The Game
•  Johns Hopkins opens play in the 2021 Big Ten Tournament as the Blue Jays head to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions in the quarterfinals.  Faceoff is set for 6 pm with a live national television audience on the Big Ten Network.

Last Time Out
• The Blue Jays finished the regular season with a 14-13 loss to top-ranked Maryland at Homewood Field last Saturday.
• Penn State picked up a big road victory to close the season as the Nittany Lions topped Ohio State, 10-9, in Columbus.

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 995-354-15.
•  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.
• Penn State checks in at #19 in this week's USILA Coaches Poll and the Nittany Lions are listed as receiving votes in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.

Series History
• This week's game will be the 15th all-time between Johns Hopkins and Penn State.
• The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 10-4 after the teams split a pair of regular season meetings.
• The home team has won six of the seven games the two teams have played on campus since the B1G was formed in 2015.
• Johns Hopkins and Penn State played in the first-ever B1G Tournament game in 2015 ... the top-seeded Blue Jays knocked off fourth-seeded Penn State, 14-9, in College Park, MD that day.

On This Date
•  Since 1955, this week's game against Penn State will be the ninth for Johns Hopkins on May 1.
• The Blue Jays are 8-0 all-time in games played on May 1 since 1955.
• Johns Hopkins and Penn State have never met on this date.  The Blue Jays did beat Big Ten rival Rutgers on this date in 1971 (21-9) and 1985 (13-8) ... both of those games were, of course, played long before the Big Ten began sponsoring lacrosse.

Big Ten Tournament Schedule

Saturday, May 1 - Quarterfinals
4 pm - #5 Michigan at #4 Ohio State (BTN)
6 pm - #6 Johns Hopkins at #3 Penn State (BTN)

Thursday, May 6 (at Penn State) - Semifinals
5 pm - #1 Maryland vs. Ohio State/Michigan Winner (BTN)
7:30 pm - #2 Rutgers vs. Johns Hopkins/Penn State Winner (BTN)

Saturday, May 8 (at Penn State) - Finals
8 pm - Semifinal Winners (BTN)

JHU in the Big Ten Tournament
• Johns Hopkins is making its sixth consecutive appearance in the Big Ten Tournament.  Only Johns Hopkins and Maryland have appeared in every tournament since the league was formed in 2015.
• Since the formation of the Big Ten in 2015, Johns Hopkins has won the Big Ten Tournament title twice (2015, 2018) and advanced to the title game one other time (2019).
• Johns Hopkins' two Big Ten titles, three appearances in the league championship game, five wins in the tournament and eight games played in the tournament are all tied for the most in league history (Maryland).
• JHU is 3-0 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament against the number three seed.  The Blue Jays topped third-seeded Ohio State, 13-6, in the 2015 title game and picked up semifinal wins against the Buckeyes (6-5) and Maryland (12-7) in 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Extra-Extra
• Including last week's 2-or-4 showing against top-ranked Maryland, the Blue Jays are now 13-of-26 (.500) on extra-man this season.
• JHU has converted on eight of its last 14 (.571) extra-man attempts dating back to the game against Rutgers on March 20.
• Through 10 games, Johns Hopkins ranks second in the B1G and fourth in the nation in extra-man offense.
• JHU is one of just four teams in the nation that is converting at better than 50%.
• Johns Hopkins has converted on 50% or better of its EMO chances through an entire season just twice since 1975.  JHU set a school record by converting on 60.5% of its chances (26-of-43) and also topped the 50% mark in 2014 (30-of-55 / .545).
• JHU had four EMO goals at Michigan earlier this season.  This 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 Penn State averaging 10.80 goals per game on 30.0% shooting.
• In 40 quarters this season, the Blue Jays have scored two or more goals in 30 quarters, three or more in 21 quarters and four or more in 10 quarters.
• The Blue Jays' top four goal-scorers (Connor DeSimone, Joey Epstein, Cole Williams, Garrett Degnon) have combined to score 73 goals on 203 shots (.360).

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.
• Through 10 games, the Blue Jays have collected assists on 63-of-108 (.583) of their goals.
• With 58.3% of their goals earning an assist, JHU ranks second in the B1G in percentage of assisted goals (Maryland / 62.7%).

Freshmen Contributing
• The Blue Jays got three total goals from their freshmen (all from Brendan Grimes) in the first seven games, but that production has picked up in the last three outings.
• Against Ohio State on April 10, Blue Jay freshmen accounted for five goals as Grimes had the first hat trick of his career, while Johnathan Peshko and Tyler Dunn both scored their first collegiate goals.
• Peshko added a goal and an assist and Casey McDermott added an assist at Rutgers, while Peshko (2g), Dunn (1g) and McDermott (1a) all found their way onto the scoresheet against top-ranked Maryland.
• Translation, after totaling three goals combined in the first seven games, JHU freshmen have combined for nine goals and three assists in the last three games.

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 seven of 10 games this season.
• Through 10 games, Johns Hopkins has held the opposition scoreless for a stretch of 11:30 or longer 10 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.

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