March 1, 2005
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They were wide-eyed and optimistic when they arrived in August of 2001. Johns Hopkins men?s lacrosse coach Dave Pietramala?s first recruiting class arrived with visions of returning the Blue Jays to the top of the lacrosse world. Seven months later four of them started in a shocking, 8-5 win over defending national champion Princeton at Homewood Field. Indeed the numbers tell the story of a three-year run that has included far more highs than lows:
? A 39-6 record, including a 33-3 mark in the regular season.
? Three trips to the Final Four.
? A 23-0 record in games played at Homewood Field.
? Three straight number one seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
? Three straight regular seasons that have ended with the JHU ranked number one.
It seems hardly possible that it has been three years since that career-opening win over Princeton. But it is often said that time flies when you are having fun, thus the seemingly warp speed with which the first three years have gone by for this group. At best, there are 16 games remaining in the college lacrosse careers of this class. And while they are all individuals, they share one common goal.
"Our goal, as always, is to compete for the national championship," Johns Hopkins men?s lacrosse coach Dave Pietramala noted shortly after the Blue Jays wrapped up their fall practices. "The seniors on any team feel a sense of urgency because it?s their last season and we feel like we certainly have a special group of seniors who have been working towards this season since they were freshmen."
Special? Pietramala?s first recruiting class, this year?s senior class, has been the catalyst for a three-year run that has been the most successful at Homewood since the 1980s. Sure, the Blue Jays reached the Final Four six times between 1992 and 2000, but only once were they considered the favorite entering championship weekend.
"Obviously the success we have enjoyed since this group arrived has been well-documented," Pietramala added of his senior class, which has an outside shot at becoming the winningest class in school history (by victories). "They have done an excellent job of leading this team without focusing on any of our past successes or shortcomings. The 2005 season is about 2005 and nothing else. It?s not about preseason rankings or individual accomplishments. It?s about improving as a team each week and positioning ourselves to be playing our best lacrosse at the end of the season. They have not wavered from that focus since they came back in September."
The Blue Jays, who earned the number one ranking in the 2005 Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Yearbook Preseason Poll, return eight starters from last season?s team, which posted a 13-2 record and advanced to the national semifinals before falling to eventual national champion Syracuse. Among the eight are two seniors on attack, two on the first midfield and two on close defense. While a talented group of freshmen and sophomores will push for time at every position, the Blue Jays will feature experienced players in all areas to provide leadership and direction.
Below is a position-by-position breakdown of the 2005 Blue Jays with key personnel noted.
Attack
While there aren?t many holes for the Blue Jays to fill, one of the biggest is on attack, where Second Team All-American Conor Ford graduated and took his team-high 44 goals and 53 points from last season with him. Ford moved to attack last season after starting on the Blue Jays? first midfield for two years, changing the way teams had to defend as he not only excelled in close, but was also a deadly accurate shooter with great range.
Seniors Kyle Barrie and Peter LeSueur return for their final season together on attack having started 88 games together. Barrie is a two-time All-American who could finish among the top five goal-scorers in school history. LeSueur has quietly amassed nearly 100 points in his career and excels at doing many of the little things that don?t show up on the stat sheet.
Barrie, who was a First Team All-American as a sophomore and a Second Team All-American last season, tied for third on the team in scoring with 26 goals and 11 assists despite nagging injuries throughout the 2004 campaign. A legitimate goal-scoring threat, he enters the 2005 season with 86 goals and 39 assists in his career and needs just seven goals in the NCAA Tournament to become JHU?s career leader in that category.
LeSueur underwent shoulder surgery prior to the 2004 season and was never at full strength during the Blue Jays? run to the national semifinals. One of the hardest working players in the program, he managed to start all 15 games and had 10 goals and 15 assists to his credit last season to push his career totals to 47 goals and 50 assists.
Sophomore Jake Byrne inherits Ford?s starting position on attack after working with Barrie and LeSueur throughout the fall. Byrne finished eighth on the team (and first among freshmen) in scoring last season with eight goals and 10 assists while holding down a spot on the second midfield unit. An attackman in high school, he made a smooth transition back to his natural position in the fall and gives the Blue Jays a more athletic presence than they?ve had in recent years.
Sophomore Drew Dabrowski is the only other returning player with experience on attack as he appeared in five games last season as a freshman. Although he didn?t register a point in limited action last season, he has put himself in a position to take on an increased role. A left-hander with good size, he can create a different type of matchup than Barrie, LeSueur or Byrne demand.
Freshman Kevin Huntley missed the entire fall while recovering from an injury but is expected to be back at full strength in the spring and should push for playing time on attack. He enjoyed an exceptional prep career at nearby Calvert Hall and is following in the footsteps of his father, Dave Huntley, a three-time All-American midfielder at Hopkins in the 1970s who ended his career with 100 goals, the most ever by a midfielder in school history.
Fellow freshman Michael Doneger, the younger brother of two-time First Team All-American Adam Doneger (class of 2003), could also figure into the mix on attack. Like his brothers Adam and Jason (a senior at Princeton this season), Michael Doneger has good size and enjoyed a standout high school career.
Midfield
The Blue Jays will likely need several players to increase their goal-scoring production to make up for the loss of Ford?s 44 goals. It is just as unlikely that any one player will fill the void left by the graduation of Kevin Boland, who scored 13 goals and had a team-high 32 assists last season. Boland, a three-time All-American, finished as JHU?s career leader in assists among midfielders with 82. He may be the most difficult player the Blue Jays have had to replace in Pietramala?s tenure at Homewood.
Despite Hopkins? loss of Boland, not too many teams will feel sorry for the Blue Jays as they return the top midfielder in the nation in senior Kyle Harrison. A two-time Tewaaraton Award Finalist, Harrison was a First Team All-American last season and earned the McLaughlin Award as the nation?s top midfielder. If he wins the McLaughlin Award again this season he will join Del Dressel as Hopkins? only two-time recipients of the National Midfielder-of-the-Year award.
Harrison tallied a career-high 26 goals last season and added seven assists for 33 points. He creates matchup problems for the opposition whenever he has the ball, and teams must account for him at all times with a slide package as he is adept at getting past the first line of defense.
A major questionmark for the Blue Jays entering the season will be the status of senior Matt Rewkowski, who suffered a torn ACL on the first day of fall practice. Rewkowski earned Third Team All-America honors last season, when he tied for second on the team in scoring (26g, 11a). He may have earned a higher nod had he not been on the same midfield unit with Harrison and Boland.
Rewkowski?s return to full strength would give the Blue Jays arguably the top midfield tandem in the nation. Rewkowski is also a key member of the Hopkins extra-man unit as his team-high 12 extra-man goals accounted for nearly 40 percent of JHU?s 32 man-up goals last season. His 12 EMO goals are the second-highest single-season total by a Hopkins player in the last 10 years,
The leading candidate to join Harrison and Rewkowski on the first midfield is junior Greg Peyser, who has been a key member of the Blue Jays? second midfield for the last two years. He finished seventh on the team in scoring with nine goals and 10 assists last season and gives the Blue Jays a strong, athletic presence. After deferring to upperclassmen during his first two seasons, he could be ready for a breakout year offensively. He did miss the fall with an injury but is expected to be at full strength when the season begins.
After Harrison, Rewkowski and Peyser, senior Joe Malo and junior Joe Benson are the most experienced players in the running for a spot on one of the Blue Jays? top midfields. Malo, who has been used in a variety of roles during his career, played in 14 games last season, while Benson tallied one goal in five games. With Rewkowski and Peyser out during the fall, Malo took advantage of his opportunity to run with the top midfield and is expected to play a significant role this season. Benson also had a great fall and should also see the most substantial playing time of his career.
Sophomore Jamison Koesterer flashed signs of promise last season as he saw action in 12 games and had one goal and one assist. He provides an imposing physical presence and is in position to grab a spot in the regular rotation.
A trio of freshmen, Paul Rabil, Stephen Peyser and Garrett Stanwick, wasted little time making an impact in the fall and all three demonstrated the ability to hold down a spot on either of the first two midfield units. All bring impressive prep credentials to Homewood and team to give the Blue Jays one of the top young midfields in the nation.
Val Washington, who joined the team as a walk-on in the fall, will add depth to the midfield.
Defense
Pietramala, arguably one of the top defensive players in the history of college lacrosse, has a talented and experienced defensive unit to lean on as he enters his fifth season. Seniors Tom Garvey and Chris Watson and junior Matt Pinto started all 15 games together last season ? an experience that should only make them better this season.
Garvey is one of the top returning close defensemen in the nation as he earned Second Team All-America honors last season, his second as a starter. Garvey generally draws the assignment of matching up with the opposition?s top attackman and his efforts fueled a defense that allowed more than nine goals just twice last season and just four times in the last two years. Garvey had 24 ground balls to his credit last season.
Watson, one of three members of the senior class (LeSueur, Harrison) who has started all 45 games in his career, quarterbacks the Blue Jay defense and is responsible for making all the defensive calls. A steady, intelligent defender, Watson grabbed a career-high 30 ground balls last season and could set school records for most games started and most consecutive games started (along with LeSueur and Harrison).
Pinto played in the shadow of his more experienced teammates on defense last season but still enjoyed a productive campaign after missing most of his freshman year with injuries. He grabbed 18 ground balls on the year and is a technically-sound position defender. Despite the presence of Garvey and Watson, he will be counted on to take a leadership role in the Blue Jays? complex defensive system.
Junior Josh Pico and sophomore Eric Zerrlaut provide more size and aggressiveness than any of the three starters and should see an increased role this season. Pico is a solid one-on-one defender, while Zerrlaut is fully recovered from injuries that cost him his freshman year.
Juniors Gabe Hirl and Matt Nader and sophomore Kyle Miller will add depth on close defense. Hirl and Nader both saw action in two games last season, while Miller appeared in one game as a freshman.
Senior Greg Raymond was the Blue Jays? number two long-stick middie last season and returns for his final season after playing in all 15 games last year. He could take over for the departed Corey Harned at the pole and has the ability to play close defense as well. Harned was one of the top long-stick middies in the nation during the last three years and his athleticism will be missed.
A trio of young players will battle Raymond for time at the pole as sophomore Brendan Skakandi and freshmen Ben O?Neill and Nick Veith are all solid defenders who each bring something different to the table. Skakandi played in seven games last season as a freshman to grab the experience edge, but O?Neill and Veith were impressive in the fall and should see playing time this spring.
Senior Benson Erwin and junior Matt Feild return to play together for the third straight season as JHU?s top short-stick defensive middie combination. This is arguably the most experienced pair of short-stick defensive midfielders in the nation.
Erwin may be one of the top three short-stick defenders in the nation. He has a great combination of strength and athleticism and is adept at jump-starting the Blue Jays? transition game. He has played in all 45 games in the last three years and had one goal, four assists and 25 ground balls to his credit last season. Erwin is an exceptional one-on-one defender.
Feild may be one of the most intelligent players the Blue Jays have had at the short-stick defensive midfield position in the last 10 years. He has a tremendous understanding of the team?s defensive system and is rarely caught out of position. He played in all 31 games in the last two years and had 11 ground balls and one assist last season.
Sophomore Andrew DiConza and freshman George Castle will push for time behind Erwin and Feild and could see an increased role as the coaching staff tries to build experienced depth. DiConza is making the switch from long-stick defensive middie to short-stick this season, while Castle was impressive in the fall and could be a fixture here in the coming years.
Faceoffs
An area where the Blue Jays have more options than most teams in the nation is on faceoffs, where all four players who were in the rotation last season return. As a team Hopkins finished seventh in the nation in faceoff winning percentage last season.
Greg Peyser headlines the group after he won 75-of-112 (.670) faceoffs last season, a mark that would have placed him third in the nation if he had taken enough to qualify among the leaders. Individuals must take 40 percent of a team?s total faceoffs to qualify among the national leaders and the Blue Jays? four-man rotation saw three players take more than 30 percent of the team?s total but no one took more than 32 percent.
Peyser tied a national record when he won 15-of-15 faceoffs in a 13-6 win over Hofstra last season and has now won 133-of-216 (.616) faceoffs in his career.
As if having Peyser isn?t enough, the Blue Jays also count Harrison among their quartet of faceoff standouts. Harrison?s production at the "X" actually slipped a little last season as he won 60-of-109 (.550) faceoffs on the year while taking on an increased offensive role. Harrison holds two of the top six single-season faceoff winning percentages in school history (.632 in 2002 and .626 in 2003) and is a scoring threat off the faceoff every time.
Senior Lou Braun is a traditional faceoff specialist who won 59-of-108 (.546) last season and is the perfect complement to Peyser and Harrison. He won 38-of-65 (.585) faceoffs and had 19 ground balls in his last six games and enjoyed a 10-of-12 showing in a 10-9 win over Navy late in the regular season.
Koesterer could emerge as a key figure at the "X" after he won 9-of-16 (.562) faceoffs as a freshman a year ago. He gives the Blue Jays a physical presence unlike any of the other returning players here and had an exceptional fall campaign.
Stephen Peyser, who excelled facing off in high school, could also figure into the mix and his development could have a domino affect. If he, Braun and Koesterer can take some of the load off Harrison and Greg Peyser, they would be fresher to concentrate on their duties on regular midfield units. Harrison could also present a matchup problem for the opposition on the wing on faceoffs, where his speed and athleticism would be an added advantage.
Goalies
In all honesty, the Blue Jays entered the 2004 season not quite sure where they stood in goal. Scott Smith and Jesse Schwartzman had both performed well in practices and scrimmages, but neither had played a meaningful minute in a college game.
One year later the Blue Jays still have a questionmark in goal, but the question is which talented goalie will win the starting job after both demonstrated the ability to be the starter last season.
Smith holds the edge heading into the season as he started 13 of the 14 games he played in last season and posted an exceptional 8.13 goals against average and a .545 save percentage. He finished 15th in the nation in goals against average and excelled in regular season victories over Princeton and Syracuse.
Schwartzman played in eight games and earned a pair of starts, including one in a 15-3 win over Providence in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after Smith was injured in pre-game warm-ups. Schwartzman posted a 5.41 goals against average and a .614 save percentage.
"We are fortunate to have two proven goalies returning," Pietramala noted. "Scott excelled for us throughout the 2004 season and Jesse was able to gain valuable experience in several big games throughout the season. We feel very comfortable with either in goal and the competition between them has only served to make each of them better."
Freshman Graydon Locey could be a factor in the battle for the starting spot in goal, but has some significant ground to make up after sitting out the entire fall with an injury. He comes to Hopkins after an impressive prep career, but may be hard-pressed to crack the lineup after missing the fall.
Freshman Nolan Matthews and senior James Maimone-Medwick will provide depth in goal this season. Matthews is the son of Les Matthews, a two-time First Team All-American goalie at Hopkins (1972 & 1973) and a member of the Lacrosse Hall of Fame, while Medwick appeared briefly in one game last season.
Schedule
No secrets here as the Blue Jays count just one change in their 12-game schedule this season. After the traditional season-opener at Princeton, Hopkins will host UMBC and Hofstra before travelling to Syracuse. A home game against Virginia will bring down the curtain on the month of March, when the Blue Jays are 14-3 in the last three years.
April will open with a challenging trip to Chapel Hill where the Blue Jays take on North Carolina, while back-to-back home game against Albany and Duke round out a stretch of three games in seven days. Games at Maryland and Towson bookend a matchup with defending national finalist Navy, while the annual Homecoming game against Loyola on May 7 will close the regular season.
The Blue Jays? schedule is once again rated as one of the most difficult in the nation as JHU will play all four ACC schools, while Syracuse, Princeton and Navy are ranked second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 2005 Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Yearbook Preseason Poll. Add in games against Towson, Loyola, and Hofstra and JHU will play 10 games against teams ranked in the preseason top 25. The "breather" games that dot so many schedules don?t exist at Homewood. UMBC and Albany, which are the only teams JHU will play that aren?t ranked in the preseason top 25, are 26th and 27th.
Regardless of how the Blue Jays fare in the regular season, the game at Loyola will not be the final game at Homewood Field this season as Johns Hopkins will host the NCAA South Quarterfinals on May 21.
The Blue Jays will look to parlay seven regular season home games and, possibly, two NCAA Tournament games at Homewood Field, into a fourth straight trip to the Final Four. The class of 1987 was the last to appear in the Final Four during each of its seasons at Homewood.
Come to think of it, the class of 1987 had a pretty good run. A run the class of 2005 can match in at least one way.
