• Johns Hopkins opens its 48th season overall, and 25th in Division I, against UAlbany on Sunday at Homewood Field.
• Hopkins is 32-14-1 (.691) all-time in season openers and has won 17 of its last 19 season-openers. 
  • Hopkins is 40-21 (.656) all-time in the month of February. Now in their 48th season, the Blue Jays did not play a game in February until 2002. Hopkins, then in just its fourth season as a Division I program, lost to Vanderbilt, 7-4, on February 24.
  • For the first time in three decades, there will be a new coach at the helm of the Blue Jays. Tim McCormack was named just the fourth coach in program history on June 7, 2022.
• McCormack comes to Homewood after a successful three-year stint at Arizona State. He led the Sun Devils to a 26-17 record, including back-to-back 10 wins seasons and a berth in the Pac-12 championship game.
  • Head coach Tim McCormack announced on June 24 that Nicole Graziano and Dorrien Van Dyke would join his staff at Homewood.
• Van Dyke and Graziano spent the last three seasons on McCormack's staff at Arizona State. During their time in Tempe, the Sun Devils went 26-17 with back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2021 and 2022. Arizona State also made its first-ever appearance in the Pac-12 Championship game in 2022. Van Dyke will coach the Blue Jay defense and Graziano will coach the offense.
• Graziano helped turn around the Arizona State offense. In the year prior her arrival in Tempe, the Sun Devils ranked 96th in the nation with 9.89 goals per game. In her first season, a COVID-shortened 2020 season, ASU ranked 12th in the nation with 16.38 goals per game. Arizona State led the Pac-12 in scoring in 2020 and 2021 (16.44 goals per game) and ranked third in 2022 (13.21).
• Van Dyke's Arizona State defense led the Pac-12 in ground balls and ranked fourth in scoring defense in 2021 (12.62) and 2022 (12.79). The squad also ranked third in caused turnovers in 2020 (7.13) and then second in 2021 (8.50) and 2022 (7.11).
• In addition to her work with the defense, Van Dyke made immediate improvements in the Sun Devil draw control unit. Arizona State ranked fourth in the Pac-12 prior to her arrival in Tempe. ASU ranked third (14.25) in 2020, second in 2021 (16.68) and then led the league (15.95) this past season. The Sun Devils also ranked in the top-20 in the nation in draws in each of the last two seasons.
  • Kathleen Garvey returned to her alma mater in August to join head coach Tim McCormack's staff as the graduate manager. She will assist with the Blue Jay goalies.
• Garvey returns to Homewood after a standout career in the cage for the Blue Jays. She finished her career ranked fourth in program history with 352 saves and seventh in goals against average (11.10) and save percentage (.433).
• A three-year starter, Garvey posted 15 double-digit save performances in 41 starts. She earned Big Ten Goaltender of the Year honors and Second Team All-Mid-Atlantic honors in 2021 after leading the league in saves (129) and ranking second in save percentage (.436).
  • Hopkins is ranked 20th in the IL Women/IWLCA Preseason Poll with 103 points. The Blue Jays are also receiving votes in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason Poll.
• JHU has been ranked in eight of the last nine IL Women/IWLCA Preseason Polls.
• Seven of the Blue Jays' 2023 opponents are ranked in the IL Women/IWLCA poll, including five in the top-10.
  • Sunday's game is the first-ever meeting between Hopkins and UAlbany.
• The only current member of the America East Conference that JHU has ever faced is UMBC. The Blue Jays are 17-13-2 all-time against the Retrievers.
  • Seniors Maeve Barker and Bailey Cheetham and junior Jordan Carr have been selected as captains for the 2023 season.
• Barker returns after starting 18 games on attack a year ago and carries a 16-game point-scoring streak into the 2023 season. She is the Blue Jays' active leader in goals (43), assists (24) and points (67).
• Cheetham, a two-way middie, returns after posting career highs in every statistical category last season. She finished with 10 goals and 15 points in 18 games. Cheetham also tallied 23 ground balls, eight caused turnovers and five draws.
• Carr had a breakout season as a two-way middie in 2022. After seeing action in just two games as a freshman, she played in 18 games and started 16 a year ago. She totaled 16 points (12g, 4a), 23 ground balls, 13 caused turnovers and six draws. Carr scored on 75 percent of her shots on goal.
  • The Blue Jays' 2023 roster includes seven seniors, 11 juniors, eight sophomores and seven freshmen.
• The 33-woman roster features players from 10 states and one Canadian province (Ontario). By state, the Blue Jays hail from Maryland (13), New York (5), Massachusetts (4), California (2), Connecticut (2), New Jersey (2), Pennsylvania (1), Florida (1), Oregon (1) and Virginia (1). 
  • Head coach Tim McCormack welcomed seven freshmen to the Blue Jays this season. Joining Hopkins are Ava Angello, Morgan Giradina, Hannah Johnson, Grace Karstetter, Jillian McNaughton, Reagan O'Brien and Emily Peek.
  • Athletics at Johns Hopkins is a family affair and this year's team is no different.
• Freshman Reagan O'Brien joins her sister, sophomore Quinlan O'Brien, at Homewood this spring. The O'Briens are the 13th pair of sisters to don the Hopkins Blue & Black.
• Freshman Morgan Giardina is following in the footsteps of her father, Scott, who played lacrosse at Johns Hopkins and is a 1992 graduate.
• In addition, junior Liza Regan played alongside her cousin, Caroline Somerville, for two seasons (2021, 2022) at Homewood.
  • Hopkins fell to 13th-ranked Duke, 17-12, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last May.
• The Blue Devils jumped out to a 4-0 lead just six minutes in and held off a furious mid-game rally by the Blue Jays to grab the win.
• Madison McPherson and Abbey Hurlbrink led Hopkins with three goals each. Shelby Harrison (2g, 1a), Maeve Barker (2g), Georgie Gorelick (1g, 1a) and Keegan Barger (2a) also had multi-point games for the Blue Jays.
• Hopkins held advantages in shots (34-25) and ground balls (22-17), but couldn't overcome a 17-save performance from Duke's Sophia LeRosae.
  • Johns Hopkins was picked to finish fifth in the 2023 Big Ten Women's Lacrosse Preseason Poll of the league's seven head coaches.
• Maryland is the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten, followed by Northwestern, Rutgers, Michigan, Hopkins, Ohio State and Penn State.
• All seven teams will qualify for the 2023 Big Ten Women's Lacrosse Tournament, with the top team in the final league standings earning a bye into the semifinals. The teams that finish second, third and fourth will host quarterfinal games on Saturday, April 29. Ohio State will host the semifinals (May 4) and finals (May 6).
  • Senior Maeve Barker, junior Georgie Gorelick and sophomore Annie Marshall have been named to the 2023 Big Ten Players to Watch list. Three players from each of the Big Ten's six teams were named as players to watch.
• Barker returns after starting 18 games on attack. She ranked second on the team with 12 assists and tied for third with 23 goals. She posted 12 multi-point games and finished the season on a 16-game point streak.
• Gorelick saw action in 17 games in the midfield and finished fifth on the team in goals (20) and assists (5). She was also tied for second with seven free position goals.
• Marshall played 18 games in her freshman campaign as a center draw specialist. She totaled six ground balls, six draw controls and three caused turnovers.
  • Hopkins will play four nationally televised games this season. JHU willl take on Penn (Feb. 25), Rutgers (Apr. 1) and Maryland (Apr. 5) on ESPNU. In addition, Hopkins' game at Michigan (Apr. 13) will be shown on the Big Ten Network. 
  Four Blue Jays carry active goal, assist and/or point streaks into Sunday's season-opener versus UAlbany. Here's a look at those streaks:
 
Maeve Barker (Sr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 16 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 7 straight games
 
Eliza Bowman (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 3 straight games
 
Abbey Hurlbrink (Jr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 7 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 7 straight games
 
Madison McPherson (Sr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 16 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 10 straight games
  • This marks the 48th season for Johns Hopkins, which sports an all-time record of 463-301-4 (.605) and a 245-164 (.599) record as a Division I program.
• The Blue Jays have posted 36 winning seasons, including 21 straight from 1987 to 2007. Hopkins has also made 19 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 10 in the Division I Tournament (2004, 2005, 2007, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022).
  • Hopkins produced a school-record and Big Ten-best 33 Academic All-Big Ten selections for the 2022 season. Fifteen Blue Jays were named Big Ten Distinguished Scholars.
• In addition, JHU set a school record as 14 student-athletes were named to the IWLCA Academic Honor Roll in late July.
• The Blue Jays posted an impressive 3.57 GPA for the Spring semester, which included five players with a perfect 4.00 GPA.
  • Hopkins returns to action on Saturday, February 18 as the Blue Jays make the short trip to Loyola to take on the 10th-ranked Greyhounds. The renewal of the Charles Street rivalry is slated for a 3:00 pm start at Ridley Athletic Complex.