If You're Watching

Johns Hopkins at Navy
TV: CBS College Sports
Radio: WFED-1050 AM, WNAV-1430 AM, WVIE-1370.
Records: Blue Jays 4-5, Midshipmen 9-3
Reasons to Watch
*See if Navy can end a 33-year losing streak in the series.
*A crowd of 20,000 is possible.
*The atmosphere will be something special. The Brigade of Midshipmen will attend the game en masse, a rarity for lacrosse. And a monster crowd is expected--we're at the stadium already and it is sunny and beautiful. At 9 a.m. tailgaters already were going in the parking lots.

What to Watch if You're a Casual Fan
The past two weeks, we discussed how we'd have a strong indication of which team would win the Maryland-Navy and Maryland-Johns Hopkins games by the end of the first quarter. (And we were right both times.)

We will distill this game even further--we think that we'll get an indication following Hopkins's opening possession. As Navy Insider Dick Long noted in his comments on Wednesday, Hopkins almost certainly will start with a dodge for senior MF Paul Rabil (#9, 16 goals, 8 assists). We expect he will be matched against Navy D Jordan DiNola (#3).

The opening salvo will tell us a lot: If Rabil gets his hands free and gets a shot off against DiNola, watch where it goes. Navy has had goalie issues--Coach Richie Meade did not name a starter until before practice on Thursday. If Navy's goalie makes a save, it will do wonders for his confidence. If Rabil's shot goes high, it likely means DiNola got into his hands. Advantage Navy on both.

If Rabil scores, or if he draws a double-team and feeds crease attackman Michael Doneger for a shot, even if there's no goal, it's a good sign for the Blue Jays. Since it means Rabil can win that matchup when he wants, and eventually, Doneger will hit those shots if they're open.

What to Watch: Young Player
Probably the expected matchup between Navy sophomore MF Joe Lennon (#28, 10 goals, 5 assists) and Hopkins junior SSDM Andrew Miller (#3). In overtime against Georgetown, it said a lot that Navy's first possession was for Lennon. Lennon was a big-time quarterback in high school and something tells us that if the game is close, he will want a chance to score the winner.

Miller, too, is a good athlete and he will be put under a microscope today.

What to Watch: Ardent Fan
Though Hopkins Coach Dave Pietramala and Navy Coach Richie Meade are much too smart to verbalize it, we wonder if this will be sort of a de facto dress rehearsal for the Final Four (not that there's any guarantee that Hopkins or Navy will even make the playoffs, let alone the Final Four).

Put another way, we think this will be a playoff atmosphere: It's a huge crowd; the weather, in the 80s, will be similar to what it will be like Memorial Day weekend; and even the field turf is similar. It especially will be playoff-like for Hopkins, since Navy is desperate to end its 33-year losing streak in the series.

So watch the substitution patterns for Hopkins and Navy. Watch who gets rest when. Something tells us that if either team is playing in Foxborough, or in a warm-weather day in a quarterfinal, today will give us an indication how they will line up then.

By Christian Swezey |  April 19, 2008; 10:16 AM ET
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