While the same three attackmen have started all three games for Johns Hopkins, the first midfield has had different makeups.
In victories over UMBC on Feb. 7 and Villanova on Saturday, the starting midfield was composed of junior Connor Reed and freshmen Joel Tinney and Shack Stanwick. In the No. 9 Blue Jays' loss at Towson on Feb. 10, the first line included Reed, Tinney and junior Holden Cattoni.
Coach Dave Pietramala said the coaching staff is continuing to assess the starting midfield.
"We're always evaluating," he said Wednesday. "The nice thing is, you want to put your best six guys out there depending on how we're being defended and depending on what we're running. It may depend on what three guys are out there. If we're seeing zone, it may be a certain three. If we're seeing man and we're in an offense where we're playing above the goal, it may be three middies. If we're seeing man and we're playing below the goal or a big-little, then it may be one of the attackmen. …
"The nice thing is, there's a little bit of versatility there. If you want to do that and the team is defending you a certain way and having success, you want to be able to continue to do that. If a team's defending you a certain way and what you're doing isn't working and you don't have any versatility, then you're stuck doing the same thing. We want to have that versatility offensively and be able to do multiple things, and so it's been great to have those four guys."
Although Cattoni did not start in the 13-10 win against Villanova, he did score two goals and his nine shots were second only to junior attackman Ryan Brown's 10 attempts. It was an encouraging sign for a player who ranked third on the team last spring in goals (29) and fourth in points (35) but has been plagued by illness and injury in the offseason.
"Holden played with that first group," Pietramala said. "He didn't start there, but Holden's missed a lot of lacrosse because of sickness and his injury. He missed a good portion of the preseason because of it. So we felt like it was in our best interest to ease him back into it a little bit more. He's back full time practicing. If you watched the game, it was a four-man group. There were times when the fourth attackman was in there, there were times when Holden was in there."