The Game
• Johns Hopkins plays the second of two straight on the road as the Blue Jays head to Rutgers for the next-to-last regular season game of the 2021 season. Faceoff is set for 5 pm on Saturday, April 17 from SHI Stadium. The game will air live on BTNplus.com.
Last Time Out
• The Blue Jays fell to 2-6 on the year with 14-12 loss at Ohio State last Sunday.
• Rutgers wrapped up the #2 seed in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament with a 22-10 win at Penn State.
The Facts
• This is the 134th 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 995-352-15.
• JHU owns 44 national championships with nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA crowns to its credit.
Poll Position
• Johns Hopkins is listed as receiving votes in this week's USILA Coaches Poll; the Blue Jays are not ranked in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
• Rutgers is ranked in the top 10 of both major polls this week as the Scarlet Knights are ranked seventh in the USILA Coaches Poll and eighth in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
Series History
• This week's game will be the 42nd all-time between Johns Hopkins and Rutgers.
• The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 34-7.
• In the last meeting between the two teams, Rutgers outscored the Blue Jays 7-1 in the fourth quarter to grab a 15-9 win at Homewood Field (March 20, 2021).
• The teams first met in 1920 with Johns Hopkins claiming a 13-0 victory. Prior to the start of Big Ten play in 2015, Johns Hopkins and Rutgers had not met since 1998.
On This Date
• Since 1950, this week's game against Rutgers will be the 13th for Johns Hopkins on April 17.
• The Blue Jays are 7-5 all-time in games played on April 17 and won their last game played on this date, 12-11, in overtime at Penn State in 2016.]
• Johns Hopkins and Rutgers have met once previously on this date with the Blue Jays grabbing a 14-9 win at Homewood Field in 1973.
• The most famous JHU game played on this date came in 2004, when the top-ranked Blue Jays beat rival and third-ranked Maryland, 14-10, before an overflow crowd of 10,555 at Homewood Field.
Extra-Extra
• Johns Hopkins cashed in on all four of its extra-man chances at Michigan (Feb. 27), was 3-for-3 against Rutgers (Mar. 20), hit on its only attempt at Penn State (Mar. 28) and was 2-for-3 in the rematch against Michigan. The Blue Jays are now 11-of-19 (.579) on the year.
• JHU has converted on six of its last seven extra-man attempts dating back to the game against Rutgers on March 20.
• Through eight games, Johns Hopkins leads the Big Ten and is tied for second nationally in extra-man percentage.
• JHU is one of just six teams in the nation that is converting at better than 50%.
• The four extra-man goals against the Wolverines are the most for JHU since the Jays had six in the 2019 Big Ten Championship game against Penn State.
• The effort at Michigan marked the 18th time since 2003 that Johns Hopkins has scored four or more extra-man goals in a game.
Offensive Notes of Interest
• Johns Hopkins enters this week's game against Rutgers averaging 10.50 goals per game on 29.1% shooting.
• In 32 quarters this season, the Blue Jays have scored two or more goals in 24 quarters, three or more in 16 quarters and four or more in seven quarters.
• The Blue Jays' top four goal-scorers (Connor DeSimone, Joey Epstein, Cole Williams, Garrett Degnon) have combined to score 57 goals on 159 shots (.358).
Sharing the Rock
• A key to head coach Peter Milliman's offense is sharing the ball. During his three seasons as the head coach at Cornell, the Big Red collected assists on 357-of-550 (.649) goals scored.
• Without any practice in the fall and limited time in preseason, the Blue Jays' grasp of the offense continues to evolve and that is best exemplified in the number of assisted goals the team has scored.
• After collecting an assist on just 3-of-8 (.375) goals in the season opener against Ohio State, the Blue Jays collected 10 assists on 14 goals at Michigan (.714) and assisted on 7-of-10 (.700) at Maryland.
• Through eight games, the Blue Jays have collected assists on 48-of-84 (.571) of their goals.
Scoreless Droughts
• The Johns Hopkins defense, which has been nearly entirely remade by first-year defensive coordinator Jamison Koesterer, continues to develop as the season unfolds and has held the opposition scoreless for extended stretches in six of eight games this season.
• Through eight games, Johns Hopkins has held the opposition scoreless for a stretch of 11:30 or longer eight times and 21 minutes or longer twice.
• In the win over Penn State, the Blue Jays held the Nittany Lions scoreless for 13:31 from the first to the second quarter and then blanked them for 29:02 between the second and fourth quarters.
• Through 32 quarters this season, Johns Hopkins has held the opposition to one goal or less in six quarters and two goals or less in nine quarters.
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