Men's Lax defends its No. 1 preseason rank - Jays string together back-to-back 9-6 victories to kickoff 2005 lacrosse season

Nine is our lucky number.

In both the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse season opener against Princeton this past Saturday and the first home game against UMBC Tuesday night, the Blue Jays defeated their respective opponents by a score of 9-6.

With any luck, that number will once again become significant in May, when senior midfielder and co-captain Matt Rewkowski, who wears No. 9, plans to be return to the rotation after recovering from an ACL tear he suffered in fall practice.

For now, Hopkins has a record of 2-0 and continues to sit in the No. 1 spot in the national polls.

The meeting between the Hopkins and UMBC was the first in 20 years between these two Maryland schools. With the home victory, Hopkins has now won 28 straight at home, and the school record of 31 is just three wins away.

"Both teams were very motivated Tuesday night and both played very well," said senior defenseman and co-captain Chris Watson. "We knew beforehand that it would be hard for either team to pull away. And it was a close game throughout. The goalie [Kevin Cepelak] played very well for UMBC."

Junior midfielder Greg Peyser scored a career-high four goals while senior midfielder and co-captain Kyle Harrison added two goals and two assists. Freshman attackman Kevin Huntley -- who became the first-ever junior to win the High School player of the year award in Maryland two years ago -- opened up the scoring off an assist from sophomore attackman Jake Byrne just over two minutes into the game.

Huntley's first collegiate goal came on the Jays' first man-up opportunity. UMBC answered that goal in two and a half minutes with a goal of its own before Peyser scored the first of his four goals off an assist from Harrison. Byrne scored a goal of his own to give the Jays a one-goal edge, 3-2.

In the second quarter Harrison and senior attackman Peter LeSueur both scored unassisted goals to bring Hopkins to a three-goal lead. But in the second half UMBC picked up its game, led by Brendan Mundorf who scored three goals. He brought the team to within one goal of Hopkins with 8:40 remaining in the game before Harrison and Peyser each scored a goal in the waning moments of the 9-6 win.

"It was good for us to be in that kind of close situation," said Watson. "In those cases the defense tries to stop the ball and lets our offense do their job. We've been in that type of situation many times before and this time it worked out well for us as a team."

Saturday's opener was held at Princeton University in New Jersey in front of a record breaking crowd of 6,325, which was noticeably filled with more Hopkins blue than Princeton orange. The Blue Jays won their fourth straight season opener under Head Coach Dave Pietramala.

"We were excited as a team for our season opener against well-respected Princeton and we knew it would be a good match-up," said Watson. "Princeton has both a good offense, led by Jason Doneger, and a balanced defense. We needed all seven of our guys [midfield and defense] to step up in order to play well against such a strong team."

Byrne erased any doubts that the Hopkins attack isn't as strong as it was last year with the loss of second team All-American Conor Ford. The underclassman scored a career-high three goals and added one assist. Byrne scored twice for the Jays in the first quarter, netting the second score of the season off an assist from Harrison.

"It was a great feeling to score those goals," said Byrne. "Anytime you can help your team in any way is a good feeling. Those goals were a product of our team play. Kyle did a great job of drawing the attention of the defense, which gave me time and space to get a couple of solid shots off."

Harrison scored the first goal for the Blue Jays in the 2005 season just 39 seconds into the game. His goal was unassisted. Byrne scored again with just 0.5 seconds left in the quarter to give Hopkins a 4-0 cushion. Senior attackman Kyle Barrie assisted on Byrne's buzzer beater.

Freshman midfielder Stephen Peyser also scored in the quarter off a pinpoint pass from Bryne.

"Moving back to attack this year is great because it is my natural position -- the position I've been playing for as long as I can remember," said Byrne. "We have a very solid attack. Kyle Barrie has the best hands I have even seen. [Senior attackman] Pete LeSueur is a very skilled attackman but it's his leadership and tenacity that are key to our team's success. We still have a lot of work to do as a group but I think we are taking the right steps."

Hopkins increased its lead to 5-0 midway through the second quarter with a score from freshman Paul Rabil. Byrne then scored his third and final goal, once again off an assist from Harrison, with 7:35 remaining in the half. Princeton finally got on the board 43 seconds after Bryne's third goal when Scott Sowanick broke the Tigers' scoring drought. Sowanick was the story of the game for Princeton, as the sophomore led the team with four goals, three of which were unassisted.

Doneger, Princeton's star attackman, only scored one goal.

"As a team, we were at Doneger from every direction," said Watson, who was responsible for covering Doneger. "It takes seven guys to limit the opportunities of a very talented player like that. We tried to limit Sowanick's ability to feed Doneger, and [senior defenseman] Tom Garvey did a great job of that."

Barrie and sophomore Jamison Koesterer also scored for Hopkins in the third quarter. Hopkins failed to convert any scoring opportunities in the final quarter, while Princeton managed to score half of its total goals, two of which were man-up, in the fourth quarter.

"The 6-0 run in the beginning of the game helped me a lot as a "new' goalie," said sophomore starter Jesse Schwartzman. "It took some of the pressure off the defense, including myself. The defense didn't get rattled, we stayed calm and showed good composure in a tight game."

"Our defense is looking great. Matt Pinto, Tom Garvey, and Chris Watson are all playing great strong right now, along with the short sticks, Matt Field and Benson Erwin," Schwartzman said. "We continue to work hard and improve every day."

Next, Hopkins will take on the Hofstra Pride this Saturday at 1 p.m. at home.