The euphoria of Johns Hopkins' 12-11 overtime victory over Brown last weekend in the first round of the NCAA tournament faded quickly for the Blue Jays' defensive unit once those players gathered Monday to review game film.
One-on-one showdowns ending with a Bears player scoring. Slides that were too late or nonexistent. Too many point-blank shots against junior goalkeeper Michael Gvozden.
"It's hard to go back and watch the film because it looks pretty disorganized and it doesn't look like the way we've played defense in the past or the way we've been coached to play," senior defenseman Matt Drenan acknowledged.
The defense gets another chance to make amends when No. 8 seed Johns Hopkins (10-4) meets top-seeded Virginia (14-2) in an NCAA tournament quarterfinal Sunday at noon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.
To earn their third consecutive Final Four appearance, the Blue Jays will need a better effort from their defense than the showings they've put forth in three of their past four contests.
In an 11-10 double-overtime victory over Towson on April 22, Johns Hopkins allowed the Tigers to take 7-3 and 8-4 leads in the third quarter. In an 11-10 double-overtime triumph over No. 18 Loyola on May 2 and the win against Brown, the Blue Jays surrendered three-goal advantages in the fourth quarter.
Johns Hopkins is allowing an average of 9.5 goals and has permitted eight opponents to score 10 goals or more.
ESPN analyst and former Johns Hopkins midfielder Mark Dixon said this year's defense lacks a commanding inside presence like Rob Scherr, Chris Watson or Eric Zerrlaut.
"They were the ones inside who were really the leaders of the defense in terms of calling out slides and directing traffic," Dixon said. "I don't think Hopkins has that guy this year that can direct them because I think Hopkins is most vulnerable - from what I've seen - on the interior. They've given up a lot of goals inside, and that's communication and the slides and the help and all those sorts of things."
Coach Dave Pietramala did not disagree, saying: "We've always had a very dominant voice that when you watch the practice film, you hear it all the time. When you watch the game film, you hear it. It's like we're all trying to take turns to do it."
The lack of communication was a significant factor in the Blue Jays' 16-15 loss to Virginia on March 21, according to Drenan and teammates Michael Evans and Sam DeVore. After the Cavaliers scored 12 goals before halftime, they scored just four in the second half after the defense became more vocal.
"It was kind of an up-and-down game and for the defense especially," DeVore recalled. "We needed to focus on playing together as a team and helping each other out and communicating more. It's pretty clear in the game film that our communication was a little off, but we picked that up."
If the defense is supposed to be intimidated about facing the nation's top offense in Virginia (averaging 13.1 goals), the unit is not showing it. The players said they have turned the criticism into motivation and Pietramala has picked up on the underdog label.
"We're playing against one of the best offenses in the country that no one gives us a chance against," he said. "I'm looking for our defense to stand up and fight. I'm looking for us to play extremely hard, I'm looking for us to be fundamentally sound and disciplined, and I'm looking for us to play together." Sunday's game
No. 8 seed Hopkins (10-4) vs. No. 1 seed UVa. (14-2)
What: NCAA quarterfinal
Site: Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis
When: Noon
Outlook: The Blue Jays have advanced to six semifinals in eight years under coach Dave Pietramala, but a seventh will depend on how Hopkins' defense fares against the Cavaliers' offense. Faceoff specialists Matt Dolente and Michael Powers must prevent the Cavaliers from winning 17 of 21 first-half faceoffs as they did in the regular season.
- Edward Lee
