My game preview for the 104th meeting between the Terps and Hopkins takes a look at the Blue Jays and their struggles. But here are a few things you won’t find in the pages of Friday’s edition of The Diamondback, deleted scenes if you will…(in the order of when they happened)
Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said he feels the Terps are a better team this season and he is especially worried about how his team will react to the goalie tandem of Brian Phipps and Jason Carter. He’s looking for his team to take smarter shots.
While my story was about Hopkins NCAA tournament hopes, Inside Lacrosse/ESPN analyst Quint Kessenich said the Terps should be alright, even if they fall to Johns Hopkins. He said they are playing for seeding at this point but added all three of their remaining regular season games are really important because “the ACC tournament doesn’t do anybody any favors.”
Kessenich noted that even though the Blue Jays have lost five straight, they are probably favored by many to win this game on their home field. He said you could easily argue that Hopkins has played better during their 5-game losing streak this season than last season’s 3-game skid.
A player with the last name Holmes has scored the first Terp goal in each of the last two meetings between these teams. In 2006 at Homewood, it was Travis Holmes who got the scoring started for the Terps en route to an 11-4 win. Sophomore midfielder Bryn Holmes, who was in the stands to witness his older brother’s tally, got the Terps on the board in last year’s 8-7 overtime loss to the Blue Jays at Byrd Stadium.
While Bryn Holmes hasn’t faced Hopkins at Homewood Field, he has played there twice in MIAA championship games while at McDonogh. He’s not exactly sure what it will be like to play in front of a hostile Hopkins crowd, but he’s just excited for another chance to take the field.
“I played there a lot, and I love the atmosphere,” Holmes said. “It’s definitely the Mecca of lacrosse, I guess you could call it.”
If the Terp-Hopkins rivalry was not enough for you, it will also be Homecoming at Johns Hopkins on Saturday. Junior midfielder Dan Groot’s summation of the situation:
“It’s a great atmosphere. They’ve got the band over there. It’s a great venue. There’ll be a lot of people if we can get some good weather.” (For the record, weather.com is predicting 73 degrees with a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms.)
Stay tuned next week for Editor’s Commentary and maybe even an Alternate Ending….
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