1.) Attack the short stick. With a Blue Jays offense that boasts 18-goal scorers in attackmen Chris Boland, Steven Boyle and Kyle Wharton and midfielders Brian Christopher and Michael Kimmel, the Bears must shadow one of those players with a short-stick defender. Christopher has registered 14 goals and five assists during Johns Hopkins’ six-game winning streak, and Kimmel has eight goals and a team-high 11 assists. Wharton scored five goals against Hofstra’s short sticks, and Boland scored five against Albany’s short sticks. The guess here is that Brown will short-stick Boyle, who scored just one goal in the regular-season finale against Loyola and is dealing with an undisclosed injury.

2.) Test Jordan Burke. The Bears senior goalkeeper is one of the best in the country. The 2008 Ivy League Player of the Year, Burke is a unique combination of size (6 feet 1, 190 pounds), quickness and intellect. He is left-handed, which tends to throw off opponents who have never played against him. Kimmel said the Blue Jays will have to be efficient and selective with their shots against Burke. "Sometimes in games, we’ll take a 13- or 14-yard shot, and it’ll be able to go, but I don’t think this weekend we’ll be able to get away with that kind of stuff," he said. "I think we’re really concentrating on being unselfish and working for the best shot. We’re going to need to try to work for lay-ups as opposed to outside shots, which he can see coming."

3.) Own the faceoff X. Possession takes the pressure off of the defense and extends opportunities to the offense, and a key component of possession is faceoffs. This is where Johns Hopkins would seem to have an advantage. The duo of sophomore Matt Dolente and junior Michael Powers has taken the majority of the faceoffs, and the Blue Jays have won 52.5 percent. Four Browns players have taken at least 54 faceoffs each, and the Bears have only won 41.3 percent overall.