OPENING DRAW
• Johns Hopkins makes the short trip down I-95 to take on 13th-ranked Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in College Park.
• Hopkins fell to eventual Big Ten Champion Maryland 14-6 in the B1G Semifinals last Friday in Piscataway, NJ.
TOURNEY TIME
• The Blue Jays earned their fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament Sunday night. This is the Blue Jays 10th tournament appearance since moving to Division I in 1999.
• This is Hopkins 19th tournament appearance all-time (10 Division I, 9 Division III) and 14th under head coach
Janine Tucker.
• The Blue Jays are 2-9 in the NCAA Division I Tournament and 8-18 all-time.
• Hopkins will take on Duke in the first round on Friday, May 13. The winner will take on host and second-seeded Maryland on Sunday, May 15 at 2:30 pm.
ALL-BIG TEN
• Johns Hopkins placed four players on the All-Big Ten teams it was announced Wednesday. Fifth-year defender
Jeanne Kachris was named to the first team, while fifth-year attacker
Shelby Harrison, junior midfielder
Madison McPherson and senior defender
Annika Meyer were named to the second team.
• The Blue Jays' four selections bring the program's total to 18 since joining the league in 2017 (no selections in 2020). Kachris and Harrison become the first players to earn All-Big Ten honors three times. Meyer earns All-Big Ten accolades for the second time while McPherson earns her first.
• In addition, fifth-year midfielder
Keegan Barger was named to the Big Ten All-Sportsmanship Team.
• McPherson and Meyer were named to the Big Ten All-Tournament Team for their performance in Hopkins' semifinal versus Maryland.
LAST SEASON, BEST SEASON
• 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 313-179 (.636), including a 245-163 (.600) 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 23 times, 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and three ECAC Division I championship games. Her 313 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.
POLL POSITION
• Hopkins dropped three spots in this week's IL Women/IWLCA Poll and is ranked 25th with 35 points. In addition, Hopkins is receiving votes in the USA Lacrosse Magazine Poll.
• Seven of the Blue Jays' 2022 opponents are ranked in the top-25 in this week's IL Women/IWLCA Poll, including four in the top-10 (Maryland, Loyola, Northwestern, Stony Brook).
• The Blue Jays boast the seventh toughest schedule in the nation this season. JHU's opponents have a combined win percentage of 66.1. Hopkins is also 15th in the nation in RPI (.601).
• Hopkins has been ranked in 108 of the last 139 IWLCA Coaches Polls, beginning with the first regular season poll in 2012.
CLIMBING THE RANKS
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 5 ground balls to rank 17th (has 110)
• Needs 39 draws to rank 5th (has 163)
• Needs 4 caused turnovers to rank 6th and 11 to rank 5th (has 79)
Kathleen Garvey (Gr. • GK):
• Needs 49 saves to rank 3rd (has 350)
Shelby Harrison (Gr. • M):
• Needs 1 goal to rank 17th, 2 to rank 16th and 7 to rank 15th (has 96)
• Needs 4 goals to reach 100 for her career (has 96)
• Needs 11 free position goals to rank 1st (has 44)
• Needs 7 draws to reach 300 for her career (has 293)
• Needs 1 caused turnover to rank 15th and 8 to rank 14th (has 54)
Jeanne Kachris (Gr. • D):
• Needs 1 ground ball to rank 12th, 5 to rank 11th and 6 to rank 10th (has 124)
• Needs 7 caused turnovers to rank 5th (has 83)
Annika Meyer (Sr. • D):
• Needs 6 ground balls to rank 13th (has 118)
• Needs 9 caused turnovers to rank 8th (has 70)
Kaitlyn Pham (Jr. • GK):
• Needs 2 saves to rank 13th and 11 to rank 12th (has 8)
10,266 DAYS
• Janine Tucker coached her first game at Johns Hopkins on March 15, 1994, on Homewood Field. Hopkins beat Salisbury 14-5 to giver Tucker her first win at Hopkins and first win on Homewood Field.
• On Saturday, April 23, JHU beat Ohio State, 17-14, to give Tucker a win in her final game on Homewood Field. That's a span of 10,266 days between her first win and her last win on Homewood.
RON WOMEN
• Last Friday, fifth-years
Keegan Barger,
Shelby Harrison and
Jeanne Kachris tied
Maggie Schneidereith's school record for games played with 77.
• In addition, Barger and Kachris tied Schneidereith's record for games started with 77 games of their career.
• Fifth-year
Kathleen Garvey has made 40 consecutive starts in the cage, second most in school Division I history.
Jen McDonald (2000-03) holds the record with 51 consecutive starts in goal.
CENTURY CLUB
• With her goal just 2:02 into the third quarter at Northwestern (April 16),
Shelby Harrison became the 26th player in school Division I history, and 44th all-time, to score 100 career points.
• Harrison also needs four goals to score 100 for her career. She would be the 16th in school DI history to reach the mark, and 30th all-time.
300!
•
Kathleen Garvey notched her 300th career save in the win at Towson (April 6). She is the sixth goalie in school Division I history, and 10th all-time, to reach the mark.
• Garvey ranks fourth in JHU DI history with 350 career saves and is seventh all-time. She also leads all active goalies in the Big Ten in career saves.
• Garvey leads the Big Ten with 152 saves so far this. That is the fourth highest total in school DI history and is 13th all-time.
• Garvey posted her seventh double-digit save performance of the season on Friday versus Maryland. It was her sixth double-digit save performance in the last nine games.
CLOSE CALLS
• Three of Hopkins' losses this season have come by just one or two goals to ranked opponents.
• JHU lost in overtime at 25th-ranked Navy on March 10 and then dropped a tough two-goal decision to 10th-ranked Michigan eight days later. Hopkins fell by just one goal at 13th-ranked Rutgers (March 26).
• In addition, two of the Blue Jays' wins have come by one or two goals. Hopkins beat host and 19th-ranked Penn (February 26) by two goals. On April 6, JHU beat host Towson in overtime.
BACK TO NORMAL
• 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 that advanced to the national semifinals.
MIDSEASON ALL-AMERICANS
• Inside Lacrosse released its Midseason All-America Teams on March 31 and three Blue Jays were named to Honorable Mention - fifth-year seniors
Shelby Harrison and
Jeanne Kachris and senior
Annika Meyer.
• Harrison leads the Blue Jays in goals (40), points (43), free position goals (17) and draws (57). She ranked third in the Big Ten in free position goals (0.94), ninth in goals per game (2.22) and 10th in draws per game (3.17).
• Kachris leads Hopkins with a career-high 29 caused turnovers and is also second in ground balls (32). She ranks second in the league in caused turnovers per game (1.61) and is 11th in ground balls per game (1.77).
• Meyer is JHU's leader in ground balls (41) and is second in caused turnovers (25). She is fifth in the Big Ten in ground balls per game (2.28) and fourth in caused turnovers per game (1.39).
AT THE DRAW
• Fifth-year senior
Shelby Harrison became Johns Hopkins all-time leader in draw controls at Rutgers (March 26). She won the game's opening draw, the 268th of her career, to break
Dene' DiMartino's (2013-16) record. Harrison finished with a game-high seven draws. It was the 24th time in her career (77 games) that she has had five or more draws.
• Harrison ranks 16th among all active players in the nation, and second among players in the Big Ten, with her 293 draws.
• Harrison has led the team in draws in each of her five seasons and notched the 200th draw of her career on February 28, 2021 versus Northwestern - in just her 47th career game. She averages 3.80 draws per game in her career, the best per game average in program history. Harrison holds the school record for draws in a game (11) and by a freshman (91).
• 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 sixth in school history with 163 career draws. and has had five or more draws in a game nine times in her career.
• Senior
Mia Farnella has emerged as a draw specialist this season and ranks second on the team with 37 daws (2.64 per game). She entered the season with nine career draw controls. In the win over Ohio State (April 23), Farnella had a game and career-high seven draws.
LAST TIME OUT
• Maryland used a 7-1 second-half run to pull away in a 14-6 win over Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten Semifinals at a rain-soaked SHI Stadium in Piscataway, NJ last Friday night.
• Hopkins wasted little time getting on the board as
Abbey Hurlbrink picked the lower left corner from the right alley just 22 seconds in. Shannon Smith answered with back-to-back goals to put Maryland up 2-1 at 9:51.
Madison McPherson knotted the score for the Blue Jays with 3:42 to play in the opening quarter.
• The Terps scored four goals in just over two minutes to open the second quarter and push out to a 6-2 lead at the 9:15-mark. After a nearly six-minute stand by both defenses, Grace Griffin scored on a woman-up opportunity to stake the Terps to a 7-2 lead at 3:38. The Blue Jays then took advantage of a Terp yellow card when
Maeve Barker scored on a bouncer from the right alley with 1:37 left.
Kathleen Garvey then saved a Leubecker free position shot at the with eight seconds remaining and Maryland took a 7-3 lead into the half.
• The third quarter started just like the first, with an early Hurlbrink goal. She beat Stirling on the run in the left alley to pull the Blue Jays within three at 14:11. The Terps responded with three straight goals to push their lead to six less than five minutes later. McPherson ended the run when she split the defense and scored on a left-handed shot from the doorstep to make it 10-5.
• Maryland scored the first four goals of the fourth quarter, over a span of 11 minutes, to go up 14-5 by the 3:02-mark.
Shelby Harrison scored what turned out to be the final goal of the game with 2:06 to play.
• Hurlbrink and McPherson led the Blue Jays with two goals apiece. McPherson also had a team-high four draws to go with two ground balls and two caused turnovers. McPherson and Harrison each extended their point-scoring streaks to 16 games.
•
Jeanne Kachris had two takeaways and
Bailey Cheetham had three ground balls. Garvey finished with 10 saves and a game-high four ground balls.
EIGHT METER
• Fifth-year
Shelby Harrison leads the Blue Jays with a career-high 17 free position goals. She also ranks third in the Big Ten and ranks 21st in the nation in free position goals (0.94/game).
• Harrison ranks second all-time in school history with 44 free position goals. Her 17 FPG this season are the second most in school single-season history and are three shy of
Dene DiMartino's single season record (20 / 2016).
• Junior
Madison McPherson is second on the team with a career-high seven free position goals.
BREAKOUT SEASON
• Junior middie
Madison McPherson is having a breakout season on the offensive end of the field for the Blue Jays. After playing a primarily defense role in her first two seasons, she made the transition to more of a two-way middie.
• McPherson had tallied just one point in her first two seasons (17 games). This season, she ranks second on the team in goals (30), third in points (36) and fourth in assists (6). She also ranks third on the team in shooting percentage (.448) and is second in free position goals (7).
• McPherson handed out a career-high three assists in the win over Ohio State on April 23.
IAGAINST THE BLUE DEVILS
• Hopkins and Duke meet for the ninth time overall and second in the NCAA Tournament. The teams last met in 2015 - a 9-8 win by the Blue Jays in Durham.
WE'RE STREAKING!
Five Blue Jays carry active goal, assist and/or point streaks into Friday's NCAA First Round game versus Duke. In fact, three Blue Jays have a point-scoring streak in double digits. Here's a look at those streaks:
Maeve Barker (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 15 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 3 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
Shelby Harrison (Gr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 16 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 16 straight games
Abbey Hurlbrink (So. • M):
• Has at least one point in 6 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 6 straight games
Madison McPherson (Jr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 16 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 10 straight games
FIRST TIMERS
• A trio of Blue Jays -
Jordan Carr,
Georgie Gorelick and
Charlotte Smith - scored their first career goals in the season-opening win versus VCU.
• Junior
Madison McPherson scored her first career goal just 2:11 into the game versus ninth-ranked Loyola (February 19). She then tallied her first career hat trick in JHU's win over Georgetown (March 2). Senior
Claire Mills also turned in her first career hat trick versus the Hoyas.
• Gorelick notched her first career hat trick in Hopkins come-from-behind win over Drexel (March 6).
• Four Blue Jays had career firsts in the win over the UMBC Retrievers (March 29). Fifth-year defender
Jeanne Kachris scored her first career goal. Sophomores
Jordan Carr,
Cameron Levine and
Marielle McAteer each notched their first career assist.
• Sophomore
Liza Regan tallied her first career assist and freshman
Ashley Mackin scored her first career goal in the win over Coastal Carolina (April 10).
• Kachris handed out her first career assist at Northwestern on April 16.
LENDING A HAND
• Senior
Georgia Esmond leads the Blue Jays and ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 22 assists. She has at least one assist in 10 of Hopkins' 18 games this season and has had five multi-assist games.
• Just four games into the season, Esmond had already doubled her career assist total. She entered the season with nine career assists and now has 31 helpers to her credit.
I'M HONORED - PART I
• 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).
I'M HONORED - PART II
• 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. 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).
BIG TEN WEEKLY HONORS
• Senior attacker
Georgia Esmond was named the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week on February 15. She finished with 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 (February 26). She scored twice and added an assist for three points.
• Fifth-year goalie
Kathleen Garvey was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week on May 3. She helped JHU to a crucial 10-5 win at Penn State in the regular season finale. She made nine saves and picked up two ground balls, while allowing just five goals. Five of her saves came in the second half as she held the Nittany Lions to just one goal over the final 39 minutes. Hopkins outscored Penn State 7-1 during that 39-minute span.
D - FENCE
• The Blue Jay defense leads the Big Ten and 17th in the nation with 9.50 caused turnovers per game. Hopkins is also third in the league and 27th in the nation in ground balls per game (17.78).
• 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.
• Fifth-year senior
Jeanne Kachris ranks seventh in school history and 12th among all active Division I players with 83 career caused turnovers. She is second in the Big Ten in caused turnovers (1.61/game). She is also 14th in JHU history with 124 career ground balls. Kachris is 19th among all active Division I players in ground balls.
• Fifth-year senior
Keegan Barger ranks eighth in JHU history, and is 14th among all active players in Division I, with 79 caused turnovers. She also holds the school single-game record with seven takeaways in a game.
• Senior
Annika Meyer ranks fourth in the league in caused turnovers (1.39) and fifth in ground balls (2.28). She is ninth in program history with 70 career takeaways and is 15th with 118 career ground balls.
• Hopkins held VCU to just six goals on 15 shots in its season-opener (February 12). The Blue Jays' also forced 13 Rams' turnovers, led by Meyer's game-high four takeaways.
• In the come-from-behind win over Drexel (March 6), Hopkins held the Dragons scoreless for a stretch of 26:07 between the second and fourth quarters. Hopkins held ECU (March 20) scoreless for nearly 22 minutes in a drought that spanned the second and third quarters. Last Saturday, JHU held Rutgers scoreless for nearly 21 minutes in a drought that spanned the second and third quarters. And on March 29, the Blue Jays held the UMBC Retrievers scoreless for a span of 17:26 in the second and third quarters.
• On April 6, Hopkins held Towson scoreless for 18:30, a drought that spanned the first to third quarters.
• The five goals the Blue Jay defense allowed to the Nittany Lions are the fewest allowed in the 25-game series against Penn State and the fewest they've allowed in any game this season. It's also the fewest since JHU beat Towson, 10-3, on April 2, 2019.
AROUND THE BIG TEN
• 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.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
• 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.
SUPER SENIORS
• 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.
WELCOME TO HOMEWOOD
• 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.
HOME SWEET HOME(WOOD)
• Under head coach
Janine Tucker, the Blue Jays are 143-72 (.665) within the friendly confines of Homewood Field and the Jays are 52-26 (.667) at home since the start of the 2014 season.
• Hopkins played 10 of its 17 regular season games at Homewood this spring.
ON THE TUBE
• Johns Hopkins played three nationally-televised games during the regular season. Hopkins' games versus Maryland (April 2) and Ohio State (April 23) were televised on ESPNU while JHU's game at Penn State (April 28) aired on the Big Ten Network.
• In addition, Hopkins' games at Penn (Feb. 26), Navy (Mar. 10) and Stony Brook (Mar. 13) were shown on ESPN+
• The Big Ten Network aired all three games of the B1G tournament last weekend at Rutgers.
FOR THE RECORD
• This marks the 47th season for Johns Hopkins, which sports an all-time record of 463-299-4 (.607) and a 245-163 (.600) 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).
ON TAP
• With a win over Duke, Hopkins would take on host and second-ranked Maryland in Sunday's second round game. Opening draw at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex is set for 2:30 pm.