Dave Pietramala

Two days after announcing an open competition at goalkeeper, Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala has not yet named the team's starting goalkeeper for Friday night's home contest against UMBC. Senior Pierce Bassett, who has started 27 consecutive games prior to sitting out Tuesday night's 19-9 thrashing of Mount St. Mary's for violating an undisclosed team policy, and redshirt sophomore Eric Schneider, who made four saves against the Mountaineers, are vying for the role. Although the No. 10 Blue Jays (4-1)

Eric Schneider's first career start in the net in Johns Hopkins' 19-9 rout of Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday night may not have been a one-time appearance after all. In his post-game conference, coach Dave Pietramala announced that there would be an open competition between incumbent Pierce Bassett and Schneider. It was a jaw-dropping revelation considering that Bassett has been the undisputed starter since overtaking Mike Gvozden on March 27, 2010. “There is an open competition,” Pietramala said.

Both teams enter this contest smarting from unexpected losses. Mount St. Mary's dropped a 13-5 decision to a Towson team that had won just once in its previous four games. The Mountaineers (2-3) will be playing their fourth contest in 11 days and are 2-1 when the offense has scored at least 11 goals this season. Johns Hopkins absorbed an 11-8 upset loss at the hands of then-No. 14 Princeton that dropped the Blue Jays from No. 5 to No. 10. Johns Hopkins (3-1), which has won all four previous meetings with Mount St. Mary's, is 57-7 against teams from Maryland since Dave Pietramala became the head coach prior to the 2001 season.

Coming out of a quiet stretch - which included being suspended for a game for violating team policy - Wells Stanwick bounced back in resounding fashion Tuesday night. The Johns Hopkins sophomore attackman set career highs in goals (five) and assists (four), powering the No. 10 Blue Jays' men's lacrosse team to a 19-9 thumping of visiting Mount St. Mary's at Homewood Field. Stanwick's performance - he needed just five shots to match his goal output from his first three games this season - was especially timely as Johns Hopkins (4-1)

Midfielder Rob Guida will not play in No. 5 Johns Hopkins' home contest against Mount St. Mary's tonight, paving the way for a third consecutive start for the first midfield of seniors John Ranagan and John Greeley and junior Rex Sanders. But the junior's absence from the Blue Jays' 11-8 upset loss to No. 14 Princeton had no effect on the offense's shooting woes last Friday night. The team's inaccuracy was especially personified by Ranagan, Greeley and Sanders, who went 0-of-11, but coach Dave Pietramala said Guida's presence might not have changed anything.

Homefield advantage is not what it used to be in the rivalry between the Johns Hopkins and Princeton men's lacrosse teams. The No. 5 Blue Jays dropped an 11-8 decision to the No. 14 Tigers before an announced 2,352 at Homewood Field on Friday night. Neither side has won a game in this series at home since 2004. When Johns Hopkins reviews this latest setback, the Blue Jays won't like what they see. Careless turnovers and porous defense in the fourth quarter contributed to the loss -- two factors that won't please coach Dave Pietramala.

Shawn Nadelen wasn't happy about Towson's 12-6 loss to No. 5 Johns Hopkins Saturday night, but he reserved a good portion of his anger for the behavior of some of the players representing his alma mater. The Tigers coach was visibly enraged after Blue Jays senior defenseman Chris Lightner was flagged with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter for an illegal body check that was a non-releasable, one-minute penalty. During a timeout, Nadelen and Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala exchanged some words, and Nadelen said after the contest that he was irked by the way several of Pietramala's players were reacting to Lightner's hit. “I was very upset they were celebrating a very potentially lethal hit,” said Nadelen, a former defenseman who played for Pietramala in 2001, his senior year.

The starting attack of senior Zach Palmer, junior Brandon Benn and sophomore Wells Stanwick combined for seven points on five goals and two assists in Johns Hopkins' 15-6 victory over Siena a week ago, but coach Dave Pietramala thinks that trio is capable of doing more. Pietramala is not suggesting that he expects 10-point outings from Palmer, Benn and Stanwick, who totaled 13 shots against the Saints. (By comparison, the starting midfield of seniors John Ranagan and John Greeley and junior Rob Guida combined for 21 attempts.)