push the combined point total for the three to 106 for the year.
Boland and Palmer are tied for the team-lead in scoring as both have 38 points, while Wharton counts 28 points to his credit. Boland leads the team with 26 goals, while Palmer counts a team-best 21 assists to his credit. Wharton’s four-goal effort vs. Navy moved his season total to 22.

Must be the Speech: Johns Hopkins has outscored the opposition 36-16 in the first quarter this season and 37-21 in the third quarter.

For Openers: Johns Hopkins opened the 2011 season with back-to-back road games at Towson and Delaware. Since the inception of the NCAA Tournament in 1971, JHU has opened a season with consecutive road games just twice before this season (1979, 1987). In each of those two years, the Blue Jays won the national championship.

Streaking: Johns Hopkins is 99-29 in its last 128 regular season games dating back to the end of the 2001 season and 115-36 since the start of the 2002 season.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays check in at number two in the USILA Coaches Poll and number three in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll this week. The Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office uses the USILA Poll to represent JHU’s official ranking at the time of a game. Prior to falling out of the top 20 of the USILA Poll on April 26 and May 3, 2010 (JHU was receiving votes in both polls), the Blue Jays had been ranked in the top 20 in 367 consecutive polls dating back to the first poll in 1973.

A Half Century: Kyle Wharton played in his 50th career game vs. Siena and classmates Matt Dolente and Tim Donovan joined him in the half century club as they played in their 50th career game against Manhattan. Wharton has played in a team-high 59 career games, while Dolente and Donovan have both played in 57 career games.

State Rivalries: Without question the Blue Jays play one of the most difficult schedules in the nation and a big part of the schedule are the in-state rivalries the Blue Jays have. Including the wins over Towson, UMBC, Maryland and Navy this season, JHU is 52-4 (.929) against teams from Maryland under head coach Dave Pietramala. JHU had won 23 straight games against teams from Maryland until the loss to Maryland last season.

Youth Shall Be Served: It’s no secret that Johns Hopkins lost five players (Steven Boyle (A), Michael Kimmel (M), Matt Drenan (D), Sam DeVore (D), Michael Gvozden (G)) who were mainstays in the JHU lineup over the last four years. The group helped the Blue Jays to a national championship in 2007 and a runner-up finish in 2008. Collectively they combined for 238 starts during their career. Fast forward to 2011 and the makeup of the Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team is much different, and much younger. How much younger? The entire 47-man roster for Johns Hopkins this season had a combined total of just 91 career starts to its credit entering the season.

Youth Gone Wild: Johns Hopkins continues to display its youth throughout the lineup as the Blue Jays have featured the same starting lineup in all 12 games – a starting 10 that features six sophomores and two freshmen.
Take a quick look at the JHU scoring charts and the class division is obvious. JHU seniors/grad. students have combined for 58 goals and 22 assists (80 points) through 12 games, while the sophomores lead the way with 51 goals and 42 assists (93 points). Add in 24 goals and seven assists for the JHU freshmen and 55.1% of the team’s goals and 65.3% of the team’s assists have been compiled by players with at least two years of eligibility remaining.

Offense-Defense: Johns Hopkins ranks ninth in the nation in scoring offense (11.33) and third in scoring defense (6.67). JHU is one of just three teams in the nation that ranks among the top 10 nationally in both categories. The Blue Jays are joined on this exclusive list by Maryland and Yale.

Offensive Notes of Interest: Below are several notes about the JHU offense to date:
• The Blue Jays have scored on their first shot of the game seven times this season. • Johns Hopkins ranks ninth in the nation in scoring offense (11.33), second in scoring margin (+4.67), 14th in assists per game (6.25) and 10th in points per game (17.58). • In the last six quarters (plus overtime at Maryland), Johns Hopkins has scored 24 goals. • Johns Hopkins scored 10 goals in the first half against Navy. That’s the most the Blue Jays have scored in the first half of a game since March 1, 2008, when JHU jumped to a 10-1 halftime lead against Princeton in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic. • JHU was held to just two goals in the first half at Maryland, but erupted for 10 in the second half and overtime. • JHU has scored at least two goals in 37 of 48 quarters this season. • In wins against Delaware (18) and Siena (16) JHU scored 16 or more goals in back-to-back games for the first time since 2005, when JHU totaled 22 vs. Marist and 19 vs. UMass in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. • JHU’s 18 goals against 16th-ranked Delaware are the most for the Blue Jays against a nationally-ranked team since April 5, 2005, when they punched up 19 against 14th-ranked Albany. • Johns Hopkins’ eight goals in the third quarter against Delaware are the most in a quarter by a JHU team since May 14, 2005, when JHU punched up eight in the second quarter of a 22-6 win against Marist in the first round of the NCAAs.

Defensive Notes of Interest: Below are several notes of interest concerning the JHU defense: • JHU has allowed a total of 80 goals on 356 shots (.225 shooting percentage). • Before allowing 11 goals against Virginia, Hopkins held its first seven opponents to eight goals or less for the first time since 1979. • The Blue Jays rank third in the nation in scoring defense (6.67). • Johns Hopkins has held the opposition scoreless for a stretch of 14 minutes or longer 18 times in 12 games. The Blue Jays have held the opposition scoreless for 10 minutes or longer 27 times. • Johns Hopkins has held the opposition to one goal or less in 27 of 48 quarters this season. • The starting attack units the Blue Jays have faced this season have combined for a total of 26 goals and 24 assists in 12 games (an average of 4.16 points per game). Six of those units have been held to three points or less and only three, North Carolina (5g, 2a), Virginia (4g, 4a) and Siena (4g, 3a), have generated more than five points.

In a game of runs, it was Navy that had the last one as the Midshipmen erased an 8-6 deficit late in the third quarter and held Johns Hopkins scoreless for the final 22:30 to seal the victory.

A Brendan Connors goal with 10 seconds remaining in the third quarter ignited the game-ending spree for the Mids.  With time winding down in the period, Ryan O’Leary found Connors cutting across the slot unmarked and hit him in stride.  Connors wasted little time slipping home his 17^th goal of the season to make it a one-goal game entering the final period.

Navy’s only goal of the fourth quarter came at the 9:39 mark as senior Patrick Moran blew home an extra-man goal home from 13 yards out.  While neither team scored again until Warner’s game-winner, it wasn’t for a lack of chances.  Navy’s R.J. Wickham twice came up with big saves in the final nine minutes of regulation and Johns Hopkins’ Pierce Bassett stuffed Warner in tight less than a minute into overtime.

Wickham then kicked aside a shot by Michael Kimmel with 2:39 remaining in overtime and Navy forced a Kimmel turnover 15 seconds later.  Warner’s goal came just over a minute after a Navy timeout and seconds after Nikk Davis missed an open net on a nifty back-door feed.

The Blue Jays had hopped out to a 5-0 lead in the first quarter as Kyle Wharton and Kimmel both scored a pair of goals and sophomore Tom Palasek added a goal of his own to spark the game-opening spree.  Palasek and Wharton went back-to-back in a span of 17 seconds late in the quarter to fuel the run, which ended with Kimmel’s second goal with just 46 seconds remaining in the period.  The Blue Jays outshot Navy 13-6 in the opening 15 minutes, but as quickly as they had crafted the five-goal lead, it was gone.

The Midshipmen needed just 40 seconds of the second quarter to get on the board as Moran dodged hard to the goal and scored from in tight.  The margin remained four until midway through the period when Navy erupted for three goals in a span of just under two minutes.

Bucky Smith’s first goal of the season started the three-goal flurry, which was capped by a Joe Lennon goal and included an own goal.  A minute before Lennon actually scored his own goal, he was stopped by Basset on a drive to the cage from the side.  Hopkins’ Matt Dolente tried to scoop up the loose ball, but instead directed it past Bassett just inside the far post.

A Jay Mann goal with 2:30 remaining in the second quarter and the first of Connors’ two goals on the day with 43 seconds remaining accounted for a 6-5 Navy lead at the half.

In keeping with the first half flow of the game, it was Hopkins’ turn to answer with another run of its own.  Palasek slipped inside his defender and scored from in close with 11:30 remaining and senior Steven Boyle dodged from behind the goal and bounced one home to give the Blue Jays a 7-6 lead with 5:55 on the clock in the third quarter.  Palasek completed the first hat trick of his career just over two minutes later, but that would be the last goal of the game for the Blue Jays, who went more than 19 minutes without scoring twice in the game.

Navy got a team-high three points from Wanter (1g, 2a), while Moran and Connors both scored two goals to pace Navy offensively. Wickham, who entered the game ranked second nationally in save percentage, posted eight saves in goal and Navy held advantages in shots (40-32), ground balls (35-21) and faceoffs (13-of-21).

Johns Hopkins was led by Palasek’s three goals, while Boyle (1g, 2a), Kimmel (2g) and Wharton (2g) also registered multi-point games for the Blue Jays, who got a career-high 14 saves from Bassett.

Johns Hopkins will return to action on Wednesday, April 28 when the Blue Jays host Towson at 7 pm.  The Blue Jays must win their remaining two games to be eligible for selection to the 2010 NCAA Tournament.  Teams must have a .500 record to be eligible for an at-large bid to the tournament.

#17 Johns Hopkins (5-7) 5-0-3-0-0/8

Navy (6-7) 0-6-1-1-1/9

Goals:  J:  Palasek-3, Wharton-2, Kimmel-2, Boyle.  N:  Moran-2, Connors-2, Warner, Lennon, Smith, Mann, Team.  Assists:  J:  Boyle-2.  N: Warner-2, O’Leary, Sullivan.  Saves:  J:  Bassett-14.  N:  Wickham-9.  Shots:  J-32.  N-40.  EMO:  J:  0-for-1.  N:  1-for-2.  Attendance:  10,128.

http://www.lacrossehero.com

The Blue Jays lead this 106 year series, dating back to 1895 with a tally of 58-37-1. Johns Hopkins’ Coach, Dave Pietramala does a weekly check in with a local Baltimore radio station. With much admiration for Coach Cottle and the Terps, Pietramala had this to say about getting some steam with a win over Albany and looking ahead to the Smartlink Day of Rivals “they (Maryland) are an extremely emotional, hard working, talented team; I think it’s important that we took a little confidence from our last win as we head into a game in this kind of venue with a team like them” (Mark Viviano show 105.7). Meaning that this game

Hopkins is going to need the confidence as they have been struggling through the beginning half of the season. Last year they came into M & T Bank for the inaugural Day of Rivals with a 5-4 record. Having dropped one to Hoftra back in March, they just broke even with a domineering win over Albany 19-7. Hopkins has had to play a bunch of young talent these past couple weeks with names like Tom Palasek and John Ranagan jumping in for Senior Max Chautin so we will have to see how this young group will fair when it comes down to dealing with an experienced Maryland defense.

The Terrapins come in as the favorite with a 7-2 record. Their only losses coming from the #1 (Virginia) and #3 (North Carolina) teams in the nation (That’s certainly going to be a great ACC tournament). But I regress as this one is much more that another game. This one is for the first win against the Blue Jays that Maryland has seen in four years. This is also for pride, power, standings, with a splash of revenge thrown in for good measure.

Maryland has been on a rampage this spring as their win column have seen great victories over Georgetown, Duke, and last week’s victory over Navy, who will also be in “the house that Ray built” on Saturday. With all three attackman: Grant Catalino (18,16), Ryan Young (10,18), and Travis Reed (10,11) above 20 points scoring, they will lead this well balanced offense into battle this weekend. This “very emotional, hard working, talented team” can also add youth to that list of characteristics as both the starting close defensive and attack units are all made up of juniors with a sophomore thrown in the mix as well. With that type of talent being directed by a veteran, senior captain goalie in Brian Phipps, the Blue Jays might have a long ride back across town Saturday night.

But time will only tell when the final whistle sounds at M & T Bank this weekend at the 2nd Annual Smartlink Day of Rivals. It’s the 106th meeting but the century old rivalry won’t be the matter of concern Saturday night, as much as the two hours that these teams will have to battle it out for rights to this year’s crown.

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Senior Max Bartig fueled the 8-1 run to open the game for the Orange as he opened the scoring less than three minutes into the game and later added back-to-back goals in the first seven minutes of the third quarter to push a 5-1 halftime lead to 7-1.  Junior Stephen Keogh’s second goal of the game made it 8-1 less than a minute after Bartig’s third goal of the game, but JHU, which had been held off the board for more than 23 minutes, rallied.

Senior Steven Boyle sandwiched a pair of goals around a tally by freshman Zach Palmer and sophomore Tom Palasek scored on a nifty dodge from the side to slice the deficit to 8-5 less than 90 seconds into the fourth quarter.

A goal by Jeremy Thompson for Syracuse 45 seconds after Palasek’s goal halted the four-goal run for the Blue Jays, but Palasek struck again just over five minutes later to make it 9-6 and freshman John Greeley scored his second goal of the game with just under three minutes remaining to bring the Blue Jays within two at 9-7.

The Blue Jays hopes for a comeback were dashed just nine seconds after Greeley’s goal as Joel White scooped up the ground ball on the ensuing faceoff and raced into the Blue Jay zone, where he got his hands free from eight yards out to the left of Blue Jay goalie Michael Gvozden and blew home his first goal of the season.

The story of the game was the performance of the Syracuse defense, which kept the Blue Jays away from the goal for nearly three full quarters before the late-game rally.  Junior John Galloway posted nine saves, including seven in the second half – two of which came on back-to-back shots from in close in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter.  What could have been a 5-2 deficit for the Blue Jays if either of those two shots go was instead a 6-1 hole when Bartig scored at the 13:37 mark.

Bartig led the Orange with his three goals, while Thompson and Keogh added two goals apiece.  Senior Cody Jamieson added one goal and three assists for Syracuse, which held advantages in shots (37-26), groundballs (36-25) and faceoffs (14-of-20).

Boyle totaled two goals and two assists, while Greeley and Palasek’s two-goal games were the first of their career.  Gvozden was solid goal for the Blue Jays as he posted 14 saves, including several of the highlight-reel variety.

Johns Hopkins returns to action next Saturday when the Blue Jays play at top-ranked Virginia.

#2 Syracuse (4-1) 3-2-3-2/10

#7 Johns Hopkins (4-3) 0-1-2-4/7

Goals:  S:  Bartig-3, Thompson-2, Keogh-2, Jamieson, Marasco, White.  J:  Boyle-2, Palasek-2, Greeley-2, Palmer.  Assists:  S:  Jamieson-3, Daniello-2, Amidon.  J:  Boyle-2, Palasek, Palmer.  Saves:  S:  Galloway-9.  J:  Gvozden-14.  Shots:  S-37.  J-26.  EMO:  S:  2-for-2.  J:  1-for-4.  Attendance:  6.504.

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The Pride put the game away with the six-goal run after the Blue Jays had sliced a 6-2 halftime deficit to 6-4 in less than 90 seconds early in the third quarter. Jamie Lincoln answered the mini-run by Johns Hopkins when he swept across the top of the box and took a quick pass from Jay Card and blew one inside the near post. The 7-4 lead held until the final five minutes of the period, when the Pride added two goals by Stephen Bentz and a final goal by Mike Skudin with just 1.2 seconds remaining to push the lead to 10-4 entering the final quarter.

The Pride got a goal by Adrian Sorichetti while up two men with 4:54 remaining in the first half and Lincoln blew one home from 12 yards out at the top of the box less than two minutes later to close the first-half scoring.

A 12-yard laser by senior Michael Kimmel 36 second into the third quarter sliced the deficit to 6-3 and John Greeley’s first career goal less than a minute later made it 6-4, but Lincoln’s goal three minutes later ignited the game-turning run, which lifted the Pride to their third straight win against Hopkins at home.

Lincoln led the Pride with five goals and three assists, while Card added two goals and a game-high four assists. The Pride held advantages in shots (34-19) and ground balls (28-22) and converted on 3-of-4 extra-man chances.

Senior Steven Boyle led the Blue Jays with two goals and one assist.

Note: The game was delayed 14 minutes in the first quarter when the high winds knocked the power out at the stadium.

The Blue Jays fell behind 4-1 at the end of the first quarter and trailed 6-2 at the half as the Pride scored in settled offense, in transition and with a two-man advantage in the first 30 minutes. A Mike DeNapoli goal less than five minutes into the first quarter opened the scoring, but was answered less than a minute later by Blue Jay senior Tom Duerr, who slipped through traffic from the side and slipped a five-yarder past Hofstra goalie Rob Bellairs.

Hofstra got back-to-back goals from Jamie Lincoln and Jay Card in a span of just 21 seconds midway through the quarter and Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala inserted Steven Burke in goal for the Blue Jays after Card’s goal.

DeNapoli’s second goal, which came on a quick restart after the Blue Jays were called for offsides, came less than two minutes later, but Burke proved his mettle early in the second quarter when he stuffed Card in-tight while the Pride were playing a man down and Duerr buried an extra-man goal a short time later to make it 4-2.

BALTIMORE, MD – Scott MacKenzie scored his only goal of the game 59 seconds into overtime to lift seventh-ranked Princeton to an 11-10 victory over fifth-ranked Johns Hopkins in the second game of the 2010 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at Baltimore’s M&T Bank Stadium.  The win, Princeton’s second straight against the Blue Jays, lifts the Tigers to 2-0 on the season, while Johns Hopkins slips to 3-1 and had its nine-game regular-season winning streak snapped.

Princeton appeared to have the game in hand with possession late in the fourth quarter behind the Blue Jay goal on a restart, but Blue Jay goalie Michael Gvozden forced a turnover and JHU quickly worked the ball up field to senior midfielder Michael Kimmel, who carried into the Princeton zone with a full head of steam and blew a shot past Princeton goalie Tyler Fiorito to tie the game at 10-10 with 14 seconds remaining.  As it would turn out, the Blue Jays never had possession again.

Princeton won the faceoff after Kimmel’s goal, but couldn’t score in the final seconds, but the Tigers won the only faceoff in overtime and worked the ball to junior Jack McBride at the top of the box to Gvozden’s right.  He skipped a pass through traffic to MacKenzie, who was parked just above the goal line to Gvozden’s left.  With time and room, he stepped into a shot and slipped it just inside the near post for the game-winner.

Princeton led 7-4 at the half as McBride scored all three of his goals before halftime and the Tigers held the Blue Jays scoreless for the final 18:50 before the break.  After Hopkins took a 4-3 lead on a Nate Matthews goal with 3:50 remaining in the first quarter, Jack McBride and Chris McBride scored back-to-back goals to give Princeton a 5-4 lead early in the second quarter.  A Tyler Moni goal 31 seconds after Jack McBride’s tally made it 6-4 and Jack McBride accounted for the 7-4 halftime score.

It took more than five minutes for the Blue Jays to gain an offensive possession in the third quarter, but they then needed less than two minutes after that to pull within one as attackmen Kyle Wharton and Tom Duerr struck for back-to-back goals midway through the period to draw the Blue Jays to within 7-6.

An opportunisitic Jeff Froccaro goal for Princeton – he swept in a loose ball in front of the goal after a nifty Gvozden save – gave the Tigers a two-goal lead back, but JHU answered seven seconds later on Steven Boyle’s 14^th goal of the season and senior midfielder Max Chautin used a nice hesitation dodge from the side to get inside his defender and handcuffed Fiorito from seven yards out to draw the Blue Jays even at 8-8.

Frocarro, who scored three goals last week, added his third and fourth goals of the game to give the Tigers a 10-8 lead with less than six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, but JHU freshman Zach Palmer tallied a highlight-reel backhanded goal with 4:44 remaining and Kimmel fired home the game-tying goal just over four minutes later.  That set the stage for MacKenzie’s game-winner, which gave Princeton its first back-to-back wins against Johns Hopkins since 2000 and 2001.

Froccaro led Princeton with four goals and grabbed eight of the Tigers’ 24 ground balls while winning 10-of-17 faceoffs.  Jack McBride added three goals and one assist and Rob Engelke chipped in with three assists for the Tigers, who also got eight saves from Fiorito and held advantages in shots (37-27), ground balls (24-23) and faceoffs (13-12).

Boland and Duerr led the Blue Jays with two goals apiece, while Kimmel (1g, 2a) and Boyle (1g, 1a) were also multi-point scorers for the Blue Jays.  Gvozden posted10 saves for the Blue Jays, who out-scored Princeton 6-3 in the second half, but never led again after Matthews’ goal late in the first quarter was answered by Jack McBride’s goal with one second remaining in the period.

#7 Princeton (2-0) 4-3-2-1-1/11

#5 Johns Hopkins (3-1) 4-0-4-2-0/10

Goals:  P:  Froccaro-4, J. McBride-3, Moni-2, C. McBride-1, MacKenzie-1.  J:  Boland-2, Duerr-2, Boyle, Wharton, Matthews. Kimmel, Palmer, Chautin. Assists:  P:  Engelke-3, Chanenchuk-2, C. McBride-2, J. McBride-1.  J: Kimmel-2, Boyle-1, Donovan-1, Greeley-1.  Saves:  P:  Fiorito-8.  J:  Gvozden-10.  Shots:  P-37.  J-27.  EMO:  P:  0-for-0.  J:  1-for-1.  Attendance:  19,742.

The Blue Jays led just 6-4 after a John Austin (Shoreham, NY/Shoreham-Wading River) goal for Delaware with 6:53 remaining in the second quarter before Boyle ignited the 9-1 run with the first of his four goals on the night.  Boyle’s goal was the last scored in the first half, which ended with Hopkins holding a 7-4 lead despite being outshot 26-15 in the first two periods.

JHU’s high-scoring trio then took over Kimmel drew a double-team at the top of the box and quickly fed senior Max Chautin (Northport, NY/Northport) for his first goal of the season less than two minutes into the third quarter and Boyle and Wharton struck less than two minutes apart a short time later to extend the lead to 10-4 midway through the period.  A Martin Cahill (Malden, MA/The Governor’s Academy) goal with 3:48 remaining in the period halted the 4-0 run, but the Blue Jays struck for five goals in a span of just over four minutes midway through the fourth quarter to extend the lead to 15-5.

Kimmel again ignited the spree as he threaded a pass to Boyle on the backdoor for a man-up goal with 10:44 remaining before freshmen John Ranagan (Yorktown, NY/Yorktown) and Zach Palmer (Oshawa, Ontario/The Hill Academy) struck for unassisted goals less than 90 seconds apart to make it 13-5.  A laser from Wharton with 6:29 left was followed eight seconds later by Boyle’s fourth of the game off a feed from junior Eric DiProspero (Chadds Ford, PA/Unionville) to account for JHU’s final goal.

Delaware got two more goals from Cahill in the final six minutes – the second of which came on the extra-man – to account for the 15-7 final score.

Hopkins led 2-0, 4-2 and 6-3 before Austin tallied the goal that drew the ‘Hens to within 6-4 midway through the second quarter.  That two-goal margin held for more than three minutes before Boyle’s seventh goal of the season ignited the decisive 9-1 run for the Blue Jays.

In a game that saw the Blue Jays get at least a point from nine different players, it was Kimmel’s three goals and personal-best four assists for a career-high seven points that led the way.  Boyle, who opened the season with an eight-point showing against Manhattan, added four goals and one assist, while Wharton matched those totals for a five-point effort of his own.  The five-point showing matched Wharton’s career high.

Senior Michael Gvozden (Millersville, MD/Severna Park) led the Blue Jay defense as he posted 12 saves.  JHU held the Blue Hens’ leading scorer, senior Curtis Dickson (Port Coquitlam, British Columbia/Riverside), to just one goal.  Dickson entered the game with 11 goals and four assists in two games.

Cahill led the Blue Hens with four goals and fellow midfielder Kevin Kaminski (Wallingford, PA/Strath Haven) added one goal and one assist, but no other Delaware player managed more than one point and the ‘Hens connected on just 7-of-40 shots in the game.

#13 Delaware (2-1) 2-2-1-2/7

#5 Johns Hopkins (2-0) 4-3-3-5/15

Goals:  D:  Cahill-4, Kaminski, Dickson, Austin.  J:  Boyle-4, Wharton-4, Kimmel-3, Palmer-2, Chautin, Ranagan.  Assists:  D:  Elsmo, Kaminski, Lombard, Rollins, Smith.  J: Kimmel-4, Boyle, DiProspero, Lightner, Palasek, Wharton.  Saves:  D:  Fossner-16.  J:  Gvozden-12.  Shots:  D-40.  J-34.  EMO:  D:  1-for-2.  J:  2-for-4.  Attendance:  575.

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Boyle had a hand in seven of JHU’s first nine goals as he scored five times and handed out both of his assists in the first 32 minutes of the game. He scored back-to-back unassisted goals in the first seven minutes to give the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead before Mike Maydick (Chatham, NJ/Seton Hall Prep) and Michael Kimmel (Towson, MD/Loyola) scored back-to-back goals in a seven-minute span to push the lead to 4-0 early in the second quarter.

While the Blue Jay defense was limiting the Jaspers to three combined shots in the second and third quarters, Boyle helped put the game away as he counted three goals and two assists on JHU’s five goals after Kimmel’s tally. He sandwiched assists on goals by Nate Matthews (Baltimore, MD/St. Paul’s) and Hunter Rodgers (Paradise Valley, AZ/Brophy Prep) around his third goal of the game to make it 7-0 at the half and needed just 96 seconds of the third quarter to added two more goals to make it 9-0.

Hopkins added five more goals in the final six minutes of the third quarter to make it 14-0 after three periods. Included was the first career goal by freshman Zach Palmer (Oshawa, Ontario/The Hill Academy), two more by Matthews and goals 60-seconds apart by Boyle and sophomore Will McCance (The Woodlands, TX/The Woodlands).

Manhattan’s James Synowiez (Owego, NY/Owego Free Academy) sandwiched a pair of extra-man goals around a tally by Tyler Sabens (Falmouth, MA/Falmouth) in the final 6:47 to account for the final scoring. The Jaspers took 16 of their 23 shots, grabbed 11 of their 24 ground balls and earned three of their five faceoff wins in the fourth quarter. Junior Jon Fiorillo (Painted Post, NY/Corning West), made his first career start in goal for the Jaspers and totaled 12 saves.

Senior Michael Gvozden (Millersville, MD/Severna Park) registered five saves in 47 minutes of action for Johns Hopkins before giving way to sophomore Steven Burke (Potomac, MD/Bullis School), who posted four saves while allowing three goals over the final 13 minutes. Johns Hopkins allowed just seven shots and forced 19 turnovers in the first three quarters. The 53:12 the Blue Jays held the Jaspers scoreless is the longest single-game shutout streak for Johns Hopkins under head coach Dave Pietramala. The previous long was 49:11 against Mount St. Mary’s in 2008.

Boyle had twice scored four goals in a game and his previous career-high of seven points came in a 15-7 win against Navy last season. Matthews tallied the first hat trick of his career and Kimmel added an assist to go along with his second quarter goal. The Blue Jays held commanding advantages in shots (40-23), ground balls (45-24) and faceoffs (15-of-20). Senior Michael Powers (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) and junior Matt Dolente (Phoenixville, PA/Malvern Prep) were an identical 7-of-9 on faceoffs for the Blue Jays.

Johns Hopkins improved to 8-2 in season-openers under Pietramala, who picked up career victory number 130 with the win. The Blue Jays will return to action on Tuesday, February 23 when they host Delaware at 5 pm on ESPNU.

Manhattan (0-1) 0-0-0-3/3
#5 Johns Hopkins (1-0) 3-4-7-0/14

Goals: M: Synowiez-2, Sabesn. J: Boyle-6, Matthews-3, Kimmel, Rodgers, Palmer, McCance, Maydick. Assists: M: Sabens. J: Boyle-2, Kimmel, Donovan, Wharton. Saves: M: Fiorillo-12. J: Gvozden-5, Burke-4. Shots: M-23. J-40. EMO: M: 2-for-4. J: 0-for-2. Attendance: 1,400.

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