For two weeks, all Dave Pietramala heard about was the ‘monkey’ on his program’s back. The talk started when Johns Hopkins was preparing for its matchup with UMBC on March 10. It grew louder as his team’s game against Syracuse approached.

Five straight losses to the Orange served as the ‘monkey’ for the Blue Jays. Last Saturday, Pietramala and his players finally felt relief after breaking the streak.

But only for a second.

‘A good win,’ Pietramala said. ‘Nice to be 7-0. I think we put ourselves in a good position, and now we go down to a place and against a team that no one’s going to give us a chance against.’

The team Pietramala referred to was No. 1 Virginia and the place was Charlottesville, Va. Though the Hopkins head coach leads the No. 2 team in the country, he cast the Blue Jays (7-0) as the underdogs. Since Pietramala took over the program, JHU has gone 4-10 against Virginia (8-0), and the last time it beat the Cavaliers in Charlottesville was in 1998.

But even with that recent history of losing in the series, Pietramala’s statement was immediately challenged. After a brilliant performance against Syracuse, the undefeated Blue Jays look plenty capable of ending UVa’s dominance.

Still, Pietramala dismissed the thought his team was seen as a real threat to top-ranked Virginia.

‘Very few. Very few (give Hopkins a chance),’ the coach said without hesitation. ‘You know that as well as I do. Down there – that’s a completely different monkey, that’s a gorilla. We have not had a lot of success down there.’

With a stifling defense led by goaltender Pierce Bassett and an offense that can score in bunches, though, Hopkins is well equipped to give the Cavaliers a fight. The Blue Jays are ranked second in the nation in scoring defense, allowing 5.3 goals per game, and average 10.4 goals per game offensively.

Their opponent, the defending national champion, is ranked seventh in scoring defense and fourth in scoring offense. The Blue Jays’ stingy defense will be tasked with containing defending Tewaaraton Trophy winner Steele Stanwick, who leads the nation with 25 assists in eight games.

For Hopkins, the key to its success on defense has been communication.

JHU defender Tucker Durkin said the team does a simple communication drill each practice. There is no ball needed as the players walk through their defensive sets, working on calling out plays and relaying them to their teammates.

Though simple, the drill has been effective.

‘I think that’s helped us a lot once we get out there and play in games,’ Durkin said. ‘It just comes natural to be talking, have a conversation with the guys next to you and communicating our defense and everything that goes with it.’

That communication by the Hopkins defense was on display against SU. The Blue Jays kept the Orange offense in check all game, getting steady play from Bassett in net, playing physical with SU and owning the advantage in possession time all game.

It resulted in a scoreless third period for a Syracuse offense that couldn’t get going. And the struggles were apparent throughout the game.

SU midfielder JoJo Marasco, one of the team’s top playmakers, was held without a shot against the tough Blue Jays unit. And attack Tim Desko managed just two shots on goal.

While the Hopkins defense kept Syracuse off the board, the Blue Jays offense exploded to put the game out of reach.

JHU attack Brandon Benn scored four goals, finding openings around the net as his teammates worked the ball around and looked to attack. The Blue Jays also got five goals from the midfield, firing hard shots past an overmatched Matt Lerman in net for SU.

‘Especially with our midfielders, a lot of big guys, even the smaller guys are really fast,’ Benn said. ‘They do draw a lot of attention. It opens it up for our attack, and we just have to make sure we capitalize on our chances.’

Hopkins midfielder John Greeley said the unit’s performance was among its best all season. But the offense has been clicking for much of the season, registering 10 or more goals in five of its seven wins.

Against Syracuse, JHU attack Wells Stanwick emerged as a playmaker, handling the ball with confidence. The freshman, brother of Virginia’s Steele Stanwick, finished with one goal and one assist.

After the game, Pietramala said Stanwick’s performance just showed Hopkins is loaded with playmakers all over the field.

‘I hope we’re becoming a team of just another guy,’ Pietramala said. ‘And I guess that may not sound particularly exciting, but we’re going to have to be that way because there are going to be days where first midfield doesn’t shoot the ball. We’ve seen those.’

Pietramala knows the Blue Jays will need their offense to be clicking again to beat Virginia. And they’ll need to play at the top of their game from start to finish – something Hopkins didn’t do against Syracuse after building a comfortable lead through three quarters.

‘We really got to find a way to finish the game,’ Pietramala said, ‘especially walking into the hornet’s nest we’re walking into on Saturday.’

rjgery@syr.edu

Published on March 19, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu