Unseeded Johns Hopkins (10-4) earned its NCAA-record 42nd bid to the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Tournament and will have to travel to Charlottesville to take on eighth-seeded Virginia (10-5) in the first round. Game time is set for Sunday, May 11 at 1 pm on ESPN2. Last season they missed the playoffs for the first time in 42 years, and now they are looking to redeem themselves.
Johns Hopkins was on a five-game winning streak until last Saturday when they fell to top seeded Loyola (MD). The Virginia Cavaliers were off last weekend and haven’t played a game since April 26 when they defeated ACC rival North Carolina 13-11.
These two are meeting for the 88th time dating back to 1904. The Blue Jays lead the series 57-29-1 and have won 8-of-14 all-time of the NCAA tournament games between the two powerhouse programs. Johns Hopkins and Virginia have met more times in the NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse tournament than any other two teams.
Junior Wells Stanwick, who has scored 57 points, and sophomore Ryan Brown, who has scored 51 points, lead the Blue Jays heading into the tournament. If they hope to upset the Cavaliers, they are going to need all they can get from their underclassmen.
Head coach Dave Pietramala said in the Baltimore Sun today, “The question is, will we shoot the ball well? Will we attack it aggressively? It’s hard to do that [for an opposing defense] when you have a lead. It’s a little more challenging for a team to play a zone and sit back in a zone if you have a lead. Obviously, that will dictate some of what goes on this weekend.”
The Blue Jays also need to focus on improving faceoffs, especially seeing that junior faceoff man Drew Kennedy may be suffering from an injury.
