Midshipmen Look to End Hopkins Jinx

If the 32-game winning streak that Johns Hopkins has against Navy in lacrosse could be encapsulated in one moment, it might be this: Brendan Schneck scored five goals against Johns Hopkins when he was a sophomore at Navy in 1978, which ties him for the most goals a Navy player has scored in the series in 51 years.

A few months later, however, Schneck left the academy -- and transferred to Johns Hopkins.

The Blue Jays (5-4) have used a bit of everything to keep alive their winning streak against the Midshipmen (9-2) entering their meeting today at 3 p.m. at Homewood Field in Baltimore. Navy's last win over Johns Hopkins came in 1974. Since then, it has lost by one goal eight times and by two goals three times.

"We're not going to pull a rabbit out of the hat," Navy Coach Richie Meade said. "We need to play our best game of the year to have a chance. We need to play 60 minutes, which we haven't done since North Carolina," a 19-8 victory on March 2. "The past couple weeks have been tough, but I think our guys will be excited to play. They're not stupid. They know this is a big game."

Navy is coming off a 12-9 victory over Army last Saturday, and in many ways its experience against the Black Knights in recent years has been the opposite of its experience against the Blue Jays. Navy has won 12 in a row over Army and leads the all-time series, 55-26-3.

The Blue Jays lead Navy 53-25-1.

For two Navy players in particular, games against Army and Johns Hopkins offer almost a complete contrast. Senior attackman Ian Dingman had three goals last Saturday and has 12 goals against Army in his career, tied with Mike Hannan (1976-79) for the most by a Midshipman in the rivalry. Senior midfielder Billy Looney had two goals last Saturday and has 11 against Army.

Against the Blue Jays, however, both have struggled. Dingman is 3-for-23 shooting (13 percent); Looney is 3 for 33 (9 percent).

If Navy has an advantage today, it is with faceoffs. Senior William Wallace has won 81 of 115 (70 percent). Meantime, the Blue Jays have won 48 percent against their opponents.

Johns Hopkins received a boost from sophomore Austin Walker, a reserve midfielder, in an 8-7 overtime victory over Maryland last Saturday night. Walker, the son of former New York Jets wide receiver Wesley Walker, had two goals against the Terrapins and ran on the first midfield toward the end of the game.

Among other local teams, Georgetown has a chance to clinch at least a share of the Eastern College Athletic Conference title when it faces Massachusetts today at 1 p.m. in Amherst, Mass. The winner of the game between the Hoyas (8-2, 4-0) and Minutemen (5-5, 3-1) would be the front-runner for the ECAC title, and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

Sophomore starting defenseman Matt Kelly and senior faceoff specialist Adam Fassnacht are expected to play for Virginia (10-2) against Dartmouth (4-6) today at 1 p.m. at Klockner Stadium. Both left a 7-6 overtime loss to Duke last week with minor injuries.

Virginia announced this week that its sports teams will honor the victims of the shootings at Virginia Tech; the Cavaliers will wear a sticker on their helmets with a "VT" logo in the middle of a heart.