• Johns Hopkins opens its 51st season overall, and 28th in Division I, on Saturday as the Blue Jays visit the Liberty Flames.
• Hopkins is 34-15-1 (.690) all-time in season openers and has won 19 of its last 22 season-openers. 
• Saturday's season opener is a rematch of the NCAA First Round game between Hopkins and Liberty last May. JHU won that meeting, 21-11, at Homewood Field.
  • Hopkins is 48-27 (.640) all-time in the month of February.
• Now in their 51st season, the Blue Jays did not play a game in February until 2002. Saturday's opener is the second earliest in program history.
  • 2026 marks the 50th anniversary of women's lacrosse at Johns Hopkins. JHU made its program debut on March 26 at Swarthmore.
• JHU earned the program's first win on April 13, 1977 - a 12-7 win over Hood.
• The Blue Jays made the transition to Division I in 1999 and went 10-4 that season. 
• Johns Hopkins is 497-325-4 (.604) in 50 seasons, including 279-188 (.597) as a Division I program.
• Hopkins became just the 12th program in NCAA history, across all divisions, to play 800 games on April 10, 2024.
• The Blue Jays have posted 39 winning seasons, including 21 straight from 1987 to 2007. Hopkins has also made 22 NCAA Tournament appearances, including 13 in the Division I Tournament. JHU has made the last seven NCAA Tournaments, and all 13 DI appearances have come since 2004.
• JHU has produced 137 all-conference selections and 90 All-Americans in 50 seasons. In addition, 20 players have been inducted into the University's Athletic Hall of Fame.
  • Johns Hopkins opens the season playing three of its first four games on the road. The Blue Jays will travel to three states (Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania) and cover nearly 1,300 miles during the four-game opening stretch.
• Hopkins will then play eight of its next 12 games within the friendly confines of Homewood Field. Two of those final four road games include trips to Northwestern and Oregon.
  • Eighth-ranked Princeton used a 9-1 run midway through the game to take control en route to an 18-12 win over host Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Second Round last May. The Blue Jays ended their season at 13-7 - the most wins since 2015.
• Ava Angello knotted the score at four with 6:51 to play in the second quarter after a Paris Colgain caused turnover and clear. Taylor Hoss had the ball below goal line extended and hit Angello cutting down the slot for the one-timer. McKenzie Blake answered with three straight to spark that 9-1 run and send the Tigers into the half with a 7-4 lead. Lacey Downey wasted no time in the third quarter getting Hopkins back on the board. She blew home an eight-meter shot just 28 seconds in, and the lead was down to two. Just 61 seconds later, Maggie Molnar scored off the dodge and Princeton would score the next six goals to take a 13-5 lead with 7:11 to play in the third.
• Ashley Mackin halted the run when she took a pass from Campbell Case, drove the left alley and beat Amelia Hughes top shelf at 6:39. Meg Morrisroe scored back-to-back goals to push the Tigers' lead to nine late in the quarter but a Downey rip from seven meters out made it a 15-7 game heading into the fourth. Jami MacDonald and Blake sandwiched a pair of goals around a Megan Kielbasa score on the doorstep and Princeton led 17-8 with 8:58 to play. Mackin responded with three in a row, including two in just 21 seconds, followed by another Downey score and it was 17-12 with 2:56 to play. Blake capped the scoring with just 7.1 seconds on the clock to send the Tigers to the quarterfinals.
• Hopkins grabbed a 2-0 lead midway through the opening quarter with goals from Angello and Mackin in a 57-second span. Sophie Whiteway got Princeton on the board at 4:58, scoring on a one-timer in front to ignite a 3-0 spurt. Samantha DiCarlo converted an eight-meter just 37 seconds into the second tie the game at three. Morrisroe put Princeton back on top at 10:37 when she got open in the slot and buried a feed from MacDonald. The lead lasted less than four minutes thanks to that Angello goal off the turnover.
• Mackin led the Blue Jays with five goals and Downey notched a hat trick. Angello scored two goals while Hoss and Case tallied two assists each. Reagan O'Brien finished with six caused turnovers, three ground balls and four draws to go with an assist. Colgain tallied three caused turnovers and four ground balls.  Laurel Gonzalez controlled a game-high 11 draws to end the season with a school-record 166.
  • Reagan O'Brien broke the NCAA Division I single-season record for caused turnovers last season. She broke the 25-year-old record with her 83rd takeaway, in the Big Ten semifinals, and finished the season with 103.
• O'Brien also broke the Johns Hopkins career record for caused turnovers in the semifinals. She surpassed Lacey Leigh Hentz's record of 146, which had stood for 20 years. She now holds the Johns Hopkins game (12), season (103) and career records (166) for caused turnovers.
• O'Brien enters the 2026 season ranked 12th in NCAA history in career caused turnovers. She needs 34 to become just the fourth player in NCAA history to reach 200 career caused turnovers and 70 to break the all-time mark (235).
  • Laurel Gonzalez wasted no time in making her mark in the Johns Hopkins record book as a freshman in 2025. She set the single-game (18) and single-season (166) marks for draw controls and is already tied for sixth in program history in career draws. Her 166 draw controsl are the fourth most in Big Ten single-season history.
• Gonzalez ranked second in the Big Ten and 14th in the nation with 8.30 draws per game last season. She posted six of the top-10 single-game draw performances in JHU history and had double-digit draws seven times. Gonzalez is also tied for the JHU record for draws in a postseason game (11).
  • Johns Hopkins has been picked to finish third in the Big Ten in a preseason vote of the league's head coaches.
• Defending B1G champion Northwestern is the preseason favorite to win the title in 2026. Maryland is second, with Hopkins third, Michigan fourth and Penn State fifth. USC, Rutgers, Ohio State and Oregon round out the poll.
• The top seven teams will make the Big Ten Tournament with the top team in the final league standings earning a bye into the semifinals. The teams that finish second through seventh will play quarterfinal games on Wednesday, April 22. The semifinals are set for Friday, April 24 with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, April 26. Michigan will host all three rounds of the tournament.
  • The Blue Jays piled up the honors this preseason.
• Senior attacker Ava Angello, senior defender Reagan O'Brien and junior midfielder Lacey Downey were named to the Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch list. The trio, along with sophomore midfielder Laurel Gonzalez, were also named to the USA Lacrosse Preseason All-America team. In addition, Angello and O'Brien were named to the Nike Lacrosse Preseason All-America team. 
• Angello led the Blue Jays in points (90) and ranked second in goals (65) and third in assists (25). O'Brien led the team with an NCAA-record 103 caused turnovers, to go with a team-best 65 ground balls. Downey ranked second in assists (30) and draw controls (33) and was fourth in goals (28) and points (58). Gonzalez led the team and ranked second in the Big Ten with a school-record 166 draw controls. She also totaled 10 points (8g, 2a).
  • Four Blue Jays were named to the Nike Lacrosse/IL Women Power 100 Freshmen rankings this Fall, including three in the top 35.
• Sienna Chirieleison leads the quartet as she is ranked 11th, followed by Zoey Smith (31st) and McKenzey Craig (33rd) in the top 35. Paige Willard is an honorable mention selection.
• Chirieleison was a three-time USA Lacrosse All-American at Trinity, where she totaled 532 goals, 105 assists, 449 ground balls, 299 caused turnovers and 330 draw controls. She broke the Pennsylvania state record for career goals.
• Smith earned USA Lacrosse All-America honors twice at Marine Academy of Technology and Environmental Science. She finished her career with 411 goals, 55 assists and 354 draw controls and holds the school record for goals in a season (126) and career.
• A three-time USA Lacrosse All-American, Craig led Plant to a pair of state championships. She was named the Hillsborough Area Lacrosse Player of the Year as a senior.
• Willard was a two-time USA Lacrosse All-American at Skaneateles, where she totaled 126 goals, 138 assists, 74 ground balls and 80 draw controls. She led her team to a state championship as a sophomore.
  • Graduate student Sally Zinsner and seniors Ava Angello, Hannah Johnson and Reagan O'Brien have been selected as captains for the 2026 season.
• Zinsner transferred to Homewood after a standout career at Holy Cross. She ranks fifth in program history in career points (182) and sixth in goals (133). She led the team in points as a junior (78) and senior (68) and is a two-time All-Patriot League selection (First Team in 2025, Second Team in 2024).
• Angello is the Blue Jays' active career leader in points (211), goals (158) and assists (53). A three-time Honorable Mention All-American and two-time All-Big Ten pick, she ranks sixth in school Division I history in points, fourth in goals and 14th in assists.
• Johnson is a two-time captain and has started 51 games on defense. She has totaled 75 ground balls and 55 caused turnovers in 58 career games and is tied for 18th in school Division I history in caused turnovers.
• A consensus First Team All-American and the 2025 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year, O'Brien is the NCAA's active leader with 166 career caused turnovers. She holds the JHU single-game (12), season (103) and career (166) records for takeaways. She has also totaled 123 ground balls and ranks 15th in school Division I history.
  • Johns Hopkins led the Big Ten and ranked third in the nation with 12.90 caused turnovers per game in 2025. Reagan O'Brien led the nation with 5.15 caused turnovers per game, while Hannah Johnson ranked sixth in the Big Ten (1.45). Paris Colgain and Lacey Downey were tied for ninth in the league with 1.25 caused turnovers per game.
• O'Brien is the program leader with 166 career caused turnovers and Johnson is tied for 21st with 55 takeaways in her career.
• Hopkins finished the season with 258 caused turnovers, the second highest single-season total in program history. The Blue Jays were just nine shy of tying the record (267), set in 2000.
• In the last two years under defensive coordinator Dorrien Van Dyke, the Blue Jays have turned in two of the six best caused turnover totals in program history. In 2024, JHU totaled 213 takeaways, which ranks sixth in school history, and ranked seventh in the nation with 10.65 per game.
  • Ava Angello became just the eighth player in Johns Hopkins Division I history, and 13th all-time, to tally 200 career points (150 goals, 50 assists) in the 2025 Big Ten semifinals versus Northwestern. She reached the milestone in just 56 games, the seventh fastest all-time in school history to reach the mark.
• Angello is the first player to reach the 200-point mark since Maggie Schneidereith in 2020. Schneidereith finished her career in 2021 with 249 points (151 goals, 98 assists). Angello now boasts 211 points (158 goals, 53 assists) in 58 career games.
  • Hopkins earned a trio of top-10 preseason rankings. JHU is ranked eighth in the IWLCA Coaches Poll, ninth in the KANE IL Media Poll and 10th in the USA Lacrosse Poll.
• This is the second straight year the Blue Jays are ranked in the top-10 in both the IWLCA and USA Lacrosse preseason polls. It is the first time JHU is ranked in the top-10 in the Inside Lacrosse preseason poll since 2007.
• Nine of the Blue Jays' 2025 opponents are ranked in the IWLCA and KANE IL Media Polls and eight are ranked in the USA Lacrosse Poll.
  • Taylor Hoss needs 29 points to become the 51st player all-time in program history to score 100 career points. She would join Ava Angello as current Blue Jays in the Century Club.
• Hopkins graduated a pair of 100-point scorers in Ashley Mackin and Campbell Case from last year's team.
  • Ava Angello turned in her third straight season with 40+ goals in 2025. She scored 40 goals as a freshman in 2023 and followed that with 53 goals in 2024 and 65 in 2025. Angello is the first player to accomplish the feat since Dene DiMartino (2014-2016) and just the ninth in program history.
• Angello also became the first player with back-to-back 50-goal seasons since Mary Key, who scored 50 or more goals in each of her four seasons (2004-2007).
• Angello's 90 points last season are the most by a Blue Jay since Taylor D'Amore totaled 105 points in 2014. In addition, her 90 points are the fourth most in school Division I history and sixth all-time.
  • Hopkins brings back three of its top-four goal scorers and their top three in assists in Ava Angello, Taylor Hoss and Lacey Downey. In total, the Blue Jays return 54 percent of their goals (147 of 272), 62.5 percent of their assists (110 of 176) and 57.3 percent of their total points (257 of 448). Hopkins returns seven players that notched a point in 2025, including six that tallied at least 10 points.
• JHU boasted a balanced attack in 2025 as four players scored at least 28 goals and five had at least 40 points. It was the second straight year, and just the third time in program history, that Hopkins had five players with 40 or more points - Angello (90), Ashley Mackin (85), Hoss (61), Downey (58), Charlotte Smith (40).
• It was the first time since 1995 that Hopkins had two players - Angello and Mackin - with 80 or more points in a season. The last to do so were Jenn Ward (99) and Francine Brennan (97). In fact, it was just the third time in JHU history that two players reached the 80-point mark.
• In addition, it is the first time in school Division I history, and just the second time ever, that the Blue Jays have had two players with 60 or more goals. The last time it happened was in 1994, when Rebecca Savage scored 71 goals and Ward scored 60.
• Under head coach Tim McCormack and offensive coordinator Nicole Graziano, the Blue Jays are re-writing the Hopkins' record book. In the last two seasons, JHU has turned in the top-two point, goal and assist totals in program history. The last two seasons' point and assist totals rank first and second all-time (since 1976) in program history. The last two seasons' goal totals are tied for second and fourth all-time.
  • In 2025, Hopkins broke the school single-season record for assists for the second straight year. JHU finished with 176 assists, 15 more than 2024 (161). The 2024 team broke the previous record by 31 - a record that had stood since 1994. Hopkins led the Big Ten and ranked seventh in the nation in assists in 2024 (8.05). Last year, the Blue Jays led the conference and ranked third in the nation (8.80).
• The Blue Jays handed out double-digit assists nine times (out of 20 games) in 2025 and set the single-game record with 17 assists in the win over Liberty in the NCAA Tournament. JHU has posted 16 double-digit assist games under head coach Tim McCormack.
• Hopkins assisted on 64.70 percent of its goals (272) last season, which led the nation. It was the second straight year that JHU led the nation in goal-to-assist ratio. The Blue Jays assisted on 62.40 percent of its goals (258g, 161a) in 2024.
  • Taylor Hoss ended last season on roll. She scored 16 goals and handed out 16 assists over the final eight games of the season. The 32 points were more than 52 percent of her season total of 61 points in 20 games. During that stretch, she notched 10 points (4g, 6a) in the Big Ten Tournament to earn All-Tournament Team honors.
• Hoss' 16 goals in the last eight games of the season came on just 19 shots on goal. She tallied three hat tricks during the stretch and had a pair of six-point games. Hoss ranked eighth in the Big Ten in assists (32) and assists per game (1.60) and was 10th in total points (61).
• During the same eight-game stretch, Ava Angello totaled 40 points on 26 goals and 14 assists. Her 26 goals came on 53 shots on goal (.491). She ranked second in the Big Ten and 20th in the nation in points (90). She also ranked third in the conference and 17th in the nation in goals (65).
  • Going into 2025, Hopkins was looking to replace 86 percent of its draw controls lost to graduation - and found the answer in freshman Laurel Gonzalez. She went on to break the single-season record and ranked second in the Big Ten with 166 draw controls.
• In her collegiate debut, Gonzalez outdrew Florida all on her own, controlling 12 draws to the Gators' seven. She finished the season with seven double-digit draw performances, including a school record 18 versus Oregon. She is already tied for sixth in school history in career draws and is 133 away from tying Shelby Harrison's career record (297).
• As a team, Hopkins finished with 285 draw controls in 2025, the second highest total in program history and eight shy of the record. The 2024 squad holds the record with 293. JHU ranked third in the Big Ten in draws in 2024 and fourth in 2025. JHU has turned in three of the top-four single-season draw totals in school history under head coach Tim McCormack. In addition, Hopkins has posted five of the top-six single-game draw performances and has had 20 or more draws in a game eight times under McCormack.
  • Head coach Tim McCormack welcomed one graduate transfer - attacker Sally Zinsner (Holy Cross) - to Homewood this Fall. Zinsner totaled 133 goals, 49 assists, 54 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers in 54 games with the Crusaders. She earned All-Patriot League honors as a junior and senior.
• The Blue Jays also welcomed 11 freshmen to campus this year. Joining Hopkins in August were Ally Campbell, Sienna Chirieleison, McKenzey Craig, Anya Dunn, Molly Hiney, Brooke Koffler, Maddie Moore, Georgia Pavlou, Mary Pavlou, Zoey Smith and Paige Willard. • Johns Hopkins and Liberty meet for just the second time ever on Saturday. 
• The Blue Jays and the Flames met for the first time last year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Hopkins won that meeting, 21-11, at Homewood Field.
  • This is Hopkins third game on February 8 and it is the second earliest season-opener in program history. JHU is 2-0 all-time on this date with the two wins coming by a combined three goals.
  • Athletics at Johns Hopkins is a family affair and this year's team is no different.
• Freshmen Georgia and Mary Pavlou are the 14th pair of sisters to don the Hopkins Blue & Black.
• Senior Reagan O'Brien played alongside her older sister, Quinlan O'Brien '25, for three seasons.
• Senior goalie Morgan Giardina and sophomore midfielder Emmy Haugen are both following in the footsteps of their fathers, Scott Giardina and AJ Haugen. Giardina was a two-time All-American goalie and led the Blue Jays to the NCAA Semifinals as a senior in 1992. Haugen was a three-time First Team All-American midfielder and was inducted into the Johns Hopkins Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.
  • Johns Hopkins returns to action on Wednesday, February 11 to take on 18th-ranked Loyola at Homewood Field. Opening draw for the Blue Jays' home opener is slated for 4:00 pm.
 
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