• Johns Hopkins hits the road on Thursday to Annapolis to take on 25th-ranked Navy in the first-ever regular season meeting between the two.
• The game is the first of three straight ranked opponents for the Blue Jays.
• Hopkins is coming off an 11-6 win over then 15th-ranked Drexel on Sunday afternoon.   
  • The Blue Jays capped the February portion of their 2022 schedule with last week's win at Penn. Hopkins is 40-21 (.656) 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 which advanced to the national semifinals.
  • Head coach Janine Tucker announced in August that 2022 will be her final season at Johns Hopkins. She is in her 29th, and final, season and sports a career record of 307-172 (.641), including a 239-156 (.605) 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 307 wins are the second most by a female coach in any sport in Johns Hopkins history. In addition, she ranks seventh among all JHU coaches in career victories.
• 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.
  • Hopkins jumped up to 16th in this week's IL Women/IWLCA Poll. The Blue Jays had been ranked 20th before topping 15th-ranked Drexel.
• Eight of the Blue Jays' 2022 opponents are ranked in the top-25 in this week's IL Women/IWLCA Poll, including five in the top-10.
• Hopkins has been ranked in 100 of the last 130 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 (Gr. • M):
• Needs 2 draws to rank 6th and 51 to rank 5th (has 151)
• Needs 1 caused turnover to rank 7th and 17 to rank 6th (has 66)
 
Kathleen Garvey (Gr. • GK):
• Needs 59 saves to rank 6th (has 234)
 
Shelby Harrison (Gr. • M):
• Needs 1 free position goal to rank 3rd and 4 to rank 2nd (has 31)
• Needs 10 draws to rank 1st (has 257)
 
Jeanne Kachris (Gr. • D):
• Needs 1 ground ball to rank 18th, 2 to rank 17th and 9 to rank 16th (has 99)
• Needs 2 caused turnovers to rank 11th (has 60)
 
Annika Meyer (Sr. • D):
• Needs 4 caused turnover to rank 13th (has 56)
 
Kaitlyn Pham (Jr. • GK):
• Needs 4 saves to rank 13th and 13 to rank 12th (has 6)
  • Johns Hopkins used a dominating defensive effort and an 8-0 scoring run that bridged the third and fourth quarters to fuel an 11-6 win over 15th-ranked Drexel at Homewood Field Sunday afternoon.
• The Blue Jays found themselves in a 5-3 hole at the half as Corinne Bednarik's goal with 3:45 remaining in the second quarter capped a 4-1 Dragon run that gave them the two-goal halftime advantage.  By the time Drexel scored again midway through the fourth quarter, the two-goal lead was a six-goal deficit.
• Hopkins had the game even at 5-5 just over nine minutes into the third quarter as Shelby Harrison scored back-to-back goals. Both came in transition after the Blue Jay defense forced Drexel turnovers at the other end. The Blue Jays then exploded for six goals in a span of 8:46 between the end of the third quarter and the middle of the fourth.
• Georgia Esmond added her only goal of the game off a quick restart from behind the goal with 12:03 to play and Abbey Hurlbrink went back-to-back herself with two goals in a 69-second span to push the lead to 10-5.
• Georgie Gorelick closed out her first career hat trick and career-best four-point day with 8:56 remaining before Drexel's Karson Harris spun through a pair of defenders to close the scoring at the 7:38 mark and end the scoring drought for the Dragons.
• Harrison scored the two goals and Hopkins controlled 16 of the 21 draws she took on the day (she took all 21 in the game); Harrison herself came up with five draw controls. Jeanne Kachris tied her career-high with three caused turnovers and had a pair of ground balls to lead the Blue Jays defensively.
  • A trio of Blue Jays scored their first career goals in the season-opening win versus VCU as Jordan Carr, Georgie Gorelick and Charlotte Smith all struck against the Rams.
• Junior Madison McPherson added her first career goal just 2:11 into the game versus ninth-ranked Loyola on February 19. She then tallied her first career hat trick in JHU's win over Georgetown on March 2. Senior Claire Mills also turned in her first career hat trick versus the Hoyas.
• Gorelick notched her first career hat trick on Sunday in Hopkins come-from-behind win over Drexel.
  • Senior Georgia Esmond leads the Blue Jays, ranks third in the Big Ten and 17th in the nation with 11 assists. In fact, she accounts for 61 percent of the team's assists (18) this season. Esmond has at least one assist in four of Hopkins' five games this season and has had three multi-assist games.
• Just five games into the season, Esmond has already doubled her career assist total. She entered the season with nine career assists and now has 20 helpers to her credit. 
  • Hopkins and Navy meet for just the second time ever and the first time in the regular season.
• The two met for the first time on May 11, 2018 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Loyola, with Navy winning that meeting 16-9.
  • Johns Hopkins Director of Athletics & Recreation Jennifer S. Baker is no stranger to Navy. She graduated from the Academy with a degree in aerospace engineering and was a member of the women's lacrosse club team.
• After the Naval Academy, Baker spent seven years in the United State Navy, including three years as a pilot and four as a construction manager and facilities engineer. She later earned an MBA and a master's in mechanical engineering from Cornell. Baker joined Johns Hopkins as the Senior Associate Director of Athletics in September 2017 and was promoted to her current role in August 2019.
  • 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 anchors a Blue Jay defense that leads the Big Ten in caused turnovers (10.60) and ranks fourth in scoring defense (8.80). She ranks second in the league and 16th in the nation in caused turnovers (2.00). She is also fifth in ground balls (2.00). In 2021, 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 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 second in JHU history with 247 career draws. She needs just 20 draws to tie Dene' DiMartino's school record. Harrison has also tallied 63 goals, including 29 free position goals, and 72 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 221 career saves.
  • Senior attacker Georgia Esmond was named the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week on February 15. This is her second weekly conference honor as she was named B1G Freshman of the Week on March 4, 2019,
• Esmond totaled a game and career-high six points and four assists, along with three ground balls in the season-opening win against VCU. Five of her six points came in an 11-minute span of the second half as the Blue Jays turned a one-goal game into a nine-goal game.
  • Freshman attacker Charlotte Smith was named the Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week for her effort in the Blue Jays' 10-8 win at 19th-ranked Penn.
• Smith scored twice and added an assist for three points.  She is the ninth Blue Jay to earn B1G Freshman of the Week honors since Johns Hopkins joined the league in 2017.
  • 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 was 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 second all-time in school history with 257 career draws. She notched the 200th draw of her career on February 28, 2021 versus Northwestern - in just her 47th career game. Harrison averages 4.01 draws per game in her career, the best per game average in program history. She needs just 10 draws to tie 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 151 career draws. and has had five or more draws in a game nine times in her career.  
  • The Blue Jay defense leads the Big Ten and ranks 10th in the nation with 10.60 caused turnovers per game. JHU also ranks fourth in the league and 19th in the nation in scoring defense (8.80).
• In 2021, the Blue Jays led the Big Ten and ranked 14th in the nation in caused turnovers (10.00). JHU also ranked second in the league in scoring defense (11.20) and ground balls (17.60) a year ago.
• Senior Annika Meyer ranks second in the league in caused turnovers (2.00) and is fifth in ground balls (2.00). She has moved into the top-20 in school history in caused turnovers and currently ranks 14th with 56 career takeaways.
• Fifth-year senior Keegan Barger is the team's active career leader with 66 caused turnovers, which is tied for eighth 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 13th in school history with 60 caused turnovers and is tied for 20th with 99 career ground balls.
• Hopkins held VCU to just six goals on 15 shots in its season-opener on February 12. The Blue Jays' also forced 13 Rams' turnovers, led by Meyer's game-high four takeaways. Hopkins also forced 12 turnovers versus Loyola and 14 against Penn.
• In the come-from-behind win over Drexel, Hopkins held the Dragons scoreless for a stretch 26:07 between the second and fourth quarters.
  Seven Blue Jays carry active goal, assist and/or point streaks into Thursday's game at Navy. Here's a look at those streaks:
 
Maeve Barker (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 2 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 2 straight games
 
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
 
Georgia Esmond (Sr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 5 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 5 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 3 straight games
 
Shelby Harrison (Gr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 3 straight games
 
Abbey Hurlbrink (So. • M):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 3 straight games
 
Madison McPherson (Jr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 4 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 4 straight games
 
Charlotte Smith (Fr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 5 straight games
  • 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 welcomed eight freshmen to the team 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.
  • Under head coach Janine Tucker, the Blue Jays are 139-70 (.665) within the friendly confines of Homewood Field and the Jays are 48-24 (.667) at home since the start of the 2014 season.
• Hopkins will play 10 of its 17 regular season games at Homewood this spring. 
  • Johns Hopkins will play  three nationally-televised games this season. Hopkins' games versus Maryland (April 2) and Ohio State (April 23) will be televised by ESPNU while JHU's game at Penn State (April 28) will air on the Big Ten Network.
• In addition, Hopkins' games at Penn (Feb. 26), Navy (Mar. 10) and Stony Brook (Mar. 13) will be shown on ESPN+
  • This marks the 47th season for Johns Hopkins, which sports an all-time record of 457-293-4 (.608) and a 239-156 (.605) 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 hits the road for the second straight game to take on sixth-ranked Stony Brook on Sunday, March 13. Opening draw at LaValle Stadium is slated for 1:00 pm.