In its first game as the No. 1 team in the country since 2017, Syracuse (4-0) will renew its historic rivalry against Johns Hopkins (1-3) at Homewood Field in Baltimore on Saturday afternoon. The two programs head into the game trending in opposite directions. The Blue Jays lost their last three games and slipped out of the top-25. The Orange still haven’t lost and claimed the No. 1 spot in the country behind two top-20 wins. 

Here’s what our beat writers predict for Saturday’s game at Homewood. 

Mitchell Bannon (4-0)
Bat Flip
Syracuse 19, Johns Hopkins 11

The Hopkins-Syracuse matchup is often competitive. The Blue Jays have won four of the last ten meetings and even hold an all-time series lead. But Saturday’s match won’t be close.

The Jays are coming off three straight losses (outscored by 17 goals in that time). In Hopkins’ most recent loss to Princeton — Pat March’s old squad built around Tewaaraton Award favorite Michael Sowers — the Tigers midfield scored 10 goals. The week before, Hopkins allowed a nine-point performance from North Carolina’s Chris Gray. SU scoring Saturday will not be a question of if but who. Not how, but how many. March’s offense has been unpredictable in the best way possible — opposing teams have been unable to effectively shut down one aspect without allowing another facet of SU’s attack to feast. And that is exactly what the Orange will do this weekend: feast.

Andrew Crane (3-1)
Jay-K
Syracuse 15, Johns Hopkins 9

I’ll let Mitch make the joke about the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays and the Toronto Blue Jays in his tagline. This is the earliest JHU has lost three games in a season since 2000, albeit against three ranked teams, two of which are in the top 5 — Loyola, North Carolina and Princeton. The Blue Jays aren’t as bad as their record implies they are, but that doesn’t matter against a Syracuse team that’s cruising right now. Look for the Orange to prove Hobart head coach Greg Raymond right that there’s not a “better midfield in the country.” Scanlan’s four goals were overshadowed by the midfield’s explosion against the Statesmen, and he’ll continue to pace SU in scoring from his attack spot. Johns Hopkins’ leading goal scorer is Garrett Degnon with eight goals, and even an average offensive output by Syracuse standards this season should be enough for a fifth-straight win.

Arabdho Majumder (4-0)
Open seas
Syracuse 18, Johns Hopkins 11

The only reason this game might stay close, at least for a half, is because of the long history between Johns Hopkins and Syracuse dating back to the 1980s when one of the two were in every final, save for 1986. This season, the matchup kicks off a vital road trip for the Orange, who should win their first two games on the road comfortably against unranked opponents.

North Carolina cut open Johns Hopkins’ defense for 17 goals. Princeton added another to that total last weekend. UNC scored in similar ways to what can be expected from SU: lots of step-down shooters and individual wing dodging. Syracuse likely won’t rely on going through the X as much as the Tar Heels did, but that won’t limit the Orange’s output. The SU defense will again be in a spotlight with the absence of Nick Mellen, but it has given up just 20 goals in the last two games without the former All-American. JHU plays slow and likes to work from behind the cage, so penalties — like Brett Kennedy’s three against Hobart — are an absolute no-no. Still, the length of all three close defenders Syracuse will start on Saturday will make it tough for the Blue Jays to get anything going offensively.

Published on March 6, 2020 at 6:41 pm