Johns Hopkins-Drexel Game Notes

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Opening Draw 
Johns Hopkins opens its 44th season overall, and 21st in Division I, on Sunday at Drexel. The Blue Jays are coming off a 10-9 season and an NCAA Tournament appearance.

Season Openers
Hopkins is 18-7 (.720) in season openers under head coach Janine Tucker and 29-13-1 (.686) all-time. The Blue Jays have won 10 straight and 14 of the last 15 opening day games. 

In February 
Hopkins is 31-14 (.688) under head coach Janine Tucker in the month of February. Now in their 44th season, the Blue Jays did not play a game in the month of February until 2002. Hopkins, then in just its fourth season as a Division I program, lost to Vanderbilt, 7-4, on February 24.

B1G Lacrosse
Johns Hopkins was picked to finish fourth in the 2019 Big Ten Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll of the league's seven head coaches, it was announced January 28. Defending champion Maryland was the unanimous pick to win the 2019 title, followed by Northwestern, Penn State, and Hopkins. Michigan (5th), Ohio State (6th) and Rutgers (7th) round out the poll. 

B1G Players to Watch 
Junior Mackenzie Heldberg and sophomores Shelby Harrison and Jeanne Kachris were named Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch earlier this month.

Harrison and Kachris return after earning All-Big Ten honors a year ago. Harrison led the Blue Jays and set a school freshmen record with 91 draw controls. Her 91 draws are also the second most in school single-season history and ranked second in the Big Ten. Kachris started all 19 games on a defense that ranked second in the Big Ten in scoring defense (10.53) and caused turnovers (8.68). She led the Blue Jays in caused turnovers (22) and ranked fourth in ground balls (32). Heldberg had a breakout sophomore campaign, scoring a team and career-best 41 goals. She also ranked third on the team in points (52) and ninth in the Big Ten in goals. 

Oh Captain, My Captain 
Seniors Nicole DeMase and Haley Crosson have been selected in a vote of their teammates as captains for the 2019 season.

Poll Position
Hopkins opened the season ranked 23rd in the IWLCA Coaches Poll with 87 points. The Blue Jays are also receiving votes in the Nike/Lax Magazine Poll. Eight of the Blue Jays' 2019 opponents are ranked in the top 25 by the IWLCA, including five teams in the top 10 (Maryland, Stony Brook, Northwestern, Loyola and Penn). 

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:

Haley Crosson (Jr. • GK):
• Needs 20 saves to rank 7th (has 177)

Nicole DeMase (Jr. • M):
• Needs 1 free position goal to rank 9th (has 21)

Shelby Harrison (Fr. • M):
• Needs 2 draws to rank 11th, 3 to rank 10th, 4 to rank 9th and 11 to rank 8th (has 91)
• Needs 9 draws to reach 100 for her career (has 91)

Miranda Ibello (Jr. • A):
• Needs 2 points to rank 16th and 7 to rank 15th  (has 120)
• Needs 13 assists to rank 3rd (has 68)

Maggie Schneidereith (So. • A):
• Needs 4 assists to rank 11th (has 42)

Lending a Hand
Senior Miranda Ibello led the Blue Jays in points (64) and assists (40) last season. Her point and assist totals were the most by a Blue Jay since Taylor D'Amore put up 105 points and 53 assists, in 2014. In addition, her 40 assists are the fifth most in school Division I history and sixth most all-time at JHU. Ibello ranks fourth in school DI history, and seventh overall, with 68 career assists. She needs 32 assists to become just the fifth player in the 44-year history of the program to total 100 helpers.

At the Draw 
Sophomore Shelby Harrison made an immediate impact for the Blue Jays in 2018 as she led the team and ranked second in the Big Ten with 91 draws on the season. That total is the most in school history by a freshman and the second most by any player in school single-season history. In fact, Harrison is already tied for 15th all-time in JHU history in career draws. She needs just nine to become only the 11th player, in 44 years, to total 100 career draws. She also holds the school single-game record with 11 draws, which she did twice last year.

Sophomore Keegan Barger was also a threat on the draw circle last year, as she ranked second on the team with 54. Her 54 draws are the fourth most by a freshman in school history and are tied for 12th in school Division I history. 

Welcome to Homewood
Head coach Janine Tucker welcomes 11 freshmen and a transfer to the Blue Jays this season. Joining Hopkins are Georgia Esmond, Mia Farnella, Carli Freeman, Kylie Kempe, Sam Leva, Annika Meyer, Claire Mills, Kaitlyn Pham, Nadiya Roy, Rachel Scheinberg, Caroline Somerville and Ellie McNulty. 

Against the Dragons 
Hopkins and Drexel meet for just the fifth time with the Blue Jays winning the previous four meetings. Last season, Hopkins beat Drexel, 14-10, behind four goals from Maggie Schneidereith, on February 14 at Homewood Field.

Hey I Know You!
Junior Maggie Schneidereith will see two very familiar faces on the Drexel sideline on Sunday in her sisters Jamie and Lucy. The three are quadruplets with their fourth sister, Georgia, also playing Division I lacrosse at Albany.

Scouting the Dragons 
Drexel opens the Jill Batcheller era on Sunday in their only appearance at Vidas Field in the month of February. The Dragons return 11 starters from last year's squad that went 4-12. 

Sophomores Colleen Grady and Karson Harris return after earning Second Team All-CAA honors a year ago. In addition,  Grady became the first player in program history to be tabbed as the CAA Rookie of the Year. The duo led Drexel in nearly every offensive category, with Grady leading the way in goals (32), assists (24), and points (56). Harris ranked in second in goals (28), assists (11), points (39) and draw controls (46) while leading the team in ground balls (30). Also returning are senior Maggie Stetson, whose 52 draw controls paced the team, as well as top defenders Lindsay Shettle, Rachel Warden and Danielle Senour. Zoe Bennett, who started every game in goal for Drexel as a freshman last year, also returns.

We're Streaking!
Five Blue Jays carry active goal, assist and/or point streaks into Sunday's season-opener at Drexel. Here's a look at those streaks:

Aurora Cordingley (So. • A):
• Has at least one point in 4 straight games

Shelby Harrison (So. • M):
• Has at least one point in 2 straight games

Mackenzie Heldberg (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 15 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 10 straight games

Miranda Ibello (Sr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 6 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 5 straight games

Maggie Schneidereith (So. • A):
• Has at least one point in 9 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 5 straight games

At the Helm
Janine Tucker is now in her 26th season at Homewood. The winningest coach in program history, she sports a record of 281-153 (.647), including a 213-137 (.608) mark in Division I. 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 Greyhound Athletic Hall of Fame, Tucker has led the Blue Jays to double-digit win totals in 20 of her 24 years on the bench. She has also guided Hopkins to six NCAA Division I Tournament appearances, three ECAC Division I championship games, and four NCAA Division III Tournament appearances. Tucker became the 14th coach in NCAA history to reach 250 wins on February 12, 2016 and she currently ranks eighth in NCAA Division I history in wins. She coached her 400th career game at Loyola on February 22, 2017.

A Save for Each Season
Junior goalie Robyn Lipschultz made her first career appearance for the Blue Jays on March 3, 2018 versus Furman and made one save. With that save, she became the first goalie in 21 years to register a save in multiple sports in the same academic year. Lipschultz is also a member of the Johns Hopkins women's soccer team and made 14 saves in 10 games in the fall of 2017. The last to do so was Kelly Hoffman, who turned the same trick for both the field hockey and women's lacrosse teams in 1996-97. Lipschultz is just the second to do so for both women's soccer and women's lacrosse, joining Amanda Miller (1992-93). This past fall, Lipschultz started 17 games for head coach Leo Weil's Blue Jays, making 55 saves and posting a 0.775 save percentage.

For the Record
This marks the 44th season for Johns Hopkins, which sports an all-time record of 431-274-4 (.611) and a 213-137 (.608) record as a Division I program. The Blue Jays have posted 32 winning seasons, including 21 straight from 1987 to 2007. Hopkins has also made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances, including seven in the Division I Tournament (2004, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018). Last year was the 22nd double-digit win season under head coach Janine Tucker and the 28th all-time.

Home Sweet Home(wood)
Under head coach Janine Tucker, the Blue Jays are 127-60 (.679) within the friendly confines of Homewood Field and the Jays are 34-13 (.723) at home since the start of the 2014 season. Hopkins will play 10 of its 17 regular season games, including five straight from February 16 to March 6, at Homewood this spring.  

Family Affair
Athletics at Johns Hopkins is a family affair as a pair of Blue Jays have followed in their fathers' footsteps at the Homewood campus while two more are following in their sisters' footsteps.

Junior Miranda Ibello is not only following in the cleats of her sister, Paige '10, but also of her brother-in-law, Max Venker '10, who was a four-year standout on the JHU men's soccer team. Junior Shannon Logan joined the Blue Jays and played alongside her older sister, Holly, for two seasons. The Logans are the 11th pair of sisters to don the Hopkins Blue & Black and the first to do so at the same time since Sam and Megan Schrum played together in 2009. 

One of Four
Junior Maggie Schneidereith will not be playing along side her sister or sisters, for that matter. Schneidereith, who hails from nearby Towson, is a quadruplet and all four sisters are playing Division I lacrosse. Midfielders Jamie and Lucy are playing at Drexel while goalie Georgia is playing for Albany.

On Tap
Hopkins kicks off a five-game homestand on Saturday, February 16 against Loyola. Opening draw at Homewood Field is slated for 11:00 am.