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North Carolina vs. Johns Hopkins: Three things to watch

Johns Hopkins moved to the top of many rankings with last Saturday's 11-10 overtime victory over then-No. 1 Virginia. The Blue Jays (8-0) are just one of three undefeated teams and put that unblemished record on the line when they meet No. 10 North Carolina at the Konica Minolta Big City Classic. The Tar Heels (7-3) have lost 24 of the 40 all-time contests with Johns Hopkins, but they are 4-1 in the teams' last five meetings. Here are a few factors that could influence the outcome at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday.

1) Faceoffs. Prior to last Saturday, junior Mike Poppleton had won 65.1 percent (69-of-106) of faceoffs. Then he went 3-of-10 against the Cavaliers, and the Blue Jays turned to freshman Drew Kennedy, who won 57.1 percent (8-of-14) of his draws. Could a repeat of that rotation be in the works against North Carolina sophomore R.G. Keenan (115-of-185 for 62.2 percent)? "How much of a rotation there is will depend on how we're doing," coach Dave Pietramala said. "The other day, we did it kind of out of necessity, and Drew did a great job. It was a game where Mike struggled a little bit. We think we're facing off a kid who is very talented. He can pop it forward, he can pop it behind, he can pop it to the wing, he can go get it himself. … And it's a team that is very good in transition. So they have a weapon there."

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2) Offensive options. The Tar Heels offense is paced by a pair of attackmen in junior Marcus Holman (33 points on 14 goals and 19 assists) and freshman Joey Sankey (26 points on 17 goals and nine assists), but that's not the end of it. Eight additional players have amassed at least 10 points each, and North Carolina's ability to mix and match players on attack and midfield presents Johns Hopkins with a unique dilemma. "We've got to pick our poison and pick the right poisons," Pietramala said. "Carolina's got a bunch of guys that we could say we'll pole that guy or we'll pole that guy or boy, we can't short-stick that guy. They make it challenging."

3) Turnovers. The Tar Heels rank 35th in Division I in turnovers, coughing up the ball an average of 16.2 times per game. But the team committed a combined 20 turnovers in its last two games – wins against Dartmouth and No. 11 Maryland – and that's the squad that Pietramala is expecting. "They're trending downward in that regard," he said. "They're not turning the ball over whereas we felt like we turned the ball over a couple too many times in the game against Virginia. We're going to have to be careful not to turn the ball over too much against them and allow them to get up and down. We were fortunate against Virginia that they didn't capitalize on one or two transition opportunities. But I don't see them being the team that turned the ball over 16 times a game. I see them now trending the other way, as a team that doesn't turn the ball over much at all."

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