April 19, 2013

2013 Penn State Notes

Opening Draw
Johns Hopkins returns home for the first time in three weeks to take on sixth-ranked Penn State in American Lacrosse Conference action on Sunday, April 21. The Blue Jays have won two in a row and three of their last four as they enter Sunday's game with 9-5 overall record. The Nittany Lions have won three straight and six of their last seven and enter Sunday's game with a 10-4 record.

For the Record
Johns Hopkins is in its 38th season and sports an all-time record of 369-239-4 (.606) and a 151-102 (.596) record as a Division I program. JHU played the 600th game in program history on February 20 defeating Mount St. Mary's by an 18-5 score. The Blue Jays have posted 27 winning seasons, including 21 straight from 1987 to 2007. Hopkins has also made 12 NCAA Tournament appearances, including three in Division I (2004, 2005, 2007).

Thank You Seniors!
Prior to the start of Sunday's game the Blue Jays will honor their six seniors - Sammi Arbitman, Katie Duffey, Monica Fischer, Cosette Larash, Courtney Schweizer and Sophia Sherry. The class has combined to tallyl 68 goals, 24 assists, 92 points, 285 ground balls, 89 draws and 113 caused turnovers while playing a combined 352 games.

I'm Honored Part I
Senior goalie Cosette Larash has been named the American Lacrosse Conference Defensive Player of the Week for her performance in Hopkins' win at Virginia Thursday night. She made 14 saves, one shy of her career high, to backstop the Blue Jays to a 9-8 win over the 11th-ranked Cavaliers. Larash made a save on a free-position shot with the game tied at eight and just 1:09 to play. Hopkins would go on to score on the ensuing possession to earn the win.

I'm Honored Part II
Freshman attacker Jenna Reifler has been named the WomensLax.com Rookie of the Week after scoring the game-winning goal in Hopkins 9-8 win at Virginia. With only 19.5 seconds remaining on the game clock, Reifler received a pass from junior Taylor D'Amore while cutting down the left alley. Reifler caught the pass high and buried her shot to gave the Blue Jay's their first-ever win at Klöckner Stadium.

Looking Back
Johns Hopkins took a 5-0 lead on host UMBC and got a combined four goals and six assists from juniors Taylor D'Amore and Sarah Taylor en route to an 11-5 win over the Retrievers on Wednesday afternoon. Hopkins held the host team scoreless until the 5:26 mark of the first half and the five goals are the fewest goals by UMBC since an 11-3 loss at Towson on February 29, 2012.

The Blue Jays took a 6-2 lead into the half after a Dene' DiMartino free position goal with 1:56 to play. The Jays opened the second half with back-to-back goals from junior Sammy Cermack and Taylor to push out to an 8-4 lead with 23:29 still to play. The Retrievers cut the deficit in half with goals just 33 seconds apart. But Hopkins shut down UMBC from there, holding the Retrievers scoreless for more 19:36 while scoring three goals. UMBC would score with 2.4 seconds left to account for the 11-5 final.

Lending a Hand Part I
Junior Taylor D'Amore has handed out five assists in each of the last two games to become just the second player in school Division I history to tally five assists (or more) in back-to-back games. Erin Wellner was the first to accomplish the feat in 2000. She totaled seven assists against Holy Cross on March 10 and followed that with five assists at Mount St. Mary's on March 15.

Lending a Hand Part II
Heading into Sunday's action, juniors Taylor D'Amore and Sammy Cermack rank first and seventh, respectively in the American Lacrosse Conference in assists per game. D'Amore averages 2.86 helpers per game and also ranks eighth nationally, while Cermack is handing out 1.14 assists per game.

Elite Company
Junior Taylor D'Amore notched the 175th point of her career on April 11 at Virginia with her assist on classmate Sarah Taylor's goal with 28:26 to play in the game. She is the sixth player in school Division I history to reach the mark and she enters Sunday's game with 183 points on 84 goals and 99 assists. D'Amore notched five assists against the Retrievers on Wednesday to reach 40 for the season. She is just the second player all-time in school history to register multiple 40+ assist seasons. Mary Key was the first to do so as she totaled 41 assists in 2006 and followed that with a school-record 54 helpers in 2007.

Leading the Way
Junior Sarah Taylor leads the Blue Jays with 33 goals through 14 games. That is more than double her career high of 13 goals in 16 games last season and is more than her first two seasons combined (21). Taylor ranks eighth in the ALC with 2.36 goals per game and is one of five Blue Jays with 15 or more goals this season, joining classmates Sammy Cermack (23) and Taylor D'Amore (23), sophomore Jen Cook (19) and freshman Dene' DiMartino (29). DiMartino ranks ninth in the ALC with 2.23 goals per game.

Double Trouble
Juniors Taylor D'Amore and Sammy Cermack have reached double digits in both goals and assists through 14 games. D'Amore counts 23 goals and 40 assists to her credit, while Cermack has tallied 23 goals and 16 assists. D'Amore leads the ALC and ranks 14th nationally with 4.50 points per game, while Cermack is 11th in the conference with 2.78 points per contest.

Poll Position
This week, Johns Hopkins moved up a spot to 19th in the IWLCA Coaches Poll and is still receiving votes in the deBeer Media Poll.

On the Draw
Entering Sunday's action, junior Taylor D'Amore ranks third in the American Lacrosse Conference and 38th nationally with 3.36 draws per game. In less than three seasons, she ranks third all-time in school history with 160 career draws. For her career, D'Amore is averaging 3.26 draws, which is the best average in school history. Freshman Dene' DiMartino is second on the team and ranks seventh in the ALC with 2.62 draws per game.

Home Sweet Home(wood)
Under head coach Janine Tucker, the Blue Jays are 92-45 (.672) within the friendly confines of Homewood Field. Hopkins will play eight regular season home games this season and will host the seventh annual ALC Tournament.

Against The Nittany Lions
Johns Hopkins and Penn State will meet for the 14th time on Sunday in a series that began in 2002. Penn State leads the all-time series, 9-4, but Hopkins won the last meeting. The Blue Jays upset the 11th-ranked Nittany Lions, 13-12, in the ALC Quarterfinals last May. Penn State had won three straight heading into the tournament. The Nittany Lions are 4-1 all-time at Homewood Field.

Scouting The Nittany Lions
Penn State defeated visiting Lafayette, 19-10, on Wednesday night to complete its first undefeated home regular season since 1991. The Nittany Lions were a sparkling 7-0 at home in 2013. The win was also the Lions' 10th of the season as they reach double-digit wins for the fourth straight season.

Penn State has relied heavily on its underclassmen, as the freshmen and sophomore class account for 74 percent of the team's goals. Sophomore Maggie McCormick leads the team in goals (36), assists (27) and points (63), while classmate Kelly Lechner has controlled a team-high 37 draw controls. McCormick ranks second in the ALC and 19th nationally with 4.31 points per game. Junior Mackenzie Cyr has also reached double digits in goals (25) and assists (21) this season as she ranks second on the team in both categories, as well as points (46).

Senior Katie Guy leads the Lions with a career-high 38 ground balls and 29 caused turnovers. Freshman goalkeeper Emi Smith has played 717:51 in goal and posts a 10.70 goals against average and a .385 save percentage.

Lights, Camera, Action!
Hopkins will have a pair of games televised by ESPNU this year. Hopkins took on Georgetown on Wednesday and will face Penn State on April 21 on ESPNU. Hopkins is 6-17 in games played on tv.

Streaking Part I
Four Blue Jays enter Sunday's game with point, goal and/or assist streaks of at least three games. Here's a look at their streaks.

Sammy Cermack (Jr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 4 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 4 straight games

Taylor D'Amore (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 35 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 5 straight games

Dene' DiMartino (Fr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 3 straight games

Jenna Reifler (Fr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 6 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 5 straight games

Streaking Part II
Junior Taylor D'Amore's point streak of 35 games is the fourth longest in school Division I history.

Best Start Since 2006
Johns Hopkins opened the season with four straight wins for the Blue Jays best start since 2006. That year, Hopkins won eight straight games to start the season and finished the year with a 12-4 record. It is the fourth time since Hopkins went Division I in 1999 that the Jays opened the season with at least four straight wins. It is also the seventh time all-time in school history that JHU has opened with at least four straight wins.

4-0 Start to the Season
Final
Start Record Postseason
2013 4-0 ??
2006 8-0 12-4 None
2004 10-0 12-5 NCAA DI 1st Round
1999 4-0 10-4 None
1994 16-0 16-1 NCAA DIII Semis
1993 8-0 13-3 NCAA DIII Semis
1989 8-0 14-2 NCAA DIII Quarters

Climbing the Ranks
Several Blue Jays are making their move up the Johns Hopkins Division I record book. Here's a look at where they rank:

Sammi Arbitman (Sr. • D):
• Needs 1 caused turnover to rank 14th and 2 to rank 13th (has 46)

Sammy Cermack (Jr. • M):
• Needs 1 point to rank 17th and 4 to rank 16th (has 83)
• Needs 4 goals to rank 18th (has 54)
• Needs 6 assists to rank 12th (has 29)
• Needs 2 draws to rank 16th and 4 to rank 15th (has 57)

Taylor D'Amore (Jr. • A):
• Needs 3 points to rank fifth and 18 to rank 4th (has 183)
• Needs 2 goals to rank 12th and 5 to rank 11th (has 84)
• Needs 50 assists to rank 1st (has 99)
• Needs 42 draws to rank 2nd (has 160)

KC Emerson (So. • GK)
• Needs 42 saves to rank 7th (has 78)

Cosette Larash (Sr. • GK)
• Needs 4 ground balls to rank 18th (has 95)
• Needs 101 saves to rank 1st (has 388)

Sarah Taylor (Jr. • M)
• Needs 4 goals to rank 18th (has 54)

Free Lacrosse Part I
Johns Hopkins played back-to-back overtime games for the first time in program history with extra-time games at American (L, 9-10) and at home versus Vanderbilt (12-11). The win over the `Dores was the Blue Jays' first in overtime since a 13-12 overtime win against George Washington on March 19, 2009. That snapped a streak of three straight overtime losses and moves Hopkins' record to 5-6 in overtime games since 1999 (when JHU moved to Division I).

Free Lacrosse Part II
Junior Taylor D'Amore scored both of Hopkins' goals in its overtime win over Vanderbilt on March 30. She is just the third player since 1993 to score multiple overtime goals in a single game. Danielle Maschuci scored two goals in a 14-13 win over George Mason on April 22, 2000 and Jamie Larrimore scored a pair in a 12-11 win at Brown on March 23, 2001. Larrimore scored five overtime goals in her career (1999-02) while Maschuchi finished with four (1997-00).

Stars & Stripes
Junior Taylor D'Amore and 2008 graduate Lauren Schwarzmann were named to the 36-player roster for the 2012-14 United States women's national senior team in July. This is D'Amore's first turn with the national team, while Schwarzmann has been with the U.S. national team program since 2007. She spent three years with the Developmental Team before elevating to the Senior Team in 2010. Since 2005, six different Blue Jays have played in the U.S. national team program, including 2012 graduates Alyssa Kildare and Colleen McCaffrey.

At the Helm
The winningest coach in program history, Janine Tucker is in her 20th season as the head coach at Johns Hopkins. She sports a record of 219-118 (.649), including a 151-102 (.596) mark at the Division I level. Tucker took over the Blue Jay women's lacrosse program in August 1993 and coached five seasons in Division III before successfully guiding the program's transition to Division I in 1999. A 1989 graduate of Loyola (MD) and a member of the Greyhounds Athletic Hall of Fame, Tucker led the Blue Jays to double-digit win totals in each of her first 14 seasons, including four NCAA Division III Tournament appearances, three ECAC Division I championship games, and the program's first three NCAA Division I Tournament appearances in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Tucker became the 14th coach in NCAA Division I history to reach 200 wins when JHU beat host UMBC, 12-7, on April 13, 2011.

Oh Captain, My Captain
Hopkins will be captained by senior Cosette Larash and juniors Sammy Cermack and Taylor D'Amore.

On Tap
Hopkins wraps up the regular season on Sunday, April 28 as the Blue Jays travel to Columbus, OH to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. Opening draw at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium is set for 12:00 pm.