No. 15 Johns Hopkins' 10-9 loss to No. 5 Maryland at the Smartlink Day of Rivals event at M&T Bank Stadium Saturday night begs the question: where does this leave the Blue Jays (5-6) in terms of making their 39th consecutive appearance in the NCAA Tournament?
Johns Hopkins hasn’t absorbed six losses in the regular season since 1971 when that squad went 3-7. That was also the last time the school did not play in the NCAA Tournament.
With just three games left on the schedule before Selection Sunday on May 9, it would seem that the Blue Jays must win all three, which would entail beating Navy next Saturday, Towson on April 28 and No. 7 Loyola on May 8.
A defiant Dave Pietramala vowed that this team would aim at making the postseason.
"We’re going to make a run at this," the head coach said. "There are no ifs, ands or buts. We’re going to do everything we can to make a run at this. This isn’t over yet."
Senior midfielder Michael Kimmel echoed Pietramala’s feelings.
"Obviously, we’re not happy with the loss," the Towson native and Loyola graduate said. "But like Coach said, this thing’s not over yet. We’ve played the toughest schedule in the country and we obviously have to win out now, but we just have to learn from our mistakes. … Obviously, everyone’s down right now, but I’m a captain, and [attackman] Steve [Boyle] is a senior leader, and we’ve got to have our heads up and tell the guys that this thing isn’t over yet."
Other notes:
*Senior Will Yeatman returned to action for the first time since breaking his left thumb during practice on April 5. Yeatman practiced on Thursday, but was considered questionable for Saturday. He finished with one goal on one shot, one assist, one groundball and two turnovers. "Will is a great player," junior attackman Travis Reed said. "One thing Will does is, he causes a huge match-up problem. He makes their bigger, stronger defenseman have to guard him. … When Will gets in there, all the teams are so fast to slide to him that we get people moving off-ball all the time." Added coach Dave Cottle: "I think Will looked a little rusty at times. One goal that Trav gets is because Will is getting poled and Trav gets a shortie, and we run a big-little. His presence accounts sometimes for more than his statistics. The kid wanted to come back. He missed this game last year, and if you listen to him in the locker room, he's glad he came back."
*Maryland freshman long-stick midfielder Jesse Bernhardt's second goal of his young career in the fourth quarter of Saturday's contest may have offset the three penalties he was assessed during the game. "Jesse went from the outhouse to the penthouse on that play," coach Dave Cottle said with a smile. "I think he picked up two or three fouls in the game, but Jesse scored the go-ahead goal against Georgetown, and the kid is fearless. He picks the ball off the ground and just keeps running."
*Johns Hopkins sports information director Ernie Larossa said 10 of the team's 27 players were freshmen, and seven of those 10 freshmen played in the first nine minutes of the game.