• Johns Hopkins wraps up its five-game road trip on Saturday as the Blue Jays visit the Ohio State Buckeyes.
• Saturday's game is Hopkins' 2023 Big Ten opener. The Blue Jays open conference play on the road for the first time since 2017 when JHU visited Maryland.
• Hopkins is coming off a 17-10 loss at eighth-ranked James Madison in the first-ever regular season meeting between the two.   
  • The Blue Jays are 165-69-2 (.703) all-time in the month of March, including 2-2 under first-year head coach Tim McCormack.
• Since moving to Division I in 1999, Johns Hopkins is 116-53 (.686) in the month of March.
  • Saturday's game is the fifth consecutive road games for Johns Hopkins.
• This stretch of five straight road games is the longest for the Blue Jays since April 2021 when they also played five straight road games. In fact, including two neutral site games following that five-game road swing, JHU played seven straight away from Homewood Field to end the 2021 season.
• This is just the fifth road trip of five games (or more) for the Blue Jays in the 48-year history of the program.
  • Freshman Ava Angello was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Tuesday after she totaled eight goals and 10 points in a 1-1 week for the Blue Jays. She is the first Blue Jay to earn B1G Freshman of the Week honors since Abbey Hurlbrink in 2021.
• Angello scored a career-high six goals and controlled one draw in the win at Monmouth on Tuesday afternoon. Her six goals are tied for the most by a freshman in school history. Angello finished with four points on two goals and two assists in a tough loss at eighth-ranked James Madison Saturday.
• Angello leads Hopkins with 16 goals and ranks second with 21 points. She is also second in the B1G in goals and points by a freshman.
  • For the first time in three decades, there is 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.
  • Hopkins is receiving votes in this week's IL Women/IWLCA Poll.
• Nine of the Blue Jays' 2023 opponents are ranked in the IL Women/IWLCA poll, including four in the top-10.
• Hopkins boasts the seventh toughest schedule in the nation. The Blue Jays' opponents have a combined win percentage of 64.8.
  • Host and eighth-ranked James Madison outscored Johns Hopkins, 7-0, in the fourth quarter to beat the Blue Jays, 17-10, Saturday afternoon.
• Hopkins scored three goals in just 50 seconds to jump out to a 3-0 lead. James Madison got on the board with a pair of free position goals to make it a 3-2 game at 7:54. Just 23 seconds later, freshman Ava Angello scored on a shovel shot off a feed from junior Georgie Gorelick and it was 4-2 Blue Jays. Brianna Mennella pulled the Dukes back within one with 6:55 to go in the quarter. Juniors Abbey Hurlbrink and Jordan Carr answered with back-to-back goals to make it a three-goal game five minutes later. JMU scored in transition with just one second left in the quarter to make it 6-4.
• The Dukes scored three straight in the second to take their first lead at 6:11. Hopkins made it 7-7 at the half with a goal from senior Madison McPherson. Junior Eliza Bowman put Hopkins back on top with a rip past the Dukes' goalie just 25 seconds into the third. Carr then pushed the lead to two with her second of the afternoon two minutes later. The teams then traded goals and it was 10-8 Blue Jays midway through the third. James Madison would use a 9-0 run that spanned more than 19 minutes to grab the win. 
• Angello led the Blue Jays with four points (2g, 2a) and Gorelick added a career-high three assists. Senior Maeve Barker (1g, 1a), Hurlbrink (2g) and Carr (2g) also had multi-point games. Sophomore Annie Marshall had a game-high seven draws and senior Bailey Cheetham had a game-high three caused turnovers.
  • Ava Angello scored three goals in her collegiate debut Sunday. She is the first freshman to tally a hat trick in their debut since Miranda Ibello accomplished the feat on Feburary 12, 2016 versus Marquette.
• In fact, Angello is just the fifth freshman in school Division I history to score a hat trick in their collegiate debut.
• Angello erupted for six goals in the win at Monmouth. Her six goals are tied for the most by a Hopkins' freshman since the program moved to Division I in 1999. She joins Meghan Burnett (2000) and Jamie Larrimore (1999) as the only Blue Jay freshman with six goals in a game.
• Angello ranks second in the Big Ten in points (21) and goals (16) by a freshman. She is also tied for first in assists (5) by a freshman.
• In addition, freshman defender Reagan O'Brien is tied for sixth in the Big Ten in assists by a freshman (2).
  • Georgie Gorelick's five goals and Maeve Barker's five assists versus Albany mark the first time since 2021, and the 11th time overall, that Hopkins had a player with five goals and a player with five assists in the same game.
• Mary Key is the only player in program Division I history to have at least five goals and five assists in the same game. She accomplished the feat on March 24, 2007 versus Orgeon.
  • Senior Maeve Barker (3g, 3a) and freshman Ava Angello (6g) each turned in six-point performances in the win at Monmouth. It is the first time that two Blue Jays had at least six points in a game since 2021 when Aurora Cordingley (6g, 1a)  and Mackenzie Heldberg (1g, 6a) had seven points each against Rutgers.
• Since JHU moved to Division I in 1999, there have been 15 games in which two Blue Jays have had six-point performances. In fact, in two of those games (Denver 2012, Furman 2019), Hopkins had three players with at least six points.
  • Sophomore defender Quinlan O'Brien scored a transition goal with 12 seconds remaining in the third quarter at Loyola. She is the first Blue Jay defender to score since Jeanne Kachris scored, also in transition, against UMBC on March 29, 2022.
• O'Brien is the 12th Hopkins defender to score a goal since the program moved to Division I in 1999 (see chart at right). Six of the 12 have scored multiple goals.
• Lacey-Leigh Hentz is first among all JHU defenders with 12 career goals (2002-05). She was inducted into the JHU Hall of Fame in 2020.
  • Hopkins ranks second in the Big Ten and 13th in the nation with 7.14 assists per game.
• JHU has notched 50 assists through seven games and is assisting on 53.7 percent of its goals.
• Senior Maeve Barker leads the Blue Jays, and ranks fourth in the Big Ten, with 1.57 assists per game. She is JHU's active career leader with 35 assists and is tied for 20th in school Division I history.
• Junior Campbell Case is second on the team, and eighth in the conference, with 1.00 assists per game. Her seven assists this season are already a career-high. Senior Bailey Cheetham ranks third on the team with a career-high six assists. She is tied for 15th in school history in assists by a midfielder with 15.
  • Freshman Reagan O'Brien is making her mark early on the Blue Jay defense. She notched three caused turnovers and three ground balls in her collegiate debut versus Albany and has totaled 18 caused turnovers in her first seven games. 
• O'Brien had six caused turnovers at Loyola, that's one shy of the school single-game record. The six takeaways are also tied for the most by a freshman in a game.
• O'Brien leads Hopkins, ranks second in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation with 2.57 caused turnovers per game. She also ranks third in the league with 2.14 ground balls per game.
• O'Brien's 18 caused turnovers are already ninth most by a freshman in program history. Lacey-Leigh Hentz set the record with 54 in 2002. 
• As a team, Hopkins is second in the Big Ten and 17th in the nation with 10.29 caused turnovers per game. JHU had 17 caused turnovers in the win at Georgetown. That's the most by the Blue Jays since they had 18 against Furman on February 29, 2020.
  • Sophomore Annie Marshall has taken the majority of the draw controls for the Blue Jays this season. She has tallied 43 draws and ranks third in the Big Ten with 6.14 draws per game. Marshall matched her 2022 season total (6) in JHU's opener against Albany.
• Marshall controlled a career-high 10 draws versus Penn on February 25 - one shy of the program single-season record. She is only the fourth player in program history to register double-digit draws in a game, joining Shelby Harrison, Dene' DiMartino and Ellie McNulty.
• Marshall turned in her second 10-draw game in the win at Monmouth. She and Harrison are the only players in program history with multiple double-digit draw games.
• As a team, Hopkins ranks third in the Big Ten, and 25th in the nation, with 15.00 draws per game. The Blue Jays are winning 54.1 percent of their draws. 
• Hopkins won 22 of 28 draws at Monmouth on March 7. That's the second most draw control wins in a game in program history and are four shy of the program record.
  • Saturday's game is the 22nd meeting between Johns Hopkins and Ohio State. The series dates to a 11-10 Blue Jay win in Baltimore on April 6, 2002.
• Hopkins and Ohio State have been conference opponents in two different conferences. The two were inaugural members of the American Lacrosse Conference (ALC) from 2002 to 2014. The ALC disbanded after the 2014 season due to the formation of the Big Ten. JHU joined the Big Ten in 2017 after playing as an independent in 2015 and 2016.
• JHU leads the all-time series, 15-6, and has won six straight. In the first 11 meetings (2002-2012), the home team went 10-1. Since then, the home team is 4-6
• The 2020 game between Hopkins and Ohio State, scheduled for March 14 at Homewood Field, was the first for both teams to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In fact, Ohio State was practing on Homewood Field on that Thursday (March 12), when the season was suspended.
  • 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.
  • Saturday's game at Ohio State will be the 15th for Hopkins on March 18. The Blue Jays are 11-3 all-time on this date, but lost their lost their contest, 9-7, at Michigan in 2022. Hopkins had won 10 straight games on March 18 from 1987 to 2021.
• Seven of JHU's 14 games on March 18 have come since the Blue Jays moved to Division I in 1999.
 
     1982      at Notre Dame (MD)________ W, 9-5
     1983      Swarthmore______________ L, 3-12
     1986      UMBC___________________ L, 7-11
     1987      Hood____________________ W, 16-2
     1988      at Washington College______ W, 26-7
     1995      Roanoke_________________ W, 7-5
     1998      at Mount St. Mary's________ W, 12-7
     2000      Davidson_________________ W, 17-7
     2001      at Davidson_______________ W, 17-6
     2005      at #16 Vanderbilt__________ W, 13-6
     2006      vs. Oregon________________ W, 15-7
     2015      at Furman________________ W, 17-3
     2021      at #13 Penn State__________ W, 13-11
     2022      #10 Michigan_____________ L, 7-9
  • 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).
  • Multiple Blue Jays are making their move up the Johns Hopkins Division I record book. Here's a look at where they rank:
 
Ava Angello (Fr. • A):
• Needs 1 point to rank 18th, 3 to rank 17th and 6 to rank 16th in points by a freshman (has 21)
• Needs 1 goal to rnak 17th, 3 to rank 15th and 4 to 14th in goals by a freshman (has 16)
• Needs 1 assist to rank 14th and 2 to rank 13th in assists by a freshman (has 5)
 
Maeve Barker (Sr. • A):
• Needs 9 points to reach 100 for her career (has 91)
• Needs 1 assist to rank 19th, 2 to rank 18th, 3 to rank 17th and 4 to rank 15th in assists (has 35)
 
Bailey Cheetham (Sr. • M):
• Needs 1 assist to rank 13th and 3 to rank 11th in assists by a midfielder (has 15)
 
Georgie Gorelick (Jr. • M):
• Needs 1 point to rank 19th, 2 to rank 18th in points and 3 to rank 17th by a midfielder (has 45)
• Needs 1 goal to rank 18th, 2 to rank 17th and 4 to rank 16th in goals by a midfielder (has 35)
• Needs 1 assist to rank 17th and 3 to rank 15th in assists by a midfielder (has 10)
 
Abbey Hurlbrink (Jr. • M):
• Needs 1 point to rank 15th and 4 to rank 14th in points by a midfielder (has 48)
• Needs 4 goals to rank 12th in goals by a midfielder (has 43)
 
Madison McPherson (Sr. • M):
• Needs 1 point to rank 19th, 2 to rank 18th in points and 3 to rank 17th by a midfielder (has 45)
• Needs 2 goals to rank 16th and 4 to rank 15th in goals by a midfielder (has 37)
• Needs 6 draws to rank 17th (has 79)
 
Reagan O'Brien (Fr. • D):
• Needs 2 caused turnovers to rank 6th and 4 to rank 5th by a freshman (has 18)
 
Maggie Tydings (Jr. • GK):
• Needs 73 saves to rank 11th (has 47)
  • Senior Maeve Barker needs 9 points to reach the 100-point mark for her career. She would be the 45th player in program history, and 27th since the program moved to Division I in 1999, to reach the milestone.
  • Senior Maeve Barker, junior Georgie Gorelick and sophomore Annie Marshall were 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.
  • 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.
  • Nine Blue Jays carry active goal, assist and/or point streaks into Saturday's game at Ohio State.
• Here's a look at those streaks:
 
Ava Angello (Fr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 7 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 7 straight games
 
Maeve Barker (Sr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 4 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 4 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 4 straight games
 
Eliza Bowman (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 2 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 2 straight games
 
Jordan Carr (Jr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 4 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 4 straight games
 
Campbell Case (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 2 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 2 straight games
 
Georgie Gorelick (Jr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 8 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 2 straight games
 
Abbey Hurlbrink (Jr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 2 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 2 straight games
 
Ashley Mackin (So. • A):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 2 straight games
 
Annie Marshall (So. • A):
• Has at least one point in 4 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 2 straight games
 
Madison McPherson (Sr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 4 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 4 straight games
  • 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 carried a 16-game point-scoring streak into the 2023 season. She is the Blue Jays' active leader in goals (55), assists (34) and points (89).
• Cheetham, a two-way middie, returns after posting career highs in every statistical category last season. She finished with 10 goals and 15 points, to go with 23 ground balls, eight caused turnovers and five draws in 18 games. For her career, Cheetham has 29 points (14g, 15), 45 ground balls, 19 draws and 19 caused turnovers.
• 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. She now has 19 goals and 22 points to go with 25 ground balls, nine draws and 16 caused turnovers in 26 career games. 
  • 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.
  • 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).
  • 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. 
  • This marks the 48th season for Johns Hopkins, which sports an all-time record of 466-305-4 (.604) and a 248-168 (.596) 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 finally returns to Homewood Field on Thursday, March 23 to take on third-ranked Northwestern. Opening draw for the Big Ten contest is slated for a 1:00 pm at Homewood Field.