2023 Women's Top 30: How Johns Hopkins Fared vs. Projections

Before USA Lacrosse Magazine looks ahead to what’s to come in 2024, our team of staff and contributors decided it was worth taking one last look at 2023.

After all, you have to look at the most recent results before making projections for what’s to come. To do that, we’re taking a journey through the top 30 teams in men’s and women’s lacrosse — what went right, what went wrong and what we should all think of that team’s season.

Was it a success? A failure? A mixture of both? You’ll find out our thoughts over the next month or so.

JOHNS HOPKINS WOMEN’S LACROSSE

Nike/USA Lacrosse Preseason/Final Top 20 Ranking: Unranked (also considered)/15
2023 record: 9-9 (4-2 Big Ten)

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Johns Hopkins rounded into form at the perfect time in Tim McCormack’s first year on the Blue Jays’ sideline. Teetering on NCAA tournament eligibility and just 5-7 after a 13-12 loss to Maryland on April 5, the Jays closed the regular season by ripping off three straight wins — including two against NCAA tournament teams in Michigan and Penn State. Johns Hopkins lost to Rutgers in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament, but at 8-8, the Jays were NCAA tournament eligible and earned a bid. They even knocked off UMass in the first round.

Also: It's evident that Hopkins has young talent to work with in the future, and no youngster was more impressive than freshman Ava Angello, who led the team with 53 points and 40 goals.

WHAT WENT WRONG

The first 12 games were rocky, which was not entirely unexpected with a new coaching staff and new offensive systems in place — especially after decades under Janine Tucker. Johns Hopkins didn’t win consecutive games until that three-game winning streak to end the regular season. But outside of a 16-11 loss to Drexel and the loss to Rutgers in the Big Ten tournament (which are hardly embarrassing losses), every other Hopkins loss came against an NCAA tournament team — Loyola, Penn, James Madison, Northwestern, Stony Brook and Maryland — or, in Syracuse’s case, actually during the NCAA tournament.

SEASON HIGHLIGHT

Beating Penn State on April 22 to close the regular season assured that Johns Hopkins would remain eligible for the NCAA tournament, regardless of its conference tournament outcome. And with a resume that included wins over Albany (the eventual America East champion), Rutgers, Michigan and Penn State, Hopkins was a pretty safe bet to earn an at-large bid.

A close runner-up: Drubbing UMass 19-8 in the first round of the NCAA tournament to further prove that Hopkins’ turnaround was very much for real.

VERDICT

Even though Johns Hopkins’ season ended with a reality-check 25-8 loss to Syracuse in the second round of the NCAA tournament, it shouldn’t put a damper on the program’s April turnaround. Playing in a challenging conference and coupling it with a daunting non-conference slate prepared the Jays for the most important stretch of the season — and they answered the call.