According to Johns Hopkins, the Blue Jays own a 70-40-1 advantage in this intra-state rivalry. According to Maryland, the Terps only trail 63-40-1 in this series. Johns Hopkins is 1-4 on the road this spring after losing three straight. Maryland is undefeated in six games at home.
The Blue Jays (6-6 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten) could earn a share of the conference's regular-season title and the top seed in the upcoming tournament with a win -– or drop to the No. 3 seed with a loss. Junior attackman Ryan Brown (Calvert Hall) owns a 28-game streak of at least one goal, which is the longest streak by a Johns Hopkins player since Dylan Schlott's 28-game run spanning the 1998 and 1999 campaigns.
The Terps (12-1, 4-0), who can secure sole possession of the league's regular-season crown and the No. 1 seed with a victory, have won three consecutive one-goal contests for the first time in program history. Sophomore attackman Matt Rambo and junior midfielder Bryan Cole lead the offense with 12 assists each, which are career highs for both players.
Here are a few factors that could play a role in the outcome at Byrd Stadium in College Park on Saturday at 8 p.m.
1) Staying composed. Maryland doesn't put itself into too many precarious situations. The Terps have sent out their man-down defense just 31 times, which is the ninth-fewest times in Division I. But their resolve could get tested by Johns Hopkins, which is tied with Manhattan for the national lead in extra-man opportunities with 66 each. The Blue Jays have converted 43.9 percent of those chances, which is why Maryland coach John Tillman has been placing an emphasis on discipline this past week.
"You're really playing with fire if you foul unnecessarily or are an undisciplined group," he said. "So we're going to have to be smart there."
2) Finding weaknesses. Johns Hopkins leads the Big Ten in scoring at 12.2 goals per game, and they boast a number of offensive options like Brown, senior attackman Wells Stanwick, freshman attackman Shack Stanwick and freshman midfielder Joel Tinney. But the Terps lead the country in fewest goals allowed per game at 5.8 and have surrendered 10 goals to just one opponent this season. Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala said it will take a cooperative effort for the offense to solve Maryland.
"If you think you're going to generate shots for one guy or one guy is going to run the show and he's going to put everybody on his back, that's not the case against this team," he said. "They're well-coached, they'll have a plan, and they'll try to take away some of the things that we do. I think we've got to be able to do some different things and not provide a steady diet of one thing. But in general, you need to attack them with team offense."
3) Starting strong. Maryland has won its last 11 contests, but in back-to-back one-goal decisions over Rutgers and No. 11 Ohio State, the team trailed at halftime. The Terps were down 4-2 against the Scarlet Knights and 6-4 to the Buckeyes. As mentioned above, Johns Hopkins has the kind of offense that can build significant advantages, and Tillman would prefer to avoid another halftime deficit.
"Knowing that the last few games have not started well, that is an area of concern," he said. "We are looking at that and trying to figure out how we can get kick-started a little bit faster. As coaches, we've talked about it and looked at a couple of different things. We've talked to our players about it."