Much ado has already been made about Saturday's showdown between No. 20 Johns Hopkins (6-7) and No. 12 Loyola (9-3) at Ridley Athletic Complex at 12 p.m. The winner is probably in the NCAA Tournament, while the loser could be watching the tournament at home.
1. One key to a Johns Hopkins win: The Blue Jays finally held onto a lead, dispatching Towson, 13-6, on April 28, which was the team's most recent game. Johns Hopkins had nursed sizable advantages against both Maryland and Navy, but eventually surrendered those leads and suffered losses. The Blue Jays could do themselves a favor by jumping on the Greyhounds early, but coach Dave Pietramala said he's looking for a total effort. "It's certainly easier and beneficial to play with a lead," he said. "But this is a game where you have to grind it out for 60 minutes. It has always been a 60-minute game, a game where each possession is important."
2. One key to a Loyola win: Prior to last Sunday's 12-4 loss to No. 11 Denver, the strength of the Greyhounds has been its defense with senior defensemen Steve Layne and Kyle Cottrell and junior defenseman Steve Dircks disrupting passing lanes and blocking shooting lanes for junior goalkeeper Jake Hagelin. The unit will be tested by Johns Hopkins' offense of senior attackman Steven Boyle, senior midfielder Michael Kimmel and junior attackman Kyle Wharton. "We always talk about stopping the knowns and trying to be prepared whether we press out or defend them," Loyola coach Charley Toomey said. "You have to stop the knowns and certainly Kimmel and Wharton and Boyle are Hopkins' knowns. So whatever the game plan is, you have to have a game plan for those three."
3. One key match-up: In last year's regular-season finale, Johns Hopkins escaped with an 11-10 victory in double overtime, in part, because of the defense's ability to handcuff Greyhounds attackmen Cooper MacDonnell and Collin Finnerty. Sam DeVore surrendered just one goal to Finnerty, and Matt Drenan limited MacDonnell to one assist. Loyola must get more production from its two best attackmen, who will likely get a rematch with DeVore and Drenan.