In 1971, Richard Nixon was president, the median household income was $9,028 and the Baltimore Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys to win Super Bowl V.
But the year also carries significance at Johns Hopkins, as it?s the last season in which its storied men?s lacrosse team failed to qualify for the postseason.
Thirty-seven years later, the 10th-ranked Blue Jays are in danger of reliving the past, as they must salvage a once-promising season to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since The French Connection ruled the box office.
The Blue Jays (3-4) lost their fourth straight game Saturday as North Carolina (7-2) jumped out to a 4-0 lead en route to a 13-8 victory at Homewood Field to provide a crushing blow for a team seeking its second straight national title.
Johns Hopkins, which lost three straight games in overtime before falling to the Tar Heels, is riding its first four-game losing streak since 1990.
And it doesn?t get any easier for Johns Hopkins on Saturday. The Blue Jays will try to avoid their first five-game losing streak since 1955 when they play at second-ranked Duke in Durham, N.C., in a rematch of last year?s championship game.
If Johns Hopkins loses, the Blue Jays may need to run through the rest of their schedule, which includes games against third-ranked Maryland, ninth-ranked Navy and 20th-ranked Loyola, to have any chance to make the 16-team NCAA Tournament.
“At this point, the less we say the better, Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala, whose team last posted a losing season in 1971, said. “Coming off three overtime losses we were mentally fragile and when [North Carolina] jumped on us early, it hurt us. It starts with the head coach and we?ve got to do a better job with everything we?re doing right now. You can?t pick one facet of the game, we have to improve everything.”
Johns Hopkins has experienced nearly every defeat possible during its streak. On March 8, the Blue Jays trailed 6-3 at halftime before losing, 8-7, at Hofstra. On March 15, Hopkins squandered a 13-10 fourth-quarter lead before losing, 14-13, against Syracuse. On March 22, the Blue Jays and Virginia battled back and fourth before the host Cavaliers tied thegame at 12 in the final minute of regulation before winning, 13-12.
Johns Hopkins senior midfielder Paul Rabil said the team is trying to remain optimistic and remember it was 4-4 last season before winning its last nine games en route to a national title. But Rabil acknowledged the team?s latest setback hurt more than any of the previous three.
“There?s only one way we can go and that?s forward to the next game and try to win that one,” Rabil said. “We?ve just got to do what the coaches are telling us to do better. We?re not executing the way we?re supposed to and not paying attention to the little things during the week.”
Pietramala stressed there was no one player to blame for Hopkins? struggles, including sophomore goalie Michael Gvozden. The former Severna Park standout was pulled twice against North Carolina “so he could catch his breath,” Pietramala said. Gvozden, who will start at Duke, has a 9.83 goals against average and a .524 save percentage in his first season as a starter replacing Jesse Schwartzman, one of the greatest goalies in school history.
“We just have to keep our heads up and get back to the basics,” Gvozden said. “We just have to keep our heads up and keep working every day in practice”
