In their first season under a new head coach, and boasting a squad rich with talented freshmen and sophomores, the Johns Hopkins Men's Lacrosse team began last year's season with high expectations. But the 2001 season did not begin the way that many had hoped. The Blue Jays got off to a rough start with an 8-4 loss to Princeton in what was Pietramala's first game as Head Coach. Hopkins fell behind 4-0 in the game and the Blue Jays were never able to close the gap, despite out-shooting Princeton 13-1 in the fourth quarter and winning the ground ball war in the game 34-25.
Hopkins had its home opener just a few days later against No. 16 Hofstra and barely escaped an upset with a 7-6 win. In a game that saw five lead changes and five ties, the Jays rallied back from a 2-0 deficit early in the game to score two goals in the final 3:25 to win. First, freshman attackman Joe McDermott assisted sophomore attackman Bobby Benson with a goal to tie the game at 6-6. Then, with 1:42 remaining in the game, McDermott fed sophomore attackman Adam Doneger for the winning goal. In the game, the Jays collected their first victory under coach Pietramala and improved their record to 1-1.
In triumphant fashion, in a game that would be remembered as one of several pinnacles of the Blue Jays' season, Hopkins traveled to upstate New York and upset the No. 1 Syracuse Orangemen 11-10. Senior midfielder Eric Wedin, who would go on to win 2nd team All-American honors at the end of the season, scored a game-high five goals and also provided one assist to propel the Jays to victory. The Blue Jays managed to end Syracuse's 11-game winning streak and win their second in a row thanks in part to Wedin's goal scoring and the superb performance of the Hopkins defensive team, which allowed only 10 goals on 54 shot attempts by the No. 1 team in the country. In an ironic twist, the Orangemen lost for the second time in 20 games and both losses were at the hands of Head Coach David Pietramala, who defeated Syracuse in 2000 when he coached Cornell.
But the Blue Jays win streak would not reach a third game. Following their upset of Syracuse, Hopkins was defeated in heartbreaking fashion as the Jays fell to the University of Virginia in quadruple overtime by a score of 9-8. The Jays squandered a second quarter 5-1 lead and they ultimately lost 1:15 into the fourth overtime to drop their record to 2-2.
The upset by Virginia seemed to awaken No. 5 Hopkins and they went on to win their next three games. They began their winning streak by easily defeating the No. 14 University of North Carolina by a score of 12-4. The win marked Hopkins' seventh straight victory against UNC in as many meetings. Next, they Jays battled Villanova and fell behind early, but rallied to a 9-5 advantage en route to an easy 11-7 win. The Jays increased their winning streak in the month of April to a remarkable 25 games, lengthening a stretch spanning over several seasons.
In the following game, the Blue Jays won their third in a row, by defeating Ohio State to improve to 5-2 on the season. Among the highlights was a 13-0 scoring run by the Jays in the second and third quarters that led to the final score drubbing of 17-7.
After the win, the Jays received some good news as they climbed to No. 2 in the national rankings heading into a match up with the University of Maryland, a perennial powerhouse.
Against Maryland, however, Hopkins faltered in the fourth quarter as they lost 10-9 and ended their three game winning streak. Not to be deterred, and preparing to face the No. 13 ranked Naval Academy for their homecoming game, the Blue Jays set their sights avenging their loss from the game prior. The Jays succeeded with their 13-11 victory over the Midshipmen, and in doing so, they improved their record to 6-3. The win did not come easily for the Jays who fell behind 3-0 early in the game. But they Jays quickly recovered and took the lead 7-6 with just under 2 minutes remaining in the first half. Navy later tied the game at 8-8, but that was as close as they would get, and the Jays soon pulled ahead for the victory.
The following week, battling the No. 10 Towson Tigers, Hopkins almost let a big lead slip away but instead held off the Tigers' charge to win by a score of 14-13. Leading 10-5 at halftime, the Blue Jays appeared poised to put the game away and send Towson home with a loss. But a complacent second-half nearly turned the Jays' regular season-ending game into a disaster. In the end, Hopkins managed to control the ball with a minute remaining and a one-shot lead to nail down not only the victory, but also the team's 30th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tournament, earning the No. 4 seed which ensured them a bye in the tournament for the 5th straight season.
When they finally did play, the Jays were pitted against No. 7 Loyola. Despite the tough competition, the Jays were able to rally behind the talent of their freshman and sophomores, who accounted for 11 of the team's 13 goals in their 13-10 victory.
Advancing to the next round, Hopkins met its match against No. 5 Notre Dame in the NCAA quarterfinals game played at Byrd Stadium in College Park, Maryland. The fifth-seeded Fighting Irish were able to pull out the upset of the forth-seeded Blue Jays with a 5-1 run to break an 8-8 tie.
The game ended Coach Pietramala's first season earlier than the team had hoped, but also capped an excellent season for the Jays. In addition to defeating the No. 1 team in the country during the year, and earning the school's 30th straight NCAA appearance, the Jays also battled through the toughest schedule in the nation according to LaxPower.com and Face-Off 2001 Lacrosse Yearbook. With such accomplishments and after relying heavily on freshman and sophomore players during the year, many have high hopes for this 2002 season. For now, the pre-season nationally-ranked No. 3 Blue Jays will do their best to live up to expectations this season.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.