Johns Hopkins and Hofstra would like to see history repeat itself on Sunday, but for vastly different reasons.
Johns Hopkins ended the regular season last year on a five-game winning streak en route to winning the NCAA national title.
Hofstra would like to defeat Hopkins for a second time this season after upsetting the then-top-ranked Blue Jays, 8-7, in overtime on March 8.
The Pride, which won the Colonial Athletic Association title, will get that chance when it visits Homewood Field on Sunday afternoon at 2:30 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in front of a national television audience on ESPNU.
“I have to do a lot of things to help get this team ready to play in the postseason,” Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said. “But reminding them they lost to Hofstra is not one of them.”
Johns Hopkins (8-5) enters the postseason as the fifth seed, marking the 12th straight year it has earned a top-5 seed and its 37th straight tournament appearance overall.
Pietramala said he is proud of that accomplishment, but understands it did not come without dealing with a lot of adversity. The Blue Jays suffered through a team-worst five-game losing streak this season, which included three losses in overtime. Hofstra is 3-1 in games that goes beyond regulation.
“We have been playing with a sense of urgency for the last five games and we have to keep doing that,” Pietramala said. “We understand it?s a privilege to be one of 16 teams still playing, but we also can?t ever get a sense of entitlement. Hofstra has fared well in one-goal games, and they come in knowing they can beat us.”
Hofstra (10-5) enters the tournament on a four-game winning streak, including a 10-9 overtime win at Drexel to win the CAA title. Junior midfielder Anthony Muscarella leads the Pride offense with a team-high 28 goals and 42 points on the year, with freshman attacker Jay Card (27 goals, 13 assists) and senior midfielder Mike Unterstein (18 goals, 13 assists) also playing integral roles. Card scored the game-winner against Hopkins during the regular season.
Johns Hopkins senior attacker Kevin Huntley said the team still remembers the loss to Hofstra vividly, and knows a similar effort against the Pride could lead to an early exit from the playoffs.
“We can?t play like that again and expect to win,” said Huntley, a former Calvert Hall standout who has 26 goals and eight assists. “The reason we all come to Hopkins is to go deep into the playoffs. When we lost five straight, we all wondered how the rest of the season would unfold. Now that we?re in the postseason, we realize we can?t look past Hofstra.”
UP NEXT
Faceoff: Sunday, 2:30 p.m
Where: Homewood Field
TV/Radio: ESPNU/1300 AM
Tickets: Available
