June 26, 2008

Season-Ending Notebook in PDF Format

The Team: Johns Hopkins ended the regular season ranked fourth in the nation, earned the number five seed in the 2008 NCAA Tournament and made a stunning run to the national championship game before falling to Syracuse, 13-10, in the title game. The Blue Jays finished the season with an 11-6 record and won eight straight before the loss to the Orange in the championship game.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins concluded the 2008 season with an all-time record of 882-278-15 (.757). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

That's 604 Games Over .500: With the 11-6 record, the Blue Jays' all-time record is now 882-278-15 (.757) ... that's 604 games over .500. To put this in perspective: JHU has played an average of just under 15 games per season under head coach Dave Pietramala. Using a 15-game season as a reference, if the Blue Jays posted a 5-10 record for 120 straight seasons, they would still be four games over .500.

125th Anniversary: The 2008 season marked the 125th anniversary of the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse program. The Blue Jays wore commemorative patches on their uniforms for the 125th anniversary of the program (it was NOT the 125th season).

Title-Game Appearances: Johns Hopkins made its record 18th appearance in the national championship game this season. The Blue Jays are now 9-9 in title games since making their first trip to the finals under Hall of Fame coach Bob Scott in 1972.

More Title Games: The trip to the title game this season was JHU's second straight, third in the last four years and fourth in the last six years.

A Regular at the Final Four: The Blue Jays advanced to the final four for the sixth time in eight seasons under head coach Dave Pietramala. JHU's six appearances in the final four since 2002 are the most of any team in the nation. Johns Hopkins has advanced to the semifinals 28 times in 37 appearances in the tournament (since 1972). To put that in persepective, only three other teams (Virginia, Maryland and Syracuse) have even qualified for the tournament 28 times.

Johns Hopkins Earns 37th Straight NCAA Bid: Johns Hopkins earned its record 37th straight bid to the NCAA Tournament this season. The 37 consecutive appearances is the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in any NCAA Division I Team sport (the University of Miami baseball team earned its 36th straight bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball tournament in 2008). The Blue Jays missed the inaugural NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament in 1971, but have qualified for every tournament since. A list of the longest active streaks of qualifying for the men's lacrosse tournament can be found to the right. In addition, a list of the longest active streaks of qualifying for each Division I team sport can also be found here.

Blue Jays Earn Number Five Seed: Johns Hopkins earned a number five seed in the 2008 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament. This is the 12th consecutive year the Blue Jays have been seeded in the top five. To put this in perspective, no other team in the nation has even qualified for the NCAA Tournament for 12 straight years. In fact, JHU's streak of 12 straight top-five seeds is twice as long as any other team's streak of qualifying for the tournament at all (Maryland - 6 straight bids).

Poll Position: Johns Hopkins concluded the season ranked fourth in the USILA Coaches Poll (final regular season poll - no poll conducted after NCAA Tournament) and second in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll (poll conducted after NCAA Tournament). To clarify, the Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office uses the USILA Coaches Poll to reflect JHU's official ranking. Thus JHU's official final ranking for the 2008 season is fourth.

Playing to the Crowd: Despite the loss to Syracuse in the national championship game, the Blue Jays have enjoyed a great deal of success in recent years when playing in front of crowds of 10,000 or more. In fact, since the beginning of the 2005 season, Johns Hopkins fashions a remarkable 11-1 record in front of five-figure crowds with the only loss coming to SU in this year's title game. Amazingly, JHU has won more games in front of 10,000 or more fans since the start of the 2005 season than any other team in the nation has even played in front of 10,000 or more.

May Day: Johns Hopkins has posted a 36-4 (.900) record in the month of April under head coach Dave Pietramala and that success has carried over into the month of May. JHU is 27-6 (.818) in the month of May under Pietramala, including a perfect 13-0 at Homewood Field. Overall the Blue Jays have won 21 consecutive games at Homewood Field in the month of May. JHU's last loss at home in May came on May 2, 1992, when Towson dropped the Blue Jays, 14-13, in overtime.

Prepping For May: Head coach Dave Pietramala and the Blue Jays continue to play one of the most difficult schedules in the nation, a fact that was further solidified with the announcement of the 2008 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse bracket. Johns Hopkins played nine of its 13 regular season games against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament and the cumulative regular season record of JHU's 13 opponents was 117-70 (.626).
The nine games against NCAA Tournament teams were the second most in the nation. Only North Carolina (10) played more games against teams that qualified for the NCAAs. A complete breakdown of the number of games each team in the tournament played against teams that qualifed for the tournament can be found on the next page.

State Rivalries: Without question the Blue Jays play one of the most difficult schedules in the nation and a big part of the schedule are the in-state rivalries the Blue Jays have. JHU won all seven of its games this season against in-state rivals (UMBC, Maryland, Navy-twice, Towson, Mount St. Mary's, Loyola) and the Blue Jays are 39-2 (.951) against teams from Maryland under head coach Dave Pietramala.

Extra-Man Unit Among Nation's Best: Johns Hopkins converted on 17-of-41 (.415) extra man chances this season and finished the year ranked eighth in the nation in extra man offense. This is the third straight year and the sixth time in the last seven years the Blue Jays have finished in the top 10 in the nation. Senior Paul Rabil led the team with six extra-man goals, while freshman Kyle Wharton (3), seniors Michael Doneger (3) and Kevin Huntley (2) and sophomore Steven Boyle (2) also cashed in on these chanes.

One-Goal Turnarounds: With a 10-9 win over Duke in the NCAA Semifinals, Johns Hopkins is now 31-9 in one-goal games since Dave Pietramala took over in 2001. The Blue Jays have won 18 of their last 23 and 22 of their last 28 one-goal games. In the five seasons prior to Pietramala arriving (1996-2000) the Blue Jays were 5-8 in one-goal games.

More One-Goal Notes: The Blue Jays have come from behind to win 15 times during their last 18 one-goal wins. In 10 of those 15 come-from-behind one-goal wins the Blue Jays came back from a deficit of two goals or more. The latest of these come-from-behind one-goal wins came against Duke in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, when the Blue Jays erased a 2-1 second-quarter deficit.

Additional Information and Player Notes of Interest Included in PDF Version Above

© 2008 CBS Interactive. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | About Us | Advertise | Feedback | XML RSS Feeds