Feb. 27, 2002
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The Game: Johns Hopkins opens the 2002 season at home against defending NCAA Division I National Champion Princeton. This is the 13th straight season that Johns Hopkins and Princeton have met in the season-opener.
A Look Back: Johns Hopkins posted an 8-4 record last season and advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals. Princeton posted a 14-1 record and won its sixth national championship in the last 10 years.
The Coaches: Dave Pietramala is in his second season as the head coach of the Blue Jays. He sports an overall record of 31-21, including an 8-4 record at Johns Hopkins.
Pietramala spent three years as the head coach at Cornell (1998-2000) before returning to his alma mater last season. He is the only person in the history of college lacrosse who has earned NCAA Division I National Player of the Year honors (1989) and NCAA Division I National Coach of the Year honors (2000).
Bill Tierney enters the 2002 season with a 14-year record of 170-48 at Princeton and a 17-year overall record of 194-60. He has guided Princeton to six NCAA titles, seven appearances in the NCAA title game, and eight trips to the Final Four.
Hopkins Lacrosse on the Radio: Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse games can be heard on WJFK-AM 1300 in Baltimore. The Johns Hopkins Lacrosse Game of the Week presented by Copy World begins with a pre-game show 15 minutes prior to faceoff and includes a 15-minute post-game show. Larry Quinn and Mark Dixon will provide all the play-by-play and expert analysis. All regular-season games (except the games against Albany, North Carolina, Villanova, and Navy) and NCAA Tournament games will be broadcast.
Hopkins Lacrosse on Television: The Johns Hopkins Princeton game will be aired locally on WMAR-TV 2 in Baltimore. The Blue Jays are scheduled to hit the air waves seven times this season. Games against Princeton, Syracuse, North Carolina, Maryland, Towson and Loyola will air on WMAR, while the JHU-Virginia game will be aired on Comcast SportsNet. Since 1998, Johns Hopkins has had 26 of its games televised and has posted a 15-11 record in those 25 games.
Hopkins Lacrosse on the Web: The official web site for Johns Hopkins athletics is located at www.HopkinsSports.com.
Series Notes
* Johns Hopkins holds a 48-22 advantage in the all-time series against Princeton. The Tigers won last season's battle, 8-4 in the season-opener.
* Princeton has won 10 of the previous 13 games between the two teams with Hopkins' only wins in that time coming by identical 15-14 scores in 1992 and 1995 and a 12-11 decision in 1999.
* Close games have been the norm in this series as seven of the last 13 games between the two teams have been decided by just one goal and nine of the 13 have been decided by three goals or less.
About the Tigers: Princeton enters the 2002 season with hopes of winning its seventh NCAA Championship in 11 seasons. Under the guidance of head coach Bill Tierney, the Tigers will feature a dangerous and experienced attack with two returning All-Americans and a solid defense, which also boasts a pair of returning All-Americans.
Senior B.J. Prager, junior Sean Hartofilis, and sophomore Ryan Boyle all return on attack, where the three combined for 85 goals and 46 assists last season. Hartofilis and Boyle both garnered All-America honors last season, while all Prager did was lead the team in goals (36) while also scoring the game-winning goal in overtime in the national championship game against Syracuse.
Junior Damien Davis and senior Scott Farrell headline a defense which allowed more than nine goals just twice last season. Davis is an excellent one-on-one defender, while Farrell is a three-year starter with outstanding size. Their play will be especially important early in the season as the Tigers must replace 2001 First Team All-American Trevor Tierney in goal. Junior Julian Gould is the heir apparent. In limited action last season, Gould posted a 6.58 goals against average and a .714 save percentage.
Looking for a weakness? Good luck. If there is an area that the Tigers would like to develop it has to be midfield scoring. Junior Owen Daly scored 11 goals and added four assists last season, but no other returning middie had more than eight goals or 11 points. To make a run at another national championship, the Tigers will likely need one or two midfielders to fill the scoring void left by the departure of Matt Streibel and Rob Torti, who combined for 36 goals and 31 assists last season.
These Are The Facts: Johns Hopkins enters the 2002 season with an all-time record of 794-257-15 (.752) in 114 seasons of play. The Blue Jays own seven NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles, and 6 ILA titles for a total of 42 national championships.
In Season Openers: JHU is 4-8 against Princeton in season-openers since 1990. Surprisingly, JHU has lost 11 of its last 16 season-openers dating back to 1986. Overall, Hopkins sports a 78-34-3 (.691) record in season-openers.
Captain My Captain: Senior defender P.J. DiConza (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset), senior midfielder Matt Hanna (Geneva, NY/Geneva), senior goalie Nick Murtha (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset), junior attackman Bobby Benson (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) and junior midfielder Adam Doneger (Hewlett, NY/Lynbrook) have been selected as team captains for Johns Hopkins this season.
We Go Way Back: Johns Hopkins is coached by Dave Pietramala, who played at Hopkins from 1986-89. Pietramala was recruited to play at Hopkins by current Princeton coach Bill Tierney, who served as an assistant at JHU from 1985-87.
Family Ties: Princeton head coach Bill Tierney is the uncle of current JHU offensive coordinator Seth Tierney, who played at JHU from 1988-91. Seth Tierney is the cousin of Princeton senior attackman Brendan Tierney.
All In the Family: For the second consecutive season, the Johns Hopkins coaching staff consists entirely of Johns Hopkins' graduates. Head coach Dave Pietramala and assistant coaches Seth Tierney (class of 1991), Bill Dwan (1991), and Howard Offit (1981) all earned their degree at JHU. Prior to last season when Pietramala, Tierney, Dwan and Offit also comprised the Blue Jay coaching staff, the last time the entire coaching staff was made up of JHU graduates was 1984, when the Blue Jays were coached by Don Zimmerman (1976), who was assisted by Jerry Pfeiffer (1966), Joe Devlin (1978), Fred Smith (1950), Joe Cowan (1969), and Dennis Townsend (1966).
Homecoming: First-year Princeton assistant coach Shawn Nadelen was a four-year member of the Johns Hopkins lacrosse team from 1998-2001. He garnered Second Team All-America honors as a senior last season and led Johns Hopkins to the Final Four in 1999 and 2000.
Tough: Johns Hopkins' game this week against Princeton will be the latest for the Blue Jays against the defending national champion. Hopkins has now played the defending national champion every year since 1973 (the longest such streak in the nation). The Blue Jays have won five of their last eight and eight of their last 13 games against defending national champions, including wins over Princeton in 1995 and 1999 and Syracuse in 1994, 1996 and 2001.
Tougher: This week's game against top-ranked Princeton will be the latest in a long line of games for the Blue Jays against the number one ranked team in the nation. Since 1994, JHU has played 13 games against teams which were ranked number one in the nation at the time of the game. Hopkins is 6-7 in those 13 games, including a win against Syracuse last season when the Orangemen were ranked number one. Currently, JHU has won three of its last five against teams ranked number one.
The Toughest: Johns Hopkins will once again play the most difficult schedule in the nation, a fact that was cemented with release of the Faceoff Lacrosse 2002 Strength of Schedule Rankings (right).
The Blue Jays have a strength of schedule rating of 175 to easily out-distance the field in the battle for the toughest schedule in the nation. The Blue Jays will play the other five consensus top six teams in the nation (Princeton/Syracuse/Towson/Virginia/Maryland) and seven of the top 10. Hopkins plays three of last season's Final Four teams and three other teams which advanced to the national quarterfinals.
Getting Tougher: As if Hopkins doesn't already play the most difficult schedule in the nation, the Blue Jays will be adding Duke to their schedule beginning next season.
Youth: It's no secret the Blue Jays may have the youngest team in the nation this season. Of the 40 players on the roster, 16 are freshmen, nine are sophomores, eight are juniors, and seven are seniors.
More Youth: Junior attackman Bobby Benson, junior midfielder Adam Doneger, and junior goalie Rob Scherr have combined to start 55 games. The 37 other players on the team have a combined 35 starts to their credit.
A Final Youth: Eleven players enter the 2002 season with at least one career point. The 11 have combined for 146 goals and 71 assists for 217 points. Of those totals, 137 of the goals and 65 of the assists have been amassed by players with at least two years of eligibility remaining (including this season).
Brother Act: Sophomore Corey Harned is the younger brother of Chris Harned, who played attack for the Blue Jays from 1997-2000. Freshman Peter LeSueur is the younger brother of Paul LeSueur, who played midfield for the Blue Jays from 1997-2000 and served as a team captain as a senior.
USA, USA: Johns Hopkins junior attackman Bobby Benson (Baltimore, MD/McDonogh) earned a spot on the United States National Team and will play in this summer's ILF World Championships.
Topping the Charts: Bobby Benson returns for his junior season after earning Honorable Mention All-America honors last season. He paced the team with 28 goals and 14 assists for 42 points. He is Hopkins' only returning All-American.
It's Safe to Say: Bobby Benson has scored at least one goal in 23 of the 25 games he has played in during his career and has 17 multi-goal games to his credit.
A Change of Scenery: Junior Adam Doneger (Hewlett, NY/Lynbrook) is moving from attack to midfield this season, where he is expected to anchor Hopkins' top midfield unit. Last season, Doneger finished second on the team in scoring with 18 goals and 12 assists for 30 points.
Catch 22: Adam Doneger enters the season-opener having registered at least one point in 22 consecutive games, by far the longest active streak on the team.
Ford Tough: Sophomore Conor Ford (Timonium, MD/St. Paul's) made an immediate splash last season as he finished second on the team in goals (22) and third in points (28).
More Ford: Conor Ford led the Blue Jays with a .667 shooting percentage last season as his 22 goals came on just 33 shots.
The Final Ford: Conor Ford tallied five goals (on just five shots) in a 13-11 win over Navy last season. Prior to that, only one other freshman (Bobby Benson vs. Loyola in 2000 regular-season finale) at JHU had scored five goals in a game since Terry Riordan turned the trick vs. Army in 1992.
OK, One More: Conor Ford led the Blue Jays with five extra man goals last season, three of which came against Virginia.
In the Nick of Time: Senior Nick Murtha (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset) is expected to get the first start of his career in the season-opener against Princeton. Murtha has played in 11 games in his career and boasts an 11.69 career GAA and a .537 save percentage.
Scherr-ing the Load: The Blue Jays boast two proven goalies as junior Rob Scherr (Reisterstown, MD/McDonogh) returns after starting all 12 games last season. Scherr posted an 8.52 GAA and a .587 save percentage last season.
Hail Hanna: In case you forgot, senior Matt Hanna (Geneva, NY/Geneva) made his Johns Hopkins debut against Princeton last season and tallied two goals in the 8-4 loss. He ended his first season at Hopkins (he had transferred to JHU after two seasons at Loyola) with eight goals and one assist for nine points.
McDermott the Middie: One year after playing most of the season on attack, sophomore Joe McDermott (Rockville Centre, NY/South Side) makes the permanent move back to midfield, his natural position. Last season, McDermott finished sixth on the team in scoring with seven goals and 10 assists for 17 points.
More Middie: Joe McDermott played midfield almost exclusively down the stretch last season and registered two goals and one assist in the fourth quarter of a 13-10 win over Loyola. All three of his points came during a three-goal run that turned an 8-8 tie into an 11-8 Hopkins lead.
Muir of a Good Thing: One of the most athletic and versatile players on the team, junior Tim Muir (Collingdale, PA/Episcopal) tallied seven goals and three assists in 10 games last season. He is likely to hold down a spot on the second midfield unit this season. A solid defender, he could also see time as a defensive middie.
One Good Switch Deserves Another: Sophomore Corey Harned (Holbrook, NY/Sachem) was a standout attackman in high school, played short-stick defensive middie last season, and is listed as Hopkins' top long stick defensive middie entering the season-opener.
Long in the Tooth: Senior defender P.J. DiConza (Manhasset, NY/Manhasset) has played in 32 games with four starts to his credit. The next four players listed as close defenders (Michael Peyser, Dan DiPietro, Chris Watson, Tom Garvey) have played in a total of 26 games with one start.
The Numbers Don't Lie: P.J. DiConza was enjoying a standout season as Hopkins' long stick middie before being lost for the season with a knee injury prior to the game against Maryland last year. Johns Hopkins had not allowed more than 10 goals and was allowing an average of just 7.3 goals per game before his injury. After he was lost for the year, the Blue Jays did not hold an opponent to less than 10 goals in any game and allowed an average of 11.4 goals per game in their final five games.
Coming Full Circle: Junior Mike Peyser (Cold Spring Harbor, NY/Cold Spring Harbor) arrived at Hopkins as a close defenseman and spent most of his freshman year playing there. He even earned a start against Maryland on close defense as a rookie. Last season, he played the first seven games of the season as a short stick defensive middie, before playing the rope the final five games of the season after P.J. DiConza was lost for the year with an injury. This season, he'll start at close defense.
The Dynamic Duo, Part I: Freshmen Peter LeSueur (Garden City, NY/Garden City) and Kyle Barrie (Narberth, PA/The Haverford School) were two of the prize jewels of head coach Dave Pietramala's first recruiting class at Johns Hopkins. LeSueur is slated to start on attack and Barrie is one of Hopkins' top young midfielders. Both are expected to play an integral role in the Hopkins' offense, which averaged less than 11 goals per game last season.
The Dynamic Duo, Part II: Freshmen Chris Watson (Yorktown, NY/Yorktown) and Tom Garvey (Garden City, NY/Garden City) were two more prize jewels of Pietramala's first recruiting class. Watson is scheduled to open the season as a starter on close defense and Garvey is the fourth close defender in Hopkins' defensive rotation.
Elementary My Dear Watson: Chris Watson scored a 1590 on his SATs.
"X" Marks Their Spot: One of the biggest holes the Blue Jays have to fill is at the faceoff "X", where now-graduated Eric Wedin took over 94% of the faceoffs for the Blue Jays last season and over 1,000 in his career. Freshmen midfielders Kyle Harrison and Lou Braun are expected to share the load this season for Hopkins. Harrison is also expected to hold down a spot on Hopkins' top midfield unit.
Streaking- Part I: Johns Hopkins made its record 30th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament last season, a streak which is by far the longest in the nation. Hopkins has competed in every NCAA Tournament since 1972, having missed only the first tournament in 1971. Below is a list of the longest active streaks of qualifying for the NCAA Division I Lacrosse Tournament.
Team Streak Began
Johns Hopkins 30 1972
Syracuse 19 1983
Loyola 14 1988
Princeton 12 1990
Virginia 9 1993
Streaking- Part II: In addition to boasting the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Lacrosse Tournament, the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team also boasts the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in any Division I team sport.
Below are the longest active streaks in each of the five major team sports in which the NCAA sponsors championships. Bowl games for Division I-A football are not included since they are not directly sponsored by the NCAA. Also, finishes at national championships in individual sports (wrestling/swimming/track) are not included.
Team Sport Streak/Began
Johns Hopkins Lacrosse 30/1972
Miami (FL) Baseball 28/1973
North Carolina Basketball 27/1975
Virginia Soccer 20/1981
Michigan Hockey 11/1991
Leading the Pack: In addition to the above streaks, the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team holds the record for the most overall appearances in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Tournament (30).
Below is a list of the schools with the most all-time appearances in the NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championships (schools with 10 or more appearances are listed):
Johns Hopkins 30
Maryland/Virginia 25
Syracuse 22
North Carolina/Navy 20
Cornell 15
Loyola 14
UMass 13
Princeton/Army 12
Brown/Hofstra 11
Notre Dame 10
