• Johns Hopkins opens its 47th season overall, and 24th in Division I, against VCU on Saturday at Homewood Field.
• Hopkins is 20-8 (.714) in season openers under head coach Janine Tucker and is 31-14-1 (.684) all-time. The Blue Jays have won 116 of their last 18 season-openers. 
  • Hopkins is 38-20 (.655) under head coach Janine Tucker in the month of February. Now in their 47th 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.
  • The Blue Jays are looking forward to a more traditional schedule in 2022 with 11 non-conference and six Big Ten contests. Last year, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Hopkins was unable to practice in the fall and then faced a Big Ten-only schedule in the spring, playing each Big Ten team twice.
• The 2022 schedule features 10 home games and three new opponents (VCU, East Carolina and Coastal Carolina). Seven of the Blue Jays' 2022 opponents advanced to the NCAA Tournament last season, including one who advanced to the national semifinals.
  • Saturday's game is the first-ever meeting between Johns Hopkins and VCU. 
  • Head coach Janine Tucker announced in August that 2022 will be her final season at Johns Hopkins. She enters her 29th, and final season, with a career record of 303-171 (.639), including a 235-155 (.603) record since she successfully transitioned the program from Division III to Division I in 1999.
• The all-time winningest coach in program history, Tucker has led the Blue Jays to double-digit wins 22 times, 13 NCAA Tournament appearances and three ECAC Division I championship games. Her 303 wins are the second most by a female coach in any sport in Johns Hopkins history.
• In a career filled with thrilling victories and big moments, Tucker's most recent milestone came in 2021 as she became just the ninth coach in NCAA Division I history to reach 300 wins when her Blue Jays beat 13th-ranked Penn State, on April 18.
• Tucker was presented with the IWLCA's Diane Geppi Aikens Award in November. The award is named in honor of the legendary Loyola coach whose courageous battle with cancer inspired the nation and recognizes lifetime achievement to the women's college game.
• After a successful career as an All-American lacrosse player at Loyola, Tucker broke into the coaching ranks at her alma mater as an assistant alongside Geppi Aikens.
  • James Madison jumped out to a 6-1 lead and held off a late rally to defeat the Johns Hopkins women's lacrosse team, 9-6, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last May.
• It was the Blue Jays' third straight NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth in the last the last seven seasons (not including the Covid-shortened 2020 season).
• Senior Aurora Cordingley led the Blue Jays with four points (2g, 2a) and a game-high six draw controls. Graduate student Lexi Souder and freshman Eliza Bowman had two  points (1g, 1a) apiece.
• Sophomore Madison McPherson caused three turnovers and picked up four ground balls, while junior Annika Meyer had five ground balls and one takeaway. Senior Kathleen Garvey finished with seven saves and one ground ball.
  • Hopkins is ranked 20th in the IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse Preseason poll and is receiving votes in the USA Lacrosse Magazine poll.
• Nine of the Blue Jays' 2022 opponents are ranked in the top-25 in the IWLCA/Inside Lacrosse poll, including four in the top-10.
• Hopkins has been ranked in 97 of the last 127 IWLCA Coaches Polls, beginning with the first regular season poll in 2012. 
  Several Blue Jays are making their move up the Johns Hopkins Division I record book. Here's a look at where they rank:
 
Keegan Barger (Sr. • M):
• Needs 11 draws to rank 6th (has 142)
• Needs 2 caused turnovers to rank 10th and 2 to rank 8th (has 62)
 
Kathleen Garvey (Sr. • GK):
• Needs 28 saves to rank 7th (has 198)
• Needs 2 saves to reach 200 for her career (has 198)
 
Shelby Harrison (Sr. • M):
• Needs 3 free position goals to rank 4th (has 27)
• Needs 4 draws to rank 2nd and 31 to rank 1st (has 236)
 
Jeanne Kachris (Sr. • D):
• Needs 1 caused turnover to rank 13th and 8 to rank 12th (has 54)
 
Kaitlyn Pham (Jr. • GK):
• Needs 4 saves to rank 13th and 13 to rank 12th (has 6)
  • Senior defender Annika Meyer has been named to the 2022 Tewaaraton Award Watch List. She is just the third Blue Jay defender to be named to the watch list and the first since Alyssa Kildare in 2012. A Hopkins women's lacrosse player has been named to the watch list 16 times in the last 19 seasons.
• Meyer was named a Big Ten Preseason Player to Watch after earning First Team All-Big Ten honors in 2021. She was also named a preseason All-American by both USA Lacrosse Magazine (Second Team) and Inside Lacrosse (Honorable Mention). 
• Meyer anchored a Blue Jay defense that led the Big Ten and ranked 14th in the nation in caused turnovers (10.00)  a year ago. JHU also ranked second in the league in scoring defense (11.20) and ground balls (17.60). Meyer ranked second in the conference and 19th in the nation with 3.00 ground balls per game. She also ranked third in the league and 30th nationally with 1.73 caused turnovers per game.
  • Fifth-year seniors Shelby Harrison and Kathleen Garvey were also named Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch.
• Harrison, a two-time All-Big Ten selection in the midfield, returns as one of the top draw specialists in the 46-year history of the program. She has led the Blue Jays in draws in each of her four seasons and ranks third in JHU history with 236 career draws. She needs just 31 draws to tie Dene' DiMartino's school record. Harrison has also tallied 56 goals, including 27 free position goals, and 65 points in her career.
• Garvey returns after earning Big Ten Goalie of the Year honors in 2021. She led the league in saves (129) and was second in save percentage (.436), goals against average (11.14) and saves per game (8.60). She posted six double-digit save performances and ranks eighth in program history with 198 career saves.
  • Johns Hopkins was picked to finish fourth in the 2022 Big Ten Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll of the league's seven head coaches.
• Northwestern is the unanimous pick to the win the Big Ten in 2022, followed by Maryland, Rutgers, Hopkins, Penn State, Ohio State and Michigan.
  • Fifth-year senior midfielders Keegan Barger and Shelby Harrison and senior defender Annika Meyer have been selected in a vote by their teammates as captains for the 2022 season.
• This is Barger's second turn as a captain as she was the Blue Jays' lone captain in 2021.
  • Fifth-year senior Shelby Harrison has led the team in draws in each of her four seasons and ranks third all-time in school history with 236 career draws. She notched the 200th draw of her career on February 28, 2021 versus Northwestern - in just her 47th career game. Harrison averages 4.00 draws per game in her career, the best per game average in program history. She needs 31 draws to break Dene DiMartino's all-time record of 267.  
• Harrison holds the school record for draws in a game (11) and by a freshman (91). She has had six or more draws in a game 15 times in her career.
• Fifth-year senior Keegan Barger is also a threat at the draw circle. She ranked second on the team in draws in a Covid-shortened 2020 (17) and as a freshman (54). She ranks seventh in school history with 142 career draws. and has had five or more draws in a game nine times in her career.  
  • The Blue Jay defense led the Big Ten and ranked 14th in the nation in caused turnovers (10.00) in 2021. JHU also ranked second in the league in scoring defense (11.20) and ground balls (17.60).
• Senior Annika Meyer ranked second in the Big Ten and 19th in the nation with 3.00 ground balls per game. She also ranked third in the league and 30th nationally with 1.73 takeaways per game. Meyer totaled 28 caused turnovers, which is tied for 12th in school Division I history. In addition, she totaled 45 ground balls – the most by a Blue Jay since 2014.
• Fifth-year senior Keegan Barger is the team's active career leader with 62 caused turnovers, which is tied for 11th in school Division I history. She also holds the school single-game record with seven takeaways in a game. Fifth-year senior Jeanne Kachris ranks 14th in school history with 54 caused turnovers.
  • The Blue Jays welcome back four seniors from last year's squad in Keegan Barger, Kat Garvey, Shelby Harrison and Jeanne Kachris. After the 2020 season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA granted all spring athletes an extra year of eligibility.
  • Head coach Janine Tucker welcomes eight freshmen to the Blue Jays this season. Joining Hopkins are Hadley Boston, Paris Colgain, Jordan Conversano, Alayna Costa, Ashley Mackin, Annie Marshall, Quinlan O'Brien and Charlotte Smith.
• Colgain was ranked #17 by Inside Lacrosse while Boston was named to the Watch List.
  Three Blue Jays carry active goal, assist and/or point streaks into Saturday's season-opener versus VCU. Here's a look at those streaks:
 
Eliza Bowman (So. • A):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 3 straight games
• Will miss the season due to injury
 
Shelby Harrison (Gr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 2 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 2 straight games
 
Abbey Hurlbrink (So. • M):
• Has at least one point in 7 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 6 straight games
  • This marks the 47th season for Johns Hopkins, which sports an all-time record of 453-292-4 (.607) and a 235-155 (.602) record as a Division I program.
• The Blue Jays have posted 35 winning seasons, including 21 straight from 1987 to 2007. Hopkins has also made 18 NCAA Tournament appearances, including nine in the Division I Tournament (2004, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021).
  • Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, February 19 as the Blue Jays host the 10th-ranked Loyola Greyhounds. Opening draw at Homewood Field is slated for 11:00 am.