April 26, 2013
2013 OSU Notes
Opening Draw
Johns Hopkins travels to Columbus, OH to take on Ohio State in the final American Lacrosse Conference contest of the season on Sunday, April 28. The winner will be the fourth seed in the upcoming ALC Tournament, the loser will be the fifth seed. The Blue Jays (9-6, 1-3 ALC) are coming off a tough one-goal loss to the sixth-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions on Senior Day at Homewood Field. The Buckeyes (7-8, 1-3 ALC) are coming off a 15-10 win at High Point that snapped a two-game losing streak.
For the Record
Johns Hopkins is in its 38th season and sports an all-time record of 369-240-4 (.605) and a 151-103 (.594) 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).
ALC Tournament
Johns Hopkins will host the seventh annual American Lacrosse Conference Tournament May 2, 3 and 5 at Homewood Field. JHU is the first team to host the tournament twice as Hopkins hosted the inaugural tournament in 2007. Defending champion Florida earned the top seed in the tournament and will face the winner of the four-five game in the first semifinal on Friday, May 3. Northwestern is the two seed and will take on the winner of the three-six game in the second semifinal. Penn State is the three seed, while Vanderbilt is the six seed. The four and five seeds will be determined in the Johns Hopkins-Ohio State game.
Looking Back
Mackenzie Cyr scored with 31.1 seconds left, to cap a four-goal rally and put sixth-ranked Penn State ahead 15-14 on host Johns Hopkins Sunday afternoon. The Nittany Lions controlled the enusing draw and were able to run out the clock.
With the game tied at 11 apiece and 17:41 to play, Hopkins used a methodical three-goal run over a nearly 10- minute span, to push out to a 14-11 lead. But Penn State was able to answer with that four-goal run to take the come-from-behind win. It was a back-and-forth affair from the start, as Penn State would answer every Hopkins' run to set up the thrilling finish.
Junior Taylor D'Amore led all scorers with eight points and five assists and two other Blue Jays, Sarah Taylor and Dene' DiMartino, notched hat tricks. Sophomore Jen Cook also totaled five points with a goal and a career-high four assists.
Lending a Hand Part I
Junior Taylor D'Amore has handed out five assists in each of her last three games to become the first player in school Division I history to accomplish the feat.
Lending a Hand Part II
Heading into Sunday's action, juniors Taylor D'Amore and Sammy Cermack rank first and sixth, respectively in the ALC in assists per game. D'Amore averages 3.00 helpers per game and also ranks fifth in the NCAA. Cermack is handing out 1.13 assists per game and has a career-best 17 assists this season.
Rookie Sensation
Freshman Dene' DiMartino scored three goals on Sunday against Penn State, including her 30th goal of the season. She is the first freshman to score 30 goals in a season since 2007 and just the fourth in school Division I history to do so. DiMartino has also controlled 37 draws so far this season, the fourth most by a freshman in JHU Division history. Kadie Stamper `08 holds the freshman record with 56 draws in 2005. DiMartino leads all freshmen in the conference in both goals (32) and draws (37).
Elite Company Part I
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 191 points on 87 goals and 104 assists. D'Amore needs nine points to reach 200 for her career. She would be the fifth player in school Division I history and 10th overall to reach the milestone.
Elite Company Part II
D'Amore notched five assists against the Retrievers on April 17 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. D'Amore needs nine assists to tie Key's all-time single-season record of 54 assists.
Leading the Way
Junior Sarah Taylor leads the Blue Jays with 36 goals through 15 games. That is nearly triple her career high of 13 goals in 16 games last season and is more than her first two seasons combined (21). Taylor ranks sixth in the ALC with 2.40 goals per game and is one of five Blue Jays with 20 or more goals this season, joining classmates Sammy Cermack (25) and Taylor D'Amore (26), sophomore Jen Cook (20) and freshman Dene' DiMartino (32). DiMartino ranks ninth in the ALC with 2.29 goals per game.
Double Trouble
Juniors Taylor D'Amore and Sammy Cermack and sophomore Jen Cook have each reached double digits in both goals and assists through 15 games. D'Amore counts 26 goals and 45 assists to her credit, while Cermack has tallied 25 goals and 17 assists. Cook has scored 20 goals and added 12 helpers. D'Amore leads the ALC and ranks 10th nationally with 4.73 points per game, while Cermack is 12th in the conference with 2.80 points per contest.
Poll Position
This week, Johns Hopkins dropped out of the IWLCA Coaches Poll and is receiving votes in both the coaches poll and the deBeer Media Poll.
On the Draw
Entering Sunday's action, junior Taylor D'Amore ranks third in the American Lacrosse Conference and 33rd nationally with 3.60 draws per game. In three seasons, she ranks third all-time in school history with 167 career draws. For her career, D'Amore is averaging 3.34 draws, which is the best average in school history. Freshman Dene' DiMartino is second on the team and ranks seventh in the ALC with 2.64 draws per game.
In the Cage
Senior Cosette Larash has started more games in the cage (59) and played more minutes (3,267:59) than any other goalie in school Division I history. She is just two games shy of tying Jen McDonald's `03 record for games played by a goalie (64). Larash should tie that record with the first game of the ALC Tournament. Larash needs just one win to tie the program Division I record for career wins (32) held by both Lauren Riddick `06 and McDonald.
Against The Buckeyes
Hopkins and Ohio State will meet for the 12th time in a series that began in 2002 with the inception of the American Lacrosse Conference. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series, 7-4, and won last season's meeting, 12-9, at Homewood Field. The series has been defined by home field advantage as the visiting team has won just once in 11 meetings. Hopkins defeated Ohio State, 15-14, on a late free position goal on March 11, 2007 in Columbus for the lone win by a visiting team. The Blue Jays are just 1-4 in Columbus against the Buckeyes.
Scouting The Buckeyes
Junior Katie Chase has emerged offensively for the Buckeyes after two injury-plagued seasons. She leads the team, ranks third in the ALC and 43rd nationally with 41 goals. She has at least one goal in all 15 games this season. Chase has also broken the single-season record for draws for the Buckeyes and enters Sunday's game with 67, which ranks second in the conference and 14th in the NCAA. Sophomore Kelsea Ayers ranks second on the team with 28 goals, half of which have come in the last five games. Sophomore Jackie Cifarelli has dished out 43 assists so far this season, surpassing her high of 32 last season - an OSU freshman record. She averages 2.87 assists per game, ranking second in the ALC and eighth in the NCAA.
Defensively, junior Taylor Kuzma leads the way for the Buckeyes with 38 ground balls and 24 caused turnovers so far this season. She ranks second in the ALC and 26th nationally with 2.53 ground balls per game, while ranking third in the ALC and 29th in the NCAA with 1.60 caused turnovers per game. Chase ranks second on the team and sixth in the league with 1.73 ground balls and 1.27 caused turnovers per game. Sophomore Tori DeScenza has started all 15 games in the cage and posts a 10.65 goals against average with a .425 save percentage.
Streaking Part I
Seven 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 5 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 5 straight games
Jen Cook (So. • A):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 3 straight games
Taylor D'Amore (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 36 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 6 straight games
Dene' DiMartino (Fr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 4 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 4 straight games
Jenna Reifler (Fr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 7 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 6 straight games
Sarah Taylor (Jr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 3 straight games
Caroline Turco (Fr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
Streaking Part II
Junior Taylor D'Amore's point streak of 36 games is the fourth longest in school Division I history. It is the longest streak by a Blue Jay since Mary Key tallied at least one point in a school-record 70 straight games from 2004 to 2007.
Climbing the Ranks Part I
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 16th and 10 to rank 15th (has 86)
• Needs 1 goal to rank 19th and 2 to rank 18th (has 56)
• Needs 5 assists to rank 12th (has 30)
• Needs 1 draw to rank 15th and 10 to rank 14th (has 58)
Taylor D'Amore (Jr. • A):
• Needs 10 points to rank 4th (has 191)
• Needs 9 points to reach 200 for her career
• Needs 2 goals to rank 11th and 8 to rank 9th (has 87)
• Needs 45 assists to rank 1st (has 104)
• Needs 35 draws to rank 2nd (has 167)
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 96 saves to rank 1st (has 393)
Sarah Taylor (Jr. • M)
• Needs 1 goal to rank 18th and 7 to rank 16th (has 57)
Home Sweet Home(wood)
Under head coach Janine Tucker, the Blue Jays are 92-46 (.667) within the friendly confines of Homewood Field. Hopkins played eight regular season home games in 2013 and will host the seventh annual ALC Tournament.
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. Sunday's game at Ohio State will be streamed online by the Big Ten Network and is scheduled for re-air at a later date.
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.
Free Lacrosse
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 219-119 (.648), including a 151-103 (.594) 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 returns home to host the seventh annual American Lacrosse Conference Tournament May 2, 3 and 5. Hopkins will be either the four or five seed in the tournament, depending on the outcome of Sunday's game at Ohio State. The Blue Jays and the Buckeyes will meet again in Thursday's quarterfinal game at 4:00 pm on Homewood Field to open the ALC Tournament.
