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Johns Hopkins senior midfielder Paul Rabil and the Blue Jays try to avenge an early season loss to Hofstra when the teams meet on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 at Homewood Field.
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Johns Hopkins and Hofstra would like to see history repeat itself on Sunday, but for vastly different reasons.
Johns Hopkins ended the regular season last year on a five-game winning streak en route to winning the NCAA national title.
Hofstra would like to defeat Hopkins for a second time this season after upsetting the then-top-ranked Blue Jays, 8-7, in overtime on March 8.
The Pride, which won the Colonial Athletic Association title, will get that chance when it visits Homewood Field on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in front of a national television audience on ESPNU.
“I have to do a lot of things to help get this team ready to play in the postseason,” Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said. “But reminding them they lost to Hofstra is not one of them.”
Johns Hopkins (8-5) enters the postseason as the fifth seed, marking the 12th straight year it has earned a top-5 seed and its 37th straight tournament appearance overall.
Pietramala said he is proud of that accomplishment, but understands it did not come without dealing with a lot of adversity. The Blue Jays suffered through a team-worst five-game losing streak this season, which included three losses in overtime. Hofstra is 3-1 in games that goes beyond regulation.
“We have been playing with a sense of urgency for the last five games and we have to keep doing that,” Pietramala said. “We understand it’s a privilege to be one of 16 teams still playing, but we also can’t ever get a sense of entitlement. Hofstra has fared well in one-goal games, and they come in knowing they can beat us.”
Hofstra (10-5) enters the tournament on a four-game winning streak, including a 10-9 overtime win at Drexel to win the CAA title. Junior midfielder Anthony Muscarella leads the Pride offense with a team-high 28 goals and 42 points on the year, with freshman attacker Jay Card (27 goals, 13 assists) and senior midfielder Mike Unterstein (18 goals, 13 assists) also playing integral roles. Card scored the game-winner against Hopkins during the regular season.
Johns Hopkins senior attacker Kevin Huntley said the team still remembers the loss to Hofstra vividly, and knows a similar effort against the Pride could lead to an early exit from the playoffs.
“We can’t play like that again and expect to win,” said Huntley, a former Calvert Hall standout who has 26 goals and eight assists. “The reason we all come to Hopkins is to go deep into the playoffs. When we lost five straight, we all wondered how the rest of the season would unfold. Now that we’re in the postseason, we realize we can’t look past Hofstra.”
UP NEXT
Faceoff: Sunday, 2:30 p.m
Where: Homewood Field
TV/Radio: ESPNU/1300 AM
Tickets: Available
rsnyder@baltimoreexaminer.com
Comments from Examiner Readers
5:25 AM MST on Mon., May. 26, 2008 re: "Jays look to deliver Orange crush"
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1:10 AM MST on Tue., May. 13, 2008
re: "Terrapins looking to stuff Owls"
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Examiner Reader said:
You'd think that the Examiner and the Baltimore Sun could at least do an article on the most successful Division 111 lacrosse program in the nation after Salisbury won their 8th National Championship! Jim Berkman is only the coach with the most wins in NCAA history at any divisional level.
12 agree | 11 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Berkley Summerlin (leader of the Temple team that the Terps were to stuff) is a native of Baltimore. Perhaps an article about her would be interesting! Maybe better than articles about a 25 yr old Canadian playing lax at Md.
9 agree | 8 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
What's the update???
12 agree | 10 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
jesse you rock
104 agree | 68 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Good Luck to Cindy. Her players are lucky to have her. She is a classic. She was sorely missed this year by a lot of Maryland people. I only wish her the best.
166 agree | 174 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Next time do some research and get the atttendance numbers right! Monday's NCAA Men's Division I thriller between Johns Hopkins and Duke set a new attendance record for the championship game, with 48,443 fans enjoying the action at M&T Bank Stadium. That breaks the mark of 47,062 set last year at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. This year is the fourth year in row in which single-session attendance for the title game exceeded 40,000. The 2007 men's championships -- the Division I semifinals and finals plus the Division II and Division III finals -- also set a record, with 123,225 in attendance. That tops the 120,614 who watched the tournament in Philadelphia in 2006.
464 agree | 181 disagree
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Examiner Reader said:
Zimmerman is a class act. Best of luck to him and UMBC Lacrosse! Signed: An Air Force Academy Lacrosse Fan.
264 agree | 215 disagree
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Stephen Meister said:
Last year the Baltimore group derided the NCAA selection committees "Ivy League" selections. This year, the Baltimore crowd showed they didn't belong in the mix. Cornell had to stall the last 3 minutes at Brown, escaping with a victory and feeling badly beaten up. When Cornell met Towson the competition from the Baltimore boys was a joke. Albany took a beating from Binghamton, then Albany showed Loyolla to be a laughing stock. UMBC had to take Brown into overtime, but they hammered Maryland in the playoffs. Parity is here, baby, and the MLL is spreading the word. Baltimore better be wary, they may go the way of Tower Records as the rest of the country discovers this fabulous game.
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Examiner Reader said:
Josh Portis is a student of the game. Ralph has him throwing to 2 team most of the time. Steffy has 1st team which help his percentages. I say give Portis more reps with 1st team and watch his percentage sky rocket. He is a great passer as well as a serious threat with his feet. (playmaker)
275 agree | 273 disagree
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