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Syracuse narrowly captured the Kraus-Simmons Trophy last Sunday in a two-goal win over Hobart, but a loss to No. 12 Army four days prior bumped SU further down Inside Lacrosse’s rankings. Now the Orange will head on a two-game road trip, with its first stop being in Baltimore to face Johns Hopkins, which has fallen out of the rankings completely.

The 60th edition of the teams’ rivalry will be the first with former Blue Jays player and longtime coach Dave Pietramala on Syracuse’s sidelines as its defensive coordinator. The Orange have won their last two matchups against Johns Hopkins, but they will look to generate their first win streak of the season.

Here’s everything you need to know about Johns Hopkins (3-3, 0-0 Big Ten) before it hosts No. 17 Syracuse (2-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) on Sunday:

All-time series

Johns Hopkins leads 30-28-1.

Last time they played

The last edition of the rivalry came just over two years ago, when then-No. 1 Syracuse visited Johns Hopkins in what would be the final game of the 2020 season before it was halted by the pandemic. The Orange jumped out to a 7-2 first quarter lead, led by Stephen Rehfuss and Chase Scanlan’s four and three points, respectively.

By the end of the third quarter, Syracuse led by seven goals. Scanlan went on to add two more in the final period, as he, Rehfuss and Jamie Trimboli each finished with at least five points to lead the Orange to win 15-9 in what ended up being a season-ending victory.

The Blue Jays report

Johns Hopkins has slipped out of Inside Lacrosse’s poll after two straight losses to ranked opponents, losing by five to then No. 9 North Carolina and 11 to No. 2 Virginia. The Blue Jays averaged 20 shots on goal between those two games, and they are coming off a season-worst shot percentage, 18.2%, against the Cavaliers.

But, like Syracuse, the Blue Jays’ offensive production has been very balanced and poses a deep offense. Five Johns Hopkins players have scored over 10 points compared to the Orange’s four.

How Syracuse beats Johns Hopkins

Johns Hopkins is a turnover-heavy team, averaging 17.7 per game. And it doesn’t cause that many turnovers to make up for it. So Syracuse can likely get away with another double-digit turnover game and still let its offensive production carry it to victory. But it needs to have a near flawless game defensively.

That means Bobby Gavin or Harrison Thompson — who have split time the last two games — will need to overcome a mediocre save percentage. To keep it simple, its defense needs to step up, and in a rivalry game, there is no better time for the Orange’s defense to lead the victory for a change.

Player to watch: Joey Epstein, No. 32, attack

After being named Inside Lacrosse’s No. 1 freshman in the nation in 2019, where he led Johns Hopkins with 73 points, Epstein is once again its leading point scorer, with 19 points in its first six games. He’s been held to two points or less in three games this season, all against ranked opponents — registering just one assist against No. 2 Virginia and going scoreless against No. 15 Jacksonville.

But Epstein has the ability to carry the Blue Jays. Twelve of his points this season were scored between two games. Epstein led Johns Hopkins to a six-point victory over Towson with six goals. Then, he registered five points in a narrow one-goal win over Loyola Maryland.

Epstein is Johns Hopkins’ leader in just about every offensive category, but he is also its leader in turnovers with 13. So if Syracuse can tightly cover Epstein, he should have a quiet showing on Sunday afternoon.

Stat to know: 70%

Syracuse’s last two games have been contingent on its man-up and man-down units. Army went 2-of-3 on man-up opportunities against the Orange while Hobart went five-of-six. After SU’s win against the Statesman, SU defender Grant Murphy said it was lured into Hobart’s aggressive play, which drew its many penalties, and were “still trying to find” the best man-down unit for them.

Johns Hopkins has also conceded multiple penalties, averaging nearly two a game, but not close to Syracuse’s penalty rate. But the Blue Jays have the man-down unit to back that up, as it has successfully killed off 70% of its penalties, ranking 22nd in the country. The Orange, on the other hand, are one of 12 teams that haven’t been able to kill off more than 50% of their penalties.

Published on March 12, 2022 at 2:43 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu