Johns Hopkins' defense featuring youthful look
In addition to seniors Matt Drenan and Sam DeVore, Johns Hopkins is entrusting its defense to a pair of freshmen and a sophomore.
Freshman Tucker Durkin has started alongside Drenan and DeVore for the No. 5 Blue Jays’ first two games, and sophomore Andrew Blasko and freshman Chris Lightner (Calvert Hall) have contributed heavily at that end of the field. No one would confuse No. 18 Delaware and Manhattan, Johns Hopkins’ first two opponents, with Syracuse and Virginia, but coach Dave Pietramala likes what he has seen thus far.
"They’ve done a good job, and they have a lot of work to do," said Pietramala, who attended a media event in which four Baltimore-area Division I coaches previewed their teams and answered fans' queries during a question-and-answer session at the ESPNZone in the Inner Harbor. "Ours is a philosophy that is kind of complicated at times and takes a lot of communication and thinking on the fly and jumping in and out of different defenses. For a young guy, it’s tough enough to play attackman or middie in college. So I think the older guys have done a good job of helping them along. I’ve seen Matt Drenan with Tucker Durkin a lot. I’ve seen Chris Lightner with Sam DeVore and the older guys a lot. So what I like is the older guys are taking on the responsibility of helping these guys grow and develop."
Pietramala, however, isn’t prepared to say that the defensive makeover is complete. After all, this is a unit that surrendered 10 goals or more to nine of 15 opponents last spring, and that group included first-team All-American Michael Evans.
"Look, we’re a work in progress at that end of the field," he said. "We still have a lot of work to do there, and as we said in the beginning of the year, we have something to prove to no one but ourselves. And we don’t think we’ve done that quite yet."
Other Johns Hopkins notes:
*Senior attackman Chris Boland, who led the team in scoring last season with 28 goals and 18 assists, was dressed for Tuesday’s 15-7 win against Delaware, but did not play. Pietramala said there is no timetable for his return. " That’s something that we’ve decided as a staff and worked out with Chris," Pietramala said. "When he steps on the field, that will be the first time. He’s been dressed for every scrimmage and every game. He just not has stepped onto the field to play, and that’s something we’ve discussed with Chris, and that’s the way we’d like to leave it."
*Eight freshmen have played in each of the Blue Jays’ two contests. Besides the aforementioned Durkin and Lightner, attackman Zach Palmer has scored three goals, midfielder John Ranagan has scored once, and attackmen John Kaestner and Matt Palasek and midfielders Chase Winter and Lee Coppersmith have gotten into the mix. It’s nowhere near 2002 when the team started five freshmen – Kyle Harrison (midfield), Peter LeSueur and Kyle Barrie (attack), Chris Watson (defense), and Benson Erwin (short-stick defensive midfield), but it’s a re-affirmation of the recruiting job the Johns Hopkins coaching staff did. "It’s exciting because the best thing about these guys is they’re going to continue to grow and they’re going to continue to improve, and the best part about a freshman is that he becomes a sophomore," Pietramala said. "But nonetheless, you live with some growing pains."
