The Game
• Johns Hopkins (4-0) opens the ACC portion of its 2025 schedule as the Blue Jays welcome North Carolina (2-0) to Homewood Field.
When Last We Saw Them
• Johns Hopkins ran its season-opening winning streak to four as the Blue Jays picked up their third road victory of the young season with a 9-8 win at Loyola last Saturday.
• North Carolina remained perfect on the year as the Tar Heels knocked off visiting Stony Brook, 9-4, at home last Friday night.
The Facts
• This is the 138th season of Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse. JHU first fielded a team in 1883.
• Johns Hopkins enters this week's game with an all-time record of 1,031-375-15 (.731).
• Johns Hopkins is the only men's lacrosse program in the nation with 1,000 or more all-time victories. The Blue Jays picked up the program's 1,000th victory with an 11-10 win over Loyola on February 19, 2022.
• JHU owns 44 national championships with nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA crowns to its credit.
Poll Position
• Johns Hopkins edged forward in this week's national rankings as the Blue Jays are fourth in the USILA Coaches Poll and third in the KANE Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
• North Carolina is ranked ninth this week in both national polls.
In February
• This week's game against North Carolina will be the 66th all-time for Johns Hopkins in the month of February.
• JHU is 44-21 (.677) all-time in games played in the month of February, including 15-6 (.714) under fifth-year head coach Peter Milliman.
• Johns Hopkins played its first game in the month of February in 1998, didn't play again in February until 2004 and has now played at least one game in the opening month of the season every year since 2006.
Streaking
• Dating back to last season, Johns Hopkins has won nine consecutive regular season games. The Blue Jays' last lost a regular season game on March 15, 2024 when they dropped a 10-9 overtime decision against Navy. The nine-game run is the longest regular-season winning streak for Johns Hopkins since the Blue Jays won 15 straight between 2011-2012.
More Streaking
• Including last week's win at Loyola, Johns Hopkins has won nine consecutive true road games (does not include neutral site games) dating back to the 2023 season. The nine-game road winning streak is the longest for the Blue Jays since a nine-game run from 1987-89.
• The current-nine game run is also tied for the third-longest winning streak in true road games in program history.
• Johns Hopkins' current nine-game winning streak in true road games is the longest active road winning streak in the nation.
It's Been a While
• Johns Hopkins topped Loyola, 9-8, on a Russell Melendez extra-man goal with 41 seconds remaining in regulation last Saturday (Feb. 15) at Loyola.
• Remarkably, last week's win marked the first time Johns Hopkins had won a game on a goal in the final minute of regulation since May 3, 2018, when Alex Concannon scored with 11.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter of a 6-5 win against Ohio State in the Big Ten Semifinals.
Against the ACC
• This week's game against North Carolina will be the 240th all-time for Johns Hopkins against a team currently in the ACC and the first of three straight the Jays will play against ACC teams.
• Johns Hopkins is 137-100-2 (.577) all-time against current ACC members.
• Johns Hopkins has played 55 all-time NCAA Tournament games against current ACC teams. The Blue Jays are 28-27 all-time in the NCAAs against the five teams currently competing in the ACC.Â
Strength of Schedule
• The Blue Jays' 13 regular season opponents combined to post a 131-80 (.629) record in 2024 with JHU's eight non-conference opponents rolling up an 86-46 (.652) record.
• Using the this week's USILA Coaches Poll as a reference point, the Blue Jays will play eight games against teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation. The eight include Maryland (2nd), Syracuse (7th), North Carolina (9th), Penn State (10th), Georgetown (11th), Virginia (12th), Denver (13th) and Michigan (19th). Three other Blue Jay opponents this season - Navy, Loyola, Ohio State - are among the teams receiving votes in this week's USILA Poll. Â
• Translation, 11 of Johns Hopkins' 13 opponents in 2025 appear in this week's USILA Coaches Poll.
Causing Trouble
• Through four games, Johns Hopkins is averaging 8.25 caused turnovers per game, a mark that is on par with what the Blue Jays have done over the last three seasons.
• Johns Hopkins collected eight caused turnovers in the season-opening win at Denver and added 10 in the 11-10 win at Towson, six against Georgetown and nine against Loyola.
• Johns Hopkins caused 132 turnovers in 16 games during the 2024 season, an average of 8.25 per game. The 8.25 CTs/game were the most in program history, while the 132 overall CTs rank second in program history (CTs became an official statistic in 2009).
• The top three caused turnover totals in Johns Hopkins history have come in the last three years (122 in 2022 | 135 in 2023 | 132 in 2024) and the top four averages for caused turnovers per game have come in the last four years under the direction of current defensive coordinator Jamison Koesterer.
Defensive Notes of Interest
• Through four games, Johns Hopkins is allowing an average of just 8.50 goals per game and has held each of its four opponents to 10 goals or less.
• Dating back to last season, the Blue Jays have held 13 consecutive opponents to 11 goals or less and 11 of those 13 have been held to 10 or less.
• This season, Johns Hopkins has held its four opponents scoreless for a stretch of 10 minutes or longer eight times with six of those eight droughts lasting at least 14 minutes.
• In the win against Denver, the Blue Jays held the Pioneers to just one goal in a span of 23:25 at one point and followed that up by holding Towson to just one goal in a span of 19:35 in the victory against the Tigers.
• In an 11-6 win against Georgetown, the Blue Jays held the Hoyas two just two goals in a span of 51:57 from early in the first quarter through late in the fourth.
• After allowing six goals in the opening 34:22, the Blue Jays held Loyola to just two goals in the final 25:38 in a 9-8 victory.
• Dating back to last season, the Blue Jay defense has held the opposition scoreless for a stretch of 10 minutes or longer 36 times in 20 games.
• The Johns Hopkins defense held 15 of 16 opponents under its season scoring average last season.
• In 16 quarters this season, Johns Hopkins has held the opposition to one goal six times and to two goals six times as well. Translation, in 12 of 16 quarters this season (75% of quarters played), the Blue Jays have held the opposition to two goals or less.
Offensive Notes of Interest
• Since the start of the 2022 season, the Blue Jays are 26-5 when they score 12 or more goals.
• In 16 quarters this season, the Blue Jays have scored at least two goals in 15 of 16 quarters, three or more goals in 10 of 16 and four goals in three quarters.
• Through four games, Johns Hopkins has gotten goals from 12 different players, assists from nine players and points from 13 players.
• Four of the top five scorers for the Blue Jays through four games have at least one year of eligibility remaining after the 2025 season and three of the five have at least two years remaining.
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