• Johns Hopkins opens postseason play on Saturday at Homewood Field as the Blue Jays host Rutgers in the Big Ten Quarterfinals.
• Hopkins is coming off a 16-12 win over 14th-ranked Penn State last Saturday as the Blue Jays secured the three seed in the Big Ten Tournament.     
  • Hopkins finished in a tie for second in the Big Ten this season and is the three seed after losing the tiebreaker to Maryland. JHU was picked to finish fifth in the B1G preseason poll. 
• This matches Hopkins' highest seeding in the B1G Tournament since joining the league in 2017. JHU was also the three seed in the 2021 B1G Tournament.
• In their three other tournament appearances, the Blue Jays were the four seed. 
• Hopkins won its only other quarterfinal appearance (2021), with an 11-9 win at Penn State.
• JHU is 1-4 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament.
  • Senior Maeve Barker earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors on Wednesday. She was the Blue Jays' lone all-conference selection this season.
• Barker is having a career year for the Blue Jays. She is tied for the team-lead with 18 assists and ranks second in points (39) and third in goals (21). She also has 17 ground balls and four caused turnovers.
• Barker has posted career highs in assists, points, ground balls and caused turnovers this season. She also ranks eighth in the Big Ten in assists per game (1.20).
  • Hopkins nearly swept the Big Ten Player of the Week awards this week after wins over Towson and Penn State.
• Junior Abbey Hurlbrink was named the Offensive Player of the Week, senior Bailey Cheetham was named Midfielder of the Week and freshman Ava Angello was named Freshman of the Week.
• Hurlbrink totaled seven goals (on just nine shots), eight points, 11 draw controls and two caused turnovers. She scored two goals and controlled three draws in the come-from-behind win over the Tigers. Hurlbrink followed that with a career-best five goals, six points and eight draw controls versus the Nittany Lions.
• Angello finished with eight goals, four ground balls and one caused turnover for the week. She scored five goals, including the overtime winner, picked up a ground ball and caused a turnover in the win over Towson. She then notched a hat trick and three ground balls against Penn State.
• Cheetham totaled four goals, three assists, six ground balls, one draw and four caused turnovers. She scored a goal and handed out a career-best three assists, to go with three ground balls, two caused turnovers and one draw control versus Towson. Cheetham followed that with her first career hat trick, three ground balls and two caused turnovers in the win over Penn State.
  • Senior Maeve Barker notched the 100th point of her career in the win at Michigan. The milestone came with her assist on a Bailey Cheetham goal with 2:01 left in the first quarter. 
• Barker is the 45th player in program history, and 27th since the program moved to Division I in 1999, to reach the milestone.
• She enters Saturday's game with 106 career points on 64 goals and 42 assists.
  • Johns Hopkins' stunning come-from-behind win versus 25th-ranked Rutgers is the largest come-back win in school Division I history.
• The Blue Jays trailed by six goals (11-5) with 4:04 to play in the third quarter versus the Scarlet Knights. The Blue Jays scored the final seven goals to win 12-11. 
• Four times in the Division I era (1999), Hopkins rallied from a five-goal deficit to win. The last coming on March 7, 2021 when JHU trailed host Ohio State, 6-1, with 5:17 left in the first half. The Blue Jays rallied to win 10-9.
• Hopkins did it again last Tuesday when the Blue Jays rallied to beat the Towson Tigers, 13-12, in overtime. It is the Blue Jays second straight overtime win against the Tigers.
• Towson took the lead with 3:02 to play in the second quarter and held that lead until 1:14 left in the fourth when Hopkins tied the game on Charlotte Smith's goal. It was the first time the game was tied since it was 4-4 at 6:35 in the second. The Tigers led by as many as four in the second half.
• Hopkins trailed 12-9 when Bailey Cheetham scored with 6:09 to play to spark a three-goal rally and force overtime. Ava Angello then won it 1:34 into overtime with her fifth goal of the night.
• JHU again came from behind in last Saturday's win over Penn State. The Blue Jays trailed 4-1 with 5:58 to play in the first quarter. A Cheetham goal sparked a four-goal run as JHU took the lead with 39 seconds left in the quarter.
• Penn State tied the game twice in the ensuing four minutes, but Abbey Hurlbrink scored to ignite a five-goal run that spanned six minutes and the Blue Jays never looked back in the 16-12 win.
  • Hopkins jumped six spots in this week's IL Women/IWLCA Poll and is ranked 16th with 202 points. The Blue Jays also ranked 16th in the Nike/USA Lacrosse Poll.
• Eight of the Blue Jays' 2023 opponents are ranked in the IL Women/IWLCA poll, including four in the top-10.
• Hopkins boasts the fifth toughest schedule in the nation. The Blue Jays' opponents have a combined win percentage of 66.8.
• JHU is 13th in the NCAA's most recent RPI rating with an RPI of 0.61961.
  • The Blue Jays are 229-162-2 (.585) all-time in the month of April, including 78-64 (.549) since moving to Division I in 1999.
• Hopkins has won nine of its last 11 games in the month of April.
  • 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 came 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.
  • Abbey Hurlbrink scored a career-high five goals to lead Johns Hopkins to a 16-12 win over 14th-ranked Penn State Saturday afternoon in the regular season finale.
• Ava Angello put the Blue Jays on the board at the 11:51-mark but Penn State answered with four straight goals, in a span of five minutes, to storm out to a 4-1 lead with 5:58 left in the quarter. Bailey Cheetham then sparked a four-goal Blue Jay rally when she grabbed the rebound off an Ashley Bowan save and buried it at 4:26. Just 64 seconds later, Hurlbrink got free down the middle of the arc, hitched and then beat Bowan from four yards out. Charlotte Smith scored off a pass from Jordan Carr and Hurlbrink then capped the run when she scooped the ball up off a scramble in front and deposited it to stake Hopkins to a 5-4 lead with 39.7 ticks left on the clock. Penn State answered just 26 seconds later and the teams went into the second quarter tied at five.
• Hopkins and Penn State traded goals to open the second and it was 6-6 with 6:11 on the clock when Hurlbrink scored off the dodge to ignite a 5-0 Hopkins' run that took up the remainder of the quarter. Campbell Case, Angello and Marielle McAteer all scored during the run that sent Hopkins into the half with an 11-6 lead.
• Brooke Hoss scored just 1:15 into the third to pull Penn State back within four. But the Blue Jays responded with goals from Georgie Gorelick and Smith to push out to a 13-7 lead with 7:27 to play in the quarter. Lauren Saltz scored on a free position at 6:32 in what turned out to be the final goal of the quarter to make it 13-8.
• Hurlbrink pushed Hopkins' lead to six at 12:05 in the fourth but Penn State battled back, scoring three unanswered to pull within three with 3:33 to play. JHU ended the run when Smith found Hurlbrink wide open in the right alley and she scored to the far post to put Hopkins up 15-12. Cheetham closed out the scoring with an open-net goal with 1:33 to play.
• Hurlbrink led all scorers with a career-high five goals and six points, she also had a career-high eight draw controls. Angello notched her fifth hat trick of the season and Cheetham had the first of her career. Case (1g, 2a) and Smith (2g, 1a) also had three-point outings for the Blue Jays. Annie Marshall had a game-high nine draw controls while Madison McPherson had three caused turnovers and three ground balls. Haleigh Moore had a game-high five ground balls and Maggie Tydings finished with 10 saves in the cage.
  • Ava Angello scored three goals in her collegiate debut against Albany. 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 (41) and assists by a freshman (12) and also is third in goals (29) by a freshman.
• Angello had her 10-game point streak snapped in the win over Rutgers on April 1. It was the longest point streak by a freshman to start their career since 2015.
• Angello has notched five hat tricks this season, that's the fifth most by a freshman. Mary Key (2004) and Larrimore hold the record with 10 hat tricks each.
  • 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.
• Barker turned in her second six-point game of the season in the win at Michigan on April 13.
  • 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.
  • Hopkins ranks second in the Big Ten and 24th in the nation with 6.60 assists per game.
• JHU has notched 99 assists this season and is assisting on 53.5 percent of its goals. The 99 assists are the eighth most in school Division I history, while the 6.60 assists per game are the third best per game average.
• Senior Maeve Barker  and junior Campbell Case are tied for the team lead with 18 assists and the pair rank eighth in the Big Ten with 1.20 assists per game. Barker is JHU's active career leader with 42 assists and ranks 15th in school Division I history.
• Senior Bailey Cheetham ranks third with 14 assists and freshman Ava Angello has also reached double digits with 12 assists.
• Angello's 12 assists are already fifth most by a freshman in program history and Cheetham is tied for seventh in school history in assists by a midfielder with 23.
  • 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 3 points to rank 5th and 5 to rank 4th in points by a freshman (has 41)
• Needs 1 goal to rank 5th and 6 to rank 4th in goals by a freshman (has 29)
• Needs 7 assists to rank third in assists by a freshman (has 12)
• Needs 7 draw controls to rank 13th in draws by a freshman (has 20)
 
Maeve Barker (Sr. • A):
• Needs 4 assists to rank 14th in assists (has 42)
 
Bailey Cheetham (Sr. • M):
• Needs 2 assists to rank 6th and 5 to rank 5th in assists by a midfielder (has 23)
 
Georgie Gorelick (Jr. • M):
• Needs 7 points to rank 14th in points by a midfielder (has 54)
• Needs 5 goals to rank 13th in goals by a midfielder (has 42)
• Needs 1 assist to rank 17th and 3 to rank 16th in assists by a midfielder (has 12)
 
Abbey Hurlbrink (Jr. • M):
• Needs 3 points to rank 13th and 4 to rank 12th in points by a midfielder (has 61)
• Needs 4 goals to rank 11th in goals by a midfielder (has 52)
• Needs 1 draw to rank 11th and 8 to rank 10th (has 94)
 
Annie Marshall (So. • A):
• Needs 4 draws to rank 18th, 10 to rank 17th and 11 to rank 16th (has 81)
 
Madison McPherson (Sr. • M):
• Needs 2 goals to rank 16th and 3 to rank 15th in goals by a midfielder (has 37)
• Needs 6 draws to rank 17th (has 85)
 
Reagan O'Brien (Fr. • D):
• Needs 6 caused turnovers to rank 4th by a freshman (has 22)
 
Maggie Tydings (Jr. • GK):
• Needs 15 saves to rank 11th (has 105)
  • Hopkins shutout Georgetown in the first and fourth quarters on March 1. It was the first time JHU had shut out an opponent for a quarter since April 28, 2022. On that date, Hopkins held host Penn State scoreless in the fourth quarter. It is also the first time the Blue Jays have held an opponent scoreless for two quarters since women's lacrosse moved to quarters in 2022.
• JHU shutout Rutgers in the fourth quarter as the Blue Jays rallied for a 12-11 win. Hopkins outscored Rutgers, 6-0, in the quarter. On April 5, Hopkins held Maryland scoreless in the third quarter as the Blue Jays rallied with five straight goals. It is the fourth time this season that JHU has shutout an opponent for a quarter.
• In addition, JHU has held opponents scoreless for 15 minutes or more nine times this season, with three of those coming against Georgetown. The longest streak came on March 18, when the Blue Jays held the host Buckeyes scoreless for over 21 minutes as they built a 5-1 lead.
  • 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 22 caused turnovers and 21 ground balls in 13 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 and ranks fourth in the Big Ten with 1.69 caused turnovers per game. 
• O'Brien's 22 caused turnovers are already tied for fifth most by a freshman in program history. Lacey-Leigh Hentz set the record with 54 in 2002. 
• As a team, Hopkins ranks second in the Big Ten and 15th in the nation with 9.80 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.
• Hopkins leads the Big Ten and ranks 14th in the nation with 18.33 ground balls per game. Senior Haleigh Moore leads the Blue Jays and ranks fourth with 2.40 ground balls per game. She also ranks eight in the league in caused turnovers (1.33). Senior Madison McPherson is ninth in the league with 1.20 caused turnovers per game. 
  • Sophomore Annie Marshall has taken the majority of the draw controls for the Blue Jays this season. Despite missing three games due to injury, she leads the team with 75 draws and ranks second in the Big Ten, and 21st in the nation, with 6.25 draws per game. Marshall matched her 2022 season total (6) in JHU's opener against Albany.
• Marshall's 75 draws are already the fourth most in school single-season history. Dene' DiMartino set the single season record in 2016 with 103 draw controls.
• Marshall controlled a career-high 10 draws versus Penn on February 25 - one shy of the program single-game record. She is only the fourth player in program history to register double-digit draws in a game, joining Shelby Harrison, DiMartino and Ellie McNulty.
• Marshall turned in her second 10-draw game in the win at Monmouth and again at Ohio State. She and Harrison are the only players in program history with multiple double-digit draw games.
• Junior Abbey Hurlbrink ranks second on the team with a career high 41 draws. She is also tied for 12th in JHU history with 94 career draws. Freshman Ava Angello is third on the team with 20 draw controls, which ranks 14th among freshman in program history.
• As a team, Hopkins ranks third in the Big Ten with 14.53 draws per game. The Blue Jays are winning 53.3 percent of their draws. The 14.53 draws per game is the best per game average in school Division I history.  
• 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. The Blue Jays won 22 of 32 draws against the Nittany Lions on Saturday in the regular season finale.
• JHU outdrew Ohio State, 19-3, in its win in Columbus. 
• In the come-back over Towson last Tuesday night, Hopkins won nine of the final 12 draws as the Blue Jays rallied for the win.
  • Saturday's game is the 10th meeting between Johns Hopkins and Rutgers in a series that dates to a 14-6 Hopkins win on April 22, 2015 at Homewood Field.
• The Blue Jays are 7-2 against the Scarlet Knights and won the regular season meeting, 12-11, with a stunning fourth-quarter rally.
• This is the first-ever postseason meeting between Hopkins and Rutgers. 
  • Saturday's game versus Rutgers will be the 10th for Hopkins on April 290. The Blue Jays are 5-4 all-time on this date.
• This will be Hopkins' fourth game on April 29 since moving to Division I in 1999. JHU has won five of its last six on this date. 
 
     1976     UMBC______________ L, 3-5
     1979     vs. Maryland__________ L, 1-17
     1979     vs. Loyola____________ L, 1-6
     1982     at Lebanon Valley______ W, 13-8
     1995     at Widener___________ W, 21-2
     1997     Franklin & Marshall____ W, 23-6
     2000     #16 Yale_____________ W, 11-10 (4OT)
     2006     at #20 Penn State______ L, 14-15
     2021     at #20 Penn State______ W, 11-9
     • 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).
  • ILWomen released it's Midseason All-America teams on March 31 and freshman Reagan O'Brien was named to the Honorable Mention team. She is one of just four freshmen named to the four teams.
• O'Brien leads the Blue Jays and ranks third in the Big Ten with 1.69 caused turnovers per game.
  • 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.
  • Eight Blue Jays carry active goal, assist and/or point streaks into Saturday's game versus Penn State.
• Here's a look at those streaks:
 
Ava Angello (Fr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 3 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 3 straight games
 
Maeve Barker (Sr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 5 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 3 straight games
 
Jordan Carr (Sr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 4 straight games
 
Campbell Case (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 10 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 4 straight games
 
Bailey Cheetham (Sr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 6 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 6 straight games
 
Georgie Gorelick (Jr. • M):
• Has at least one point in 5 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 5 straight games
 
Abbey Hurlbrink (Jr. • A):
• Has at least one point in 2 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 2 straight games
 
Charlotte Smith (So. • A):
• Has at least one point in 8 straight games
• Has at least one goal in 6 straight games
• Has at least one assist in 4 straight games
  • 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.
  • 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 471-308-4 (.604) and a 253-171 (.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.
  • With a win, Hopkins would travel to Ohio State for the Big Ten Semifinals. JHU would face the winner of Maryland and Ohio State on Thursday, May 4.