They knew it was going to be a challenging season from the start. The Johns Hopkins Lacrosse team was aware that their squad faced the most difficult schedule in the nation, with games against all the teams that were to reach the Final Four. This was nothing new, as 15 of their last 25 games had come against top ten ranked opponents. All in all, Men's Lax finished the season with an 8-4 record and a 13-9 loss to fifth seeded Notre Dame in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
New head coach Dave Pietramala had a solid year to add to his previous coaching success at Cornell from 1998-2000. Pietramala is a 1990 Hopkins graduate, and during his four years as a player was a college standout. He is the only college lacrosse player to ever earn both the NCAA Division I National Player-of-the-Year honors (1989) and NCAA Division I National Coach-of-the-Year honors (2000).
The 2000-2001 season was marked by several close games that resulted in both wins and losses. JHU opened the season with a 4-8 homecoming loss to rival Princeton. They followed that with an exciting 7-6 win over Hofstra. The biggest win of the year came with their next one goal victory over number one ranked Syracuse. This triumph was followed by a disappointing loss to ninth ranked Virginia, which went through four overtimes. The team rattled off three straight victories over North Carolina, Villanova, and Ohio State, respectively.
These victories kept going their peculiar win streak and general dominance in the month of April. Going into their next game versus Maryland, the team had a 26 game win streak during the month of April, dating back to 1996. The Blue Jays lost to Maryland 9-10, breaking the win streak. Still, Hopkins is a remarkable 28-1 in the month of April since 1997, during which they have defeated 16 nationally ranked teams.
This was a year in which several JHU freshman and sophomores stepped up into major roles for the team. Underclassmen accounted for 139 of Hopkins' 206 total points on the year. Sophomore attackman Bobby Benson led JHU in goals (28), assists (14), and points (42) and will be the only returning player next season who has earned All-America honors as he garnered honorable mention status this season.
The reliable Benson has scored at least one goal in 23 of the 25 games he has played as a Blue Jay thus far. Finishing second on the team in assists and points and third in goals was sophomore attackman Adam Doneger. Doneger caught fire in the second half, scoring 14 goals and dishing eight assists in the last seven games.
Sophomore goalie Rob Scherr developed into a solid goalie, starting off strong from the very beginning of the year in the first game against Princeton, where he notched 12 saves in less than five minutes. Freshman attackman Joe McDermott rebounded from an early season injury to come up big for JHU in their 13-10 win over Loyola. Sophomore midfielder Tim Muir played in his first game against top ranked Syracuse after sitting out the first two games with a broken hand. His two goals and an assist were key in the Blue Jay's upset of the top ranked Orangemen. Muir was solid for the rest of the season, making several key plays along the way.
Freshman attackman Conor Ford made his presence felt last season with his pinpoint shooting accuracy and penchant for offensive barrages. His 0.667 shooting percentage was by far the highest on the team, and was helped by a five goals on five shots performance against Navy earlier in the year. He finished second on the team in goals and third in points. He became the first Johns Hopkins player to tally four or more goals in three straight games since Dan Denihan two years back.
Even with the emergence of this young talent, JHU is going to miss its graduating seniors. The trio of senior defensemen co-captains Shawn Nadelen, Brandon Testa and Brendon Shook anchored a strong JHU defense last season that allowed only 108 goals, the fewest total since 1989.
Senior midfielder Eric Wedin had an outstanding season, and was likely in the running for National Player of the Year. He did earn Second Team All-America honors. He took 94 percent of takeoffs, winning an enviable .567 of them.
The Blue Jay's season did not end as it was envisioned, considering the strong talent on the team. JHU received a bye for the first round of the playoffs, starting off in the quarterfinals versus Notre Dame. Hopkins, ranked No. 4 in the nation, lost to fifth-seeded Notre Dame, 9-13. The Fighting Irish exploded for five goals in the fourth quarter to put away a stagnant JHU squad.
The game was played in spurts with the lead going back and forth. JHU jumped to an early 3-1 lead until Notre Dame responded with a four consecutive goal outburst to gain a 7-5 lead going into the half.
The Blue Jays scored three of the next four goal to tie the game at eight on Bobby Benson's second goal of the game with 1:27 remaining in the third quarter. The Fighting Irish went on to outscore the Blue Jays 5-1 and seal the deal to advance on to the next round, where they lost to Syracuse.
Princeton defeated Syracuse in the championship, by a score of 10-9
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