Baltimore, Md. -- Johns Hopkins (4-4) takes the short four-mile trip down Martin Luther King Boulevard to M&T Bank Stadium to take on Maryland (6-4) in the second game of the Smartlink Day of Rivals. The annual Army-Navy game will lead off the event at 11:30 am, with the Hopkins-Maryland game to follow.

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins snapped a three-game losing streak with a 14-9 victory over Albany last Saturday at Homewood Field. Maryland dropped its second straight game last Friday night as the Terrapins lost at Navy, 10-4.

These Are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week's game against Maryland with an all-time record of 886-282-15 (.755). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships. With the win over Albany, the Blue Jays' all-time record is now 886-282-15 (.755) ... that's 604 games over .500. To put this in perspective: JHU has played an average of just over 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.

Home Away From Home: This week's game against Maryland will be the ninth Johns Hopkins has played at M&T Bank Stadium. The Blue Jays are 5-3 all-time at the home of the NFL's Baltimore Ravens. JHU won all three of its games at M&T in 2007, including a 7-6 double-overtime win against Princeon in the Face-Off Classic and a 12-11 win against Duke in the NCAA Championship game. The Blue Jays added a 14-9 win over Princeton in the Face-Off Classic last season, before falling to Princeton, 14-8, in the Face-off Classic earlier this season.

April Reign: Flipping the calendar to April has usually been a good sign for the Blue Jays, who won four-of-five games in April last season to jump-start their run to the national championship game. The Blue Jays are 37-4 (.902) under head coach Dave Pietramala in games played in April. JHU is 21-2 at home in April under Pietramala's guidance and 16-2 on the road.

A Brutal Stretch: This week's game against 12th-ranked Maryland is the eighth straight for the Blue Jays against teams currently ranked in the top 20 in the nation. Using this week's USILA Coaches Poll as a reference, the Blue Jays played second-ranked Princeton, seventh-ranked UMBC, fifth-ranked Hofstra, sixth-ranked Syracuse, top-ranked Virginia, 10th-ranked North Carolina and 18th-ranked Albany in their last seven games. All seven of those teams were ranked in the top 18 in the nation at the time of the game.

After this week's game against Maryland, the Blue Jays will take on Navy (currently ranked 13th) next week at Homewood Field. How difficult is the Blue Jays' schedule? Consider ...

• The cumulative record of JHU's first eight opponents is currently 65-18 (.783).

• The last seven teams Johns Hopkins has played (Princeton, UMBC, Hofstra, Syracuse, Virginia, North Carolina, Albany) currently have a combined record of 60-13 (.822).

• This week's game against Maryland will be JHU's eighth straight against a team ranked in the top 18 at the time of the game (all are still ranked in the top 18 as well). According to research conducted by the Johns Hopkins Sports Information Office, no other team in the country has played more than four consecutive games against teams in the top 20.

• While it's hard to guage how the remainder of the season will play out, it's not out of the question that 12 of JHU's 13 games this season will be against teams ranked in the top 20 at the time of the game.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7    Next  »

2009-04-09