The Game
• Johns Hopkins (3-2) heads south for the second of two straight on the road in ACC territory as the Blue Jays head to Charlottesville to take on second-ranked Virginia (4-0). Faceoff on Saturday, March 5 is set for 1 pm.
• The teams will be playing for the Doyle Smith Cup for the 15th time. The history of the cup and its origin can be found on page 2.
Last Time Out
• Johns Hopkins went on the road for the third time in four games and fell at 10th-ranked North Carolina, 15-10, last Sunday.
• Virginia improved to 4-0 on the year and ran its winning streak to eight with a 20-11 win at home in its ACC-opener last Saturday against Syracuse.
The Facts
• This is the 135th 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 1,000-357-15 (.734).
• JHU owns 44 national championships with nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA crowns to its credit.
First to 1,000
• Johns Hopkins became the first men's lacrosse program in history to reach 1,000 all-time victories with an 11-10 win over Loyola (2-19-22).
• With the win (and subsequent results), the Blue Jays are 1,000-357-15 all-time and sit 75 wins ahead of Syracuse on the all-time victories list among Division I men's lacrosse programs.
On This Date
• This week's game at Virginia will be the eighth all-time for Johns Hopkins on March 5.
• The Blue Jays are 4-3 all-time on this date and have won their last two and four of the last five games they've played on March 5.
Series History
• This week's game will be the 95th game in a series that dates to a 9-0 Johns Hopkins win in 1904.
• JHU leads the all-time series 61-32-1 and has won two of the last three and seven of the last 11 against the Cavaliers.
• Since 2012, the visiting team has won five of nine games played on campus (one neutral site game in that time).
• A complete series history can be found on page 11 of PDF.
Against the ACC
• This week's game against Virginia will be the 230th all-time for Johns Hopkins against a team currently in the ACC.
• Johns Hopkins is 133-94-2 (.585) 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.
Poll Position
• Johns Hopkins is tied for 14th in this week's USILA Coaches Poll and checks in at #15 in the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
• Virginia is ranked #2 in both the USILA Coaches Poll and the Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
Quite A Stretch
• The Blue Jays are in the midst of a four-game stretch that will see them play three games against teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation, including two against teams currently in the top three. In succession, and using this week's USILA Poll as a reference, the four-game run includes games at Georgetown (3rd), at home against Loyola (NR) and back-to-back road games at North Carolina (8th) and Virginia (2nd). A week after playing the Cavaliers, the Blue Jays will also host Syracuse (14th).
• Again using this week's USILA Poll as a reference, the Blue Jays will play 10 teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation, including each of the top five, six of the top eight and seven of the top 17, during the 2022 season.
Balance on Offense
• While it's still early, the Blue Jays feature a balanced scoring unit through the first five games of the season.
• Johns Hopkins has six players with eight or more points, 11 players with at least two goals and six players with two or more assists.
• In all, 14 different players have already scored at least one goal and 15 players have at least one point to their credit through five games.
Quick Starts
• Johns Hopkins has gotten off to a quick start in each of its first five games this season.
• The Blue Jays have scored a total of 19 first-quarter goals in five games with 4 against Jacksonville, 5 against Towson, 5 against Georgetown, 3 against Loyola and 2 at North Carolina.
• More than 32% of the 58 goals JHU has scored in their five games have come in the first quarter (19-of-58) and 60.3% of their goals (35-of-58) have come in the first half.
• The 12 goals Johns Hopkins scored in the first half of their 18-12 win at Towson on February 11 are the most in a half for the Blue Jays since March 24, 2018, when they scored 13 in the second half of a 15-13 win at Virginia.
Extra-Extra
• JHU has converted on 6-of-15 (.400) extra-man chances through five games with two EMO goals in each of their three wins (Jacksonville, Towson, Loyola).
• Five different players have scored extra-man goals on the year - Garrett Degnon, Joey Epstein, Brendan Grimes, Jack Keogh, Johnathan Peshko - and two players, Connor DeSimone and Keogh, have combined for six EMO assists.
• Johns Hopkins converted on 15-of-35 (.429) extra-man chances in 2021 to finish tied for 12th nationally in extra-man offense.
• Epstein is JHU's career active leader in EMO goals with 13, while Degnon has eight to his credit.
• The Blue Jays' 42.9% conversion percentage last season marked the eighth time since 2012 that Hopkins has finished the season at better than 40% on extra-man.
Defensive Notes of Interest
• The Blue Jay defense held Jacksonville to eight goals in the season-opening win. A year ago, the Blue Jays held the opposition to less than 10 goals just three times in 13 games.
• The performance against the Dolphins continued a trend dating back to last season. Entering the Big Ten Tournament, JHU was allowing an average of 12.9 goals per game and ranked 52nd in the nation in scoring defense. The Blue Jays then held their three tournament opponents to a total of just 29 goals (9.7 goals/game) to jump 11 spots nationally in scoring defense.
• In the last eight games dating back to last season, JHU has allowed a total of 90 goals (11.3 goals/game).
Roster Breakdown
• The Blue Jays' 51-man roster includes nine graduate students, nine seniors, nine juniors, 13 sophomores and 11 freshmen.
• Johns Hopkins' 2022 roster includes players from 13 different states and five players from Canada.
• By state, the Blue Jays hail from New York (12), Maryland (11), Pennsylvania (4), Massachusetts (4), New Jersey (3), Virginia (3), Florida (2), Connecticut (2), Ohio (1), Georgia (1), Delaware (1), Utah (1), Texas (1).
Additional Information Available in PDF Version.
