The Game
• Johns Hopkins (4-1) plays the second of two straight games at home as the #7/#6 Blue Jays welcome #18/#19 Virginia (2-2) to Homewood Field. Faceoff is set for 12:02 pm with a live national television audience on ESPNU.
When Last We Saw Them
• Johns Hopkins dropped its first game of the 2025 season last Saturday as the Blue Jays fell to then ninth-ranked North Carolina, 13-12, at Homewood Field.
• Virginia slipped to 2-2 with a 14-5 loss at Ohio State last Saturday.
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 1,031-376-15 (.730).
• 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 is ranked seventh in this week's USILA Coaches Poll and checks in at number six in the KANE Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
• Virginia is ranked 18th in the USILA Coaches Poll and 19th in the KANE Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
Poll Notes of Interest
• Including this week's poll, the USILA has issued 559 polls since the debut poll in 1973. Johns Hopkins has appeared in the top 20 in 536 of those 559 polls and has been ranked in the top 10 in 451 of the 559.
Series History
• Johns Hopkins and Virginia will be meeting for the 99th time this week. The series dates to a 9-0 Johns Hopkins victory in 1904 and the Blue Jays are 62-35-1 against the Cavaliers.
• A complete look at the series history can be found on page 16.
On This Date
• This week's game will be the sixth game Johns Hopkins has played on March 1. The Blue Jays are 3-2 all-time on this date with all five previous games being played against Princeton between 1997-2014.
• In JHU's last game on this date, the Blue Jays topped Princeton, 15-9, in 2014.
Streaking
• Johns Hopkins had a nine-game regular season winning streak snapped with last week's 13-12 loss to North Carolina. The nine-game run was the longest regular-season winning streak for Johns Hopkins since the Blue Jays won 15 straight between 2011-2012.
• In this century, the nine-game regular-season winning streak is tied for the fifth-longest for Johns Hopkins.
More Streaking
• Including the recent 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 on Saturday, February 15.
• Remarkably, the 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.
• Perhaps even more remarkable? The last-minute game-winner for Melendez marked just the seventh time this century that the Blue Jays have won a game with a goal in the final minute of regulation. Of those seven, three came in a 33-day span during the 2018 season.
Against the ACC
• This week's game against Virginia will be the 21st all-time for Johns Hopkins against a team currently in the ACC and the second of three straight the Jays will play against ACC teams.
• Johns Hopkins is 137-101-2 (.575) 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 nine games against teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation. The nine include Maryland (2nd), North Carolina (4th), Penn State (9th), Georgetown (10th), Syracuse (11th), Ohio State (16th), Denver (17th), Virginia (18th) and Michigan (19th). Two other Blue Jay opponents this season - Navy, Rutgers - 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.
Defensive Notes of Interest
• Through five games, Johns Hopkins is allowing an average of just 9.40 goals per game and has held four of its five opponents to 10 goals or less.
• Dating back to last season, the Blue Jays have held 13 of their last 14 opponents to 11 goals or less and 11 of those 14 have been held to 10 or less.
• This season, Johns Hopkins has held its five opponents scoreless for a stretch of 10 minutes or longer 10 times with six of those 10 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 38 times in 21 games.
• The Johns Hopkins defense held 15 of 16 opponents under its season scoring average last season.
• In 20 quarters this season, Johns Hopkins has held the opposition to one goal six times and to two goals eight times as well. Translation, in 14 of 20 quarters this season (70% 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 26-6 when they score 12 or more goals.
• In 20 quarters this season, the Blue Jays have scored at least two goals in 19 of 20 quarters, three or more goals in 12 of 20 and four or more goals in four quarters.
• Through five games, Johns Hopkins has gotten goals from 14 different players, assists from 10 players and points from 15 players.
• Three of the top four scorers and four of the top six for the Blue Jays through five games have at least one year of eligibility remaining after the 2025 season and three of the six have at least two years remaining.
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