The Game
« Johns Hopkins (1-3) returns to Homewood Field and welcomes top-ranked Syracuse (4-0) to open the month of March.
« The Blue Jays dropped an 18-11 decision at now sixth-ranked Princeton last Saturday. The Orange improved to 4-0 with a 21-13 win against previously unbeaten Hobart last Friday night in the Carrier Dome.
The Facts
« This is the 133rd season of Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse. JHU first fielded a team in 1883.
« Johns Hopkins enters this week's game with an all-time record of 992-345-15.« JHU owns 44 national championships with nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA crowns to its credit.
Poll Position
« Johns Hopkins is not ranked this week in either the USILA Coaches Poll or the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. Syracuse is ranked number one in both polls.
Against Number One
« Johns Hopkins will be playing the number-one ranked team in the nation for the 18th time under the direction of head coach Dave Pietramala (2001-Present).
« The Blue Jays are 9-8 all-time against the top-ranked team in the nation under Pietramala, including 3-2 against a number-one-ranked Syracuse team (2001-W, 2002-W, 2011-L, 2015-L, 2015-W).
« All five games the Blue Jays have played against Syracuse under Pietramala when the Orange have been ranked number one have been decided by three goals or less and four of the five have been one-goal affairs.
Series History
« This week's game will be the 59th between Johns Hopkins and Syracuse. The series dates to a 4-4 tie in 1921.
« JHU leads the all-time series 30-27-1 and the teams have split the last six games dating back to 2015.
« The visiting team has won three of the last six.
« Complete series history can be found on page 14.
SU Returns to Homewood for First Time Since 2017
« Syracuse is making its first trip to Homewood Field since 2017 after JHU made back-to-back appearances at the Carrier Dome.
« After hosting Syracuse in a regularly-scheduled game in 2016, Johns Hopkins also hosted the Orange in 2017 due to a conflict with the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament at the Carrier Dome.  The Blue Jays returned the favor and played at SU in 2018 and 2019.
« To avoid future possible conflicts with basketball at the Carrier Dome, the Hopkins-Syracuse game was also moved up a week.
On This Date
« This week's game against Syracuse will be the seventh game Johns Hopkins has played on March 7.
« The Blue Jays are 5-1 all-time in games played on March 7 and have currently won five straight.
« The first game JHU ever played on this date was in 1987, when the Blue Jays fell at .... Syracuse, 15-14. Making his first career start for the Blue Jays on defense that day was a sophomore named ... Dave Pietramala.
A Tough Stretch
« This week's game against Syracuse is the third of three straight for JHU against teams that are currently unbeaten. The Blue Jays played North Carolina (5-0) on February 22, traveled to Princeton (4-0) last week and return home to host Syracuse (4-0) third week.
« Including the game against Syracuse, Johns Hopkins' last four opponents (Loyola, North Carolina, Princeton, Syracuse) are currently a combined 17-1
Williams Pacing Offense
« Senior attackman Cole Williams scored three goals and added four assists for seven points to fuel the 15-7 win over Towson in the season opener and added three goals in the setback against North Carolina.
« The four assists and seven points against the Tigers were both career highs for Williams, who added three ground balls in the win and was named to the USILA Team of the Week for his efforts.
« Williams bumped his career totals to 74 goals and 42 assists for 116 points with his three-goal effort against the Tar Heels and one assist at Princeton.
« The seven points Williams punched up against Towson are the most by a Johns Hopkins player in a season opener since Ryan Brown had seven in a 16-4 win over UMBC in the 2015 season opener.\
« Williams has 27 goals and 18 assists for 45 points in his last 14 games and has registered at least two points in 12 of those games and three or more points in nine of the 14.
Zinn, Degnon Off to Quick Starts
« A year ago, Evan Zinn had nine points in 16 games as a freshman and classmate Garrett Degnon didn't register a point in three games. Things have changed drastically in one year as the two have combined for 14 goals and four assists in four games this season.
« Degnon recorded the first hat trick of his career, which of course were the first three goals of his career - in the win against Towson and added two goals and one assist at Loyola, two more goals against North Carolina and one against Princeton.
« Zinn had two goals and one assist against Towson, flipped that with a goal and two helpers at Loyola and added one goal against North Carolina and two against Princeton.
Smith Streaking
« Senior Forry Smith counts six goals and three assists to his credit this season after a one-goal, two-assist showing against North Carolina and one goal against Princeton.
« With his goal against the Tigers, Smith extended his point and goal-scoring streaks to eight games dating back to last season.
« In his last eight games, Smith has 16 goals and six assists for 22 points and has posted at least two points in seven of those games and three or more points in five of the eight.
Epstein Emerging
« While still working his way back into form, sophomore attackman Joey Epstein took another step in last week's game against Princeton as he registered two goals and two assists for four points against the Tigers. He now has three goals and three assists on the year.
« Epstein boosted his career totals to 51 goals and 28 assists for 79 points with his effort against Princeton. He ranks second among active JHU players in goals, assists and points.
« Epstein's first goal against Princeton was the 50th of his career and came in his 19th career game. He is just the sixth JHU player to reach 50 career goals in less than 20 games
Prouty, Narewski Strong at the X
« Junior Kyle Prouty and sophomore Matt Narewski have combined to win 67-of-109 (.615) faceoffs on the year with 28 combined ground balls. Together, they are helping Johns Hopkins rank 12th in the nation in team faceoff winning percentage in the early season.
« The pair combined to win 20-of-26 faceoffs with 12 ground balls and one goal in the win against Towson. Prouty went 14-of-19 and had eight ground balls, while Narewski was 6-of-7 with four ground balls and one goal.
« Against North Carolina, Prouty went 15-of-26 and Narewski won 3-of-4, while they combined to win 21-of-33 against Princeton with Prouty going 14-of-22 and Narewski winning 7-of-11.
« Did you know that Prouty (229) and Narewski (211) combined to take 440 of the 450 faceoffs Johns Hopkins attempted during the 2019 season? Johns Hopkins is one of just two teams in the nation that returns two players who attempted 200 or more faceoffs last season.
« The only other team in the nation with two players returning who took 200+ faceoffs in 2019 is Brown (Matt McShea, Jason Simaan).
Extra-Extra
« Johns Hopkins finished fifth in the nation in extra-man offense last season as the Blue Jays converted on 26-of-57 (.456) EMO chances and have opened the season by connecting on 6-of-12 (.500) chances, including 4-of-5 last week at Princeton. JHU is currently tied for 16th in the nation in extra-man offense.
« Clicking at better than 40% on extra-man is nothing new for the Blue Jays as JHU has converted on 40% or better in seven of the last eight years and nine of 13 seasons under offensive coordinator Bobby Benson.
Against the ACC
« This week's game against Syracuse will be the 228th all-time for Johns Hopkins against a team currently in the ACC.
« Johns Hopkins is 133-92-2 (.590) all-time against current ACC members.
« Johns Hopkins has played 52 all-time NCAA Tournament games against current ACC teams. The Blue Jays are 28-24 all-time in the NCAAs against the five teams currently competing in the ACC.
In Case We Get The
« Johns Hopkins is 27-17 (.614) in overtime under the direction of head coach Dave Pietramala. JHU's last overtime game came in the championship game of the 2019 Big Ten Tournament. The Blue Jays dropped an 18-17 decision to top-ranked Penn State in that game.« Johns Hopkins has won seven of its last 11 overtime games.
One-Goal Wonders
« Including the 18-17 overtime loss to Penn State on May 4, 2019, Johns Hopkins is 56-28 (.667) in one-goal games under head coach Dave Pietramala.
« The Blue Jays were 4-1 in one-goal games in 2018 and are 6-3 in their last nine one-goal games.
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