PressBox: Blue Jays Close Out Season At Army

Blue Jays Close Out Season At Army

By Barrett Neale

No. 3 Johns Hopkins closes out the regular season with a trip to No. 19 Army Friday.

Last weekend, the Blue Jays (11-2) extended their winning streak to six with an 8-7 Senior Day defeat of No. 18 Loyola. The Black Knights (9-5, 4-3 Patriot League) were on the other end of a one-goal game when they lost to then-No. 16 Colgate, 7-6, during the PL semifinals on April 29.

Johns Hopkins senior attackman Chris Boland and sophomore attackman Zach Palmer are tied for the team lead in points with 39. Boland, a Boys' Latin graduate, has 27 goals and 12 assists, while Palmer has 18 goals and 21 assists.

Senior midfielder Matt Dolente has been one of the nation's most successful faceoff specialists this season. The Blue Jays have controlled 148 of the 223 faceoffs he's taken this year, a 66.4 win percentage that ranks second among all Division I players. His ground-ball per game average of 6.62 (86 total) is ninth-best nationally.

Another Johns Hopkins player on the national leader board is sophomore goalkeeper Pierce Bassett, who has started every game in 2011. His goals-against average (6.50) is the third best in Division I and his save percentage (59.4) is fifth.

In goal for Army will be senior Tom Palesky, the starter for all 14 Army games who holds a 7.59 goals-against average (No. 10 in the country) and a 55.9 save percentage (No. 16).
The leader of Army's offense is senior Jeremy Boltus, who has 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) this season and the nation's third-best points-per-game average (4.50).

Sophomore attackman Garrett Thul has 39 goals, an average of 2.79 per game, which is tied for third nationally.

Junior midfielder Derek Sipperly is Army's faceoff specialist. He holds a 47.7 win percentage and leads the team in ground balls with 44. Second on the team in ground balls is junior defenseman Tim Henderson, who also has a team-best 18 caused turnovers.

Boltus and Palesky are two of the Black Knights' 12 seniors, all of whom will be playing their final regular-season home game on Friday. Army has planned several fan activities for Friday to celebrate Senior Day.

This is the first time since the 2003 NCAA tournament that these two programs are playing each other and the first matchup at West Point since 1996. In the all-time series, which began in 1921, the Blue Jays have a 53-13 lead. The 7 p.m. game will air on the CBS Sports Network.

UMBC Falls In AE Tournament Semis

The UMBC men’s lacrosse team fell at Hartford, 14-11, in the America East Championship semifinal contest at Al-Marzook Field.

UMBC (6-7) junior attackman Rob Grimm led the Retrievers, scoring a career-high four goals. Linemate sophomore attackman Joe Lustgarten also posted career bests, with three goals and a helper.

SATURDAY GAMES

ECAC Championship: Loyola/Fairfield vs. Denver/Ohio State -- 1 p.m.

Colgate at Maryland -- 3 p.m.

Posted May 5, 2011