Homewood Field

New grandstands are on the way at the Johns Hopkins University's Homewood Field in North Baltimore -- even though the construction pace may be one step ahead of the city's zoning process.A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday before the city's zoning board on Hopkins' plan to enlarge the grandstands on the north side of the field on University Parkway. But ground was broken on the $2.3 million project early last month -- a month before next week's hearing.Hopkins wants to complete the 4,700-seat grandstands -- which will replace permanent and temporary bleachers -- by the opening of the lacrosse season March 1. The old bleachers have been torn down, and concrete pillars have been erected to support what will be a 32-foot-high structure.

The roller coaster ride for the St. Mary's men's lacrosse team continued its descent. After opening the season with a 2-1 start that included a 13-12 upset of then-No. 11 Roanoke, the Seahawks dropped their third consecutive game, falling to No. 12 Denison, 11-6, at Johns Hopkins' Homewood Field on Wednesday afternoon. St. Mary's (2-4) found itself in a 4-0 deficit after the first 4:11 of the game and trailed 5-0 with less than six minutes to go in the first quarter. "I'm proud of how we came back and made a game of it, but we've just got to come out stronger," said senior attackman Patrick Mull (Fallston)

For the past seven years - whether it was blisteringly hot, freezing cold, raining or snowing - Rudiger Ruckmann left his Northwood home every Wednesday at the crack of dawn, carrying his water bottle and beat-up Adidas shoes, to run on the Johns Hopkins University's Homewood Field track. "We would meet there in any kind of conditions - 20 degrees below zero, three feet of snow," the 41-year-old Ruckmann said. "It would be driving rain, 90 degrees, but we're troopers, and that was always a great meeting place for us and other crazy runners and walkers in Baltimore."

Johns Hopkins kicks off the season locally with its season opener against Siena. The No. 5 Blue Jays have won all previous four meetings with the Saints and are 10-2 in season openers under coach Dave Pietramala. In addition, Johns Hopkins is 13-3 in February and has not lost to an opponent this month in its last nine games. Here are a few factors that could influence the outcome at Homewood Field in Baltimore Friday evening. 1) Use the emotion. Since an 11-5 loss to Maryland in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals, the Blue Jays have had nine long months to think about what could have been.

He speaks brashly, and he carries a potent stick that amplifies gifts most goalies only dream of having. Pound for pound, few players in collegiate lacrosse have sturdier shoulders than Johns Hopkins goalie Brian Carcaterra. Few players can negate the so-called limitations of the position like the 5-foot-8, 165-pound redshirt senior. Few teams ride a keeper's unflinching confidence like the Blue Jays lean on their little big man. When fourth-seeded Hopkins faces off against Notre Dame in tomorrow's NCAA tournament quarterfinal round, Carcaterra will take the Homewood Field stage for the last time, with a Final Four wish in College Park weighing heavily on his mind.

The Hofstra at Towson State and Rutgers at UMBC lacrosse games were postponed yesterday because of unplayable field conditions. The Tigers will play the Flying Dutchmen today at noon at Johns Hopkins' Homewood Field, and admission is free.If the UMBC Stadium field condition improves, the Retrievers will play the Scarlet Knights there at 2 p.m. If UMBC's field remains unplayable, the game will move to Homewood Field at 3 p.m. Call the UMBC hot line at (410) 455-2129 for the correct site.

No. 1 Johns Hopkins (11-1) vs. No. 8 Massachusetts (12-3) Site: Homewood Field When: today, noon, WJFK (1300 AM) Outlook: The Blue Jays are 3-0 all time against the Minutemen, with all three of the victories coming in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament at Homewood Field. UMass is the only team in the nation that has four players with at least 30 goals, but the Minutemen will have trouble controlling possession if Hopkins freshman faceoff ace Kyle Harrison is on his game. No. 3 Virginia (10-3)

Johns Hopkins University President William R. Brody broke ground yesterday on the construction of a new grandstand on the north side of Homewood Field.The grandstand, which will cost between $1.8 million and $2.3 million, will seat approximately 5,000, replacing the temporary bleachers erected during lacrosse season and bringing seating capacity to nearly 10,000 for lacrosse games.The project is expected to be completed in time for the Blue Jays' men's lacrosse opener against Princeton on Feb. 27.Built in 1906, Homewood Field is most often recognized as home for the men's lacrosse team, but it also serves the women's lacrosse, football, soccer, and field hockey programs.

Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse announced its 2013 schedule today, complete with eight home games, a seventh straight appearance in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic and 11 nationally televised games. The 14 regular-season games will match the school record for most in a season (2010, 2011, 2012). "Despite the many ongoing changes in the landscape of college lacrosse, we are fortunate to once again have a schedule that ranks among the most challenging in the nation," coach Dave Pietramala said.

Junior attackman Kyle Barrie scored four goals and senior attackman Conor Ford (St. Paul's) added three as No. 1 Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team held off Penn, 10-9 at Homewood Field Saturday afternoon. The win is the 20th straight at home for the Blue Jays (0-1), while the Quakers fell for the second consecutive season at Homewood Field. Hopkins sophomore goalie Scott Smith stuffed aside a shot in the final five seconds to seal the victory for the Blue Jays (1-0). The Blue Jays carried a 7-4 lead into halftime, only to have the Quakers outscore them, 4-1 in the third quarter to tie the game at 8-8. Junior Matt Rewkowski, playing in his first game at Johns Hopkins, gave the Blue Jays the lead for good at 9-8 with an extra-man goal at the 9:03 mark and he appeared to give the Blue Jays the insurance goal they would need when he assisted on Ford's goal with 2:35 remaining to push the lead to 10-8.

Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse announced its 2013 schedule today, complete with eight home games, a seventh straight appearance in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic and 11 nationally televised games. The 14 regular-season games will match the school record for most in a season (2010, 2011, 2012). "Despite the many ongoing changes in the landscape of college lacrosse, we are fortunate to once again have a schedule that ranks among the most challenging in the nation," coach Dave Pietramala said.

It's pretty much understood that no individual or teams likes to lose. So with No. 5 Johns Hopkins (9-1) and No. 10 Maryland (6-3) slated to meet Saturday evening at Homewood Field, which teams needs to emerge from the fray with a victory? ESPN analyst and former Johns Hopkins midfielder Mark Dixon has an opinion. “Maryland needs this win a little bit more,” he said. “Let me be clear: both teams need this win and both of them want this win, which can really propel them.

Colleges Hopkins installing HD video board at Homewood Field Johns Hopkins announced Wednesday that a new integrated high-definition video board will be installed at Homewood Field this summer and be ready for use at the start of the fall season. Removal of the current scoreboard at Homewood Field began Tuesday. The new video display will measure approximately 14 feet high by 48 feet wide. Featuring 15HD pixel layout, the display will be used for Johns Hopkins football, field hockey, lacrosse and soccer, and is capable of showing one large image or being divided into separate windows to show live and recorded video as well as an array of vivid graphics.

Walter Cornelius "Neil" Pohlhaus Jr., a retired Realtor and lacrosse coach who had been a member of the fabled 1950 Johns Hopkins champion lacrosse team, died Monday of Parkinson's disease at his North Baltimore home. He was 83. Mr. Pohlhaus, the son of an Alex. Brown & Sons stockbroker and a homemaker, was born in Baltimore and raised on Wickford Road in Roland Park. After graduating in 1945 from St. Paul's School, Mr. Pohlhaus was drafted into the Navy and was in basic training at the Bainbridge naval training center in Cecil County when the war ended.

History was denied Wednesday night. The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team snuffed out No. 19 Towson's attempt to keep the host Blue Jays out of the NCAA tournament for the first time in 39 years by routing the Tigers, 13-6, before an announced 1,318 at Homewood Field. A Towson victory would have guaranteed Johns Hopkins a sub-.500 finish, which would have automatically made the team ineligible for consideration for the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1971, the first year of the tournament.

No. 5 Maryland (8-2) Coming up: Vs. No. 3 North Carolina, Friday, 7:30 p.m., Byrd Stadium. Comment: The Terps open play in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament with a semifinal game against the Tar Heels, who have won the last two meetings. Junior attackman Ryan Young needs just two points to become the sixth player to register 100 points in a career since Dave Cottle became the head coach in 2002. No. 7 Loyola (8-2) Coming up: At Hobart, Saturday, 1 p.m. Comment: Since dropping the first two meetings in 1985 and 1986, the Greyhounds have won nine of the last 10 games against the Statesmen.

It was reported incorrectly yesterday that Johns Hopkins' lacrosse game against Syracuse on Saturday will be played at Homewood Field. The game is at Syracuse.The Sun regrets the errors.The University of Maryland (3-0) has climbed from No. 7 to No. 5 in The Sun's lacrosse poll, thanks to a 17-16 win over Towson State on Saturday.Virginia remains No. 1, followed by North Carolina, Loyola and Syracuse."Beating Towson was a very big win for us," said Terps coach Dick Edell. "But we don't have much time to savor it. We can't afford to sit back and admire what we did. We have to play C.W. Post [1-1]

Yale (2-5) at Towson (3-5)Site: Minnegan StadiumTime: 1 p.m.Radio: WTMD (89.7 FM)Outlook: The Tigers have an all-time record of 3-2 vs. Ivy League opponents. Towson's five losses have come against teams whose combined record is 37-4.UMBC (5-3) at Mount St. Mary's (5-6)Site: MSM Lacrosse Field, EmmitsburgTime: 2 p.m.Outlook: The Retrievers routed the Mount, 23-6, last season for their most lopsided win in four seasons. UMBC has won five of its past six games.No. 5 Loyola (7-1) vs. No. 9 Massachusetts (6-1)

The week ahead for state men's teams No. 5 Maryland (6-1) Coming up: Vs. No. 1 Virginia, Saturday, 8 p.m., Byrd Stadium Comment: The Terps have dropped seven of the past eight meetings, but the last time the Cavaliers entered as the top-ranked team in the nation in 2008, they left College Park with a 13-7 loss. Senior midfielder Adam Sear has set a personal best with seven goals. No. 7 Loyola (5-2) Coming up: Vs. Ohio State, Saturday, 2 p.m., Ridley Athletic Complex Comment: The Greyhounds have won all three meetings, but the teams haven't played since 1998.

A tense final two minutes ended too quickly for Johns Hopkins' women's lacrosse team Wednesday, but they lasted plenty long enough for Towson goalie Mary Teeters. Trailing by a goal as the clock ran down, the Blue Jays patiently worked their set offense, looking for just the right shot. Candace Rossi thought she had it with two seconds to go. Teeters decided otherwise, snaring the shot to preserve an 11-10 victory for the No. 11 Tigers at Homewood Field. "I was just thinking, 'This is it,' if I didn't save this we were going into overtime.