Johns Hopkins vs. Hofstra
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Who's Blogging  |
When: Tomorrow, 2:30 p.m.
Where: Homewood Field, Baltimore
Records: Blue Jays 8-5; Pride 10-5
TV: ESPNU
Outlook: The babysitter did not notice that anything was wrong after Michael Gvozden, then an infant, fell headfirst off a table and onto a linoleum floor. His mother, an intensive care nurse, knew better: Her son had fractured his skull.
"That's the only reason we can think of that made him want to stand in front of 100-mile per hour shots," Cathy Gvozden said.
Gvozden, a sophomore and starting goalkeeper for Johns Hopkins, did not come across lacrosse naturally. His father, a pediatrician, is from Brazil. His mother grew up in Towson, Md., and is the daughter of the late Stu Kerr, a television personality who invented "Bozo the Clown" and was a weatherman for WJLA. As an 8-year-old, Michael Gvozden told his parents that he wanted to play at Johns Hopkins after he became enamored of the playing style of Brian Carcaterra.
A few weeks before his freshman season last year, Gvozden and his parents attended a team function. The guest speaker was Carcaterra.
"As soon as he heard the name, he sat straight up, turned around and looked at us and smiled," Cathy Gvozden said. "We took it as a good sign."
But it has not always been smooth sailing. Gvozden was the starting goalie when the Blue Jays had a five-game losing streak, the longest in-season streak in program history. The morning of a game against Maryland on April 12, Gvozden wrote a one-page e-mail to his mother.
"I wrote about who I play the game for and why I play," Gvozden said. "I said: 'Since I was 8 years old, I have wanted to be where I am now. It's not who thinks I'm good or not good. I play for the people on the other side, who have always been there.' "
The letter may have been cathartic. The Blue Jays have won five consecutive games. That streak started with a 10-4 victory over the Terrapins.
The Maryland game also marked the first time that Ryan Major served as the team's honorary captain. Major lost both of his legs to an improvised explosive device in Iraq. He is close friends with Andy Posil, a backup goalie for Hopkins last year. Gvozden was seen laughing and joking with Major and Posil in the minutes before the Maryland game.
"We saw a story on Ryan on CNN last year," Gvozden said. "And Andy talks about him all the time. He is such an inspiration. He is someone you want to play for."
-- Christian Swezey
