Blue Jays, Wolverines Meet for 14th Time in Series History
The Game
• Johns Hopkins (6-3, 0-1 B1G) opens a rugged stretch of three road games in four weeks with a trip to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan (5-4, 1-0 B1G). Faceoff is set for 2 pm with a live national television audience on BTN on Saturday, March 29.
When Last We Saw Them
• Johns Hopkins dropped an 11-8 decision at home against Rutgers last Saturday in its Big Ten opener.
• Michigan went on the road and beat then top-ranked Maryland, 11-10, in triple overtime last Saturday in its Big Ten opener.
The Facts
• This is the 138th season of Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse. JHU first fielded a team in 1883.
• Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game with an all-time record of 1,033-378-15 (.730).
• Johns Hopkins is the only men’s lacrosse program in the nation with 1,000 or more all-time victories. The Blue Jays picked up the program’s 1,000th victory with an 11-10 win over Loyola on February 19, 2022.
• JHU owns 44 national championships with nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA crowns to its credit.
Poll Position
• Johns Hopkins is ranked 14th in this week’s USILA Coaches Poll and also checks in at number 14 in the KANE Inside Lacrosse Media Poll.
• Michigan is ranked 19th in both the USILA Coaches Poll and the KANE Inside Lacrosse Media Poll this week.
Poll Notes of Interest
• Including this week’s poll, the USILA has issued 563 polls since the debut poll in 1973. Johns Hopkins has appeared in the top 20 in 540 of those 563 polls and has been ranked in the top 10 in 452 of the 563.
Series History
• Johns Hopkins and Michigan will be meeting for the 14th time this week. The series dates to a 17-8 Johns Hopkins victory in 2013 and the Blue Jays are 11-2 all-time against the Wolverines.
• A complete look at the series history can be found on page 18.
A Familiar Face
• Michigan is coached by Kevin Conry, who graduated from Johns Hopkins in 2004 and was a member of the Blue Jay lacrosse team from 2001-04.
• A long-stick midfielder, Conry helped the Blue Jays to a four-year record of 47-10 with four trips to the NCAA Tournament, three appearances in the NCAA Semifinals (2002, 2003, 2004) and one appearance in the national championship game.
• Conry was a senior on the 2004 Johns Hopkins team that featured a freshman named Jamison Koesterer, who is now in his fifth season as the Blue Jay defensive coordinator.
On This Date
• Since 1958, this week’s game will be the 12th game Johns Hopkins has played on March 29, the first since 2014 and the first against Michigan.
• Johns Hopkins is 9-2 all-time in games played on March 29 with five of the previous 11 games being played against North Carolina.
Streaking – Part I
• Johns Hopkins had a nine-game regular season winning streak snapped with the recent 13-12 loss to North Carolina. The nine-game run was the longest regular-season winning streak for Johns Hopkins since the Blue Jays won 15 straight between 2011-2012.
• Despite recent losses to UNC, Syracuse and Rutgers, the Blue Jays are 11-3 in their last 14 regular season games.
Streaking – Part II
• With the 12-9 win at Navy on March 15, Johns Hopkins is 10-1 in its last 11 true road games.
• JHU had a national-best nine-game road winning streak snapped with the 13-10 loss at Syracuse on March 9.
• The loss was the first for the Blue Jays on the road since a 12-11 double-overtime loss at Penn State on April 8, 2023.
• The nine-game road winning streak was the longest for the Blue Jays since a nine-game run from 1987-89.
• The nine-game run is also tied for the third-longest winning streak in true road games in program history.
Strength of Schedule
• The Blue Jays’ 14 regular season opponents combined to post a 131-80 (.629) record in 2024 with JHU’s eight non-conference opponents rolling up an 86-46 (.652) record.
• Using the this week’s USILA Coaches Poll as a reference point, the Blue Jays will play eight games against teams ranked in the top 20 in the nation. The eight include Maryland (2nd), Ohio State (3rd), North Carolina (5th), Penn State (7th), Syracuse (8th) Georgetown (17th), Michigan (19th), Denver (20th). Two other Blue Jay opponents this season – Virginia, Rutgers – are among the teams receiving votes in this week’s USILA Poll.
• Translation, 10 of Johns Hopkins’ 13 opponents in 2025 appear in this week’s USILA Coaches Poll.
More Strength
• The Blue Jays will play eight games, including three straight to open the season, against teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2024.
• Of the eight games against 2024 NCAA Tournament teams on tap, three are against teams that advanced to the Final Four (Denver, Virginia, Maryland), and two others (Georgetown, Syracuse) are against teams that advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Defensive Notes of Interest
• Through nine games, Johns Hopkins is allowing an average of 10.22 goals per game and has held five of its nine opponents to 10 goals or less.
• Dating back to last season, the Blue Jays have held 15 of their last 18 opponents to 11 goals or less and 12 of those 18 have been held to 10 or less.
• This season, Johns Hopkins has held its nine opponents scoreless for a stretch of 10 minutes or longer 17 times with 12 of those 17 droughts lasting at least 14 minutes.
• Dating back to last season, the Blue Jay defense has held the opposition scoreless for a stretch of 10 minutes or longer 44 times in 24 games.
• In 36 quarters this season, Johns Hopkins has held the opposition to one goal nine times and to two goals 12 times as well. Translation, in 21 of 36 quarters this season (58.3% of quarters played), the Blue Jays have held the opposition to two goals or less.
Offensive Notes of Interest
• Since the start of the 2022 season, the Blue Jays are 28-6 when they score 12 or more goals.
• In 36 quarters this season, the Blue Jays have scored at least two goals in 33 of 36 quarters, three or more goals in 20 of 36 and four or more goals in eight quarters.
• Through nine games, Johns Hopkins has gotten goals from 16 different players, assists from 13 players and points from 17 players.
• Johns Hopkins has had an extended scoring run of +3 goals in every game this season and a run of +4 goals in seven of nine games on the year.
• Five different players have at least one hat trick this season with Hunter Chauvette (4) and Russell Melendez (3) combining for seven hat tricks this thus far.
• Nine different players have recorded at least one multi-goal game this season with Hunter Chauvette (5), Matt Collison (5) and Russell Melendez (3) leading the way.
• Through nine games, six different players have at least 13 points on the year; four of the six have at least one year of remaining eligibility after 2025 and three of the six have at least two years.
• Johns Hopkins had a player score five goals against North Carolina (Russell Melendez) and Virginia (Hunter Chauvette). This marked the first time JHU has had different players score five or more goals in back-to-back games since Cole Williams (Maryland) and Kyle Marr (Georgetown) did it late in the 2018 season.
Don’t Leave Early
• Fans at Johns Hopkins lacrosse games shouldn’t leave early as it’s likely the game will be decided in the final 10 minutes.
• Eight of Johns Hopkins’ nine games to-date have been decided by three goals or less with four, one-goal games and four, three-goal games. Only one Johns Hopkins game this season, an 11-6 win against Georgetown, has been decided by more than three goals.
• Close games are nothing new to the Blue Jays under head coach Peter Milliman. Dating back to the start of the 2023 season (a span of 43 games), the Blue Jays have played 27 games that have been decided by three goals or less, including 14, one-goal games, five games decided by two goals and eight others that have been decided by three goals.
• Since the start of the 2024 season (25 games), 19 Blue Jay games have been decided by three goals or less with 10 decided by one goal, three decided by two goals and six decided by three goals