Waiting Game: Hoyas Ready for '09
by Brian Logue | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
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| Junior Craig Dowd leads a young attack unit for
Georgetown. Photo: John Strohsacker/LaxPhotos.com |
Perhaps no team has been more anxious to return to the field
this year than Georgetown, which opens its season on Saturday in
College Park against Beltway rival Maryland (ESPNU, 1 p.m.). The
Hoyas have not played since a stunning 12-11 overtime loss to Penn
State last May that unexpectedly ended their season without a NCAA
tournament berth for the first time since 1996.
Georgetown entered that game ranked fourth in the USILA coaches
poll, but the numbers the NCAA tournament committee use
didn’t treat the Hoyas as nicely. Despite a 9-4 overall
record and being the only team to beat Duke in the regular season,
the Hoyas were on the outside looking in when the selections were
announced last May.
“That’s a concern of mine, that we rely too heavily on
indexes and formulas,” said Georgetown head coach Dave Urick
of the selection process. “Otherwise you don’t need a
committee, but some people feel that’s the way to do it. With
RPI, I don’t think we play each other enough to make it
really valid. There’s some validity to it, but it
shouldn’t be an end all.”
Because of late season losses to Penn State and Loyola last year,
Georgetown enters this year in somewhat unfamiliar territory. Each
year, it seemed, the Hoyas were on watch to see if this was the
year they’d break through the proverbial bubble and return to
the NCAA final four for the first time since 1999. Not so this
year. Georgetown is ranked ninth in the current USILA poll and was
ranked 11th in the Lacrosse Magazine preseason rankings.
Do lower expectations mean less pressure? In a word, no.
“I think there’s more pressure to show what
we’re capable of doing and being there at the end of the
year,” said Urick.
Georgetown will have to rebuild without first team All-American
Jerry Lambe on defense and some key offensive threats.
“We lose one of the better attackmen we’ve ever had
here in Brendan Cannon (team-high 44 points) and then a real glue
guy and solid player in Andy Baird (team-high 26 goals),”
said Urick. “We’re going to be really young on attack
this year.”
Urick will turn to junior Craig Dowd, who is coming off a monster
summer with the U.S. U-19 team. Dowd was named the outstanding
attackman at the world championships, leading the U.S. to a gold
medal. In a 16-15 overtime win over Canada in round-robin play,
Dowd scored five fourth quarter goals to lead a U.S. rally from
five goals down with seven minutes to play. Dowd finished the
championships with team highs of 21 goals and 36 points.
“I was really proud, not only of the way he played, but the
way those guys (head coach Chuck Apel and assistant coach Kevin
Giblin) talked about what he did in some of the more intangible
areas,” said Urick.
Urick will look to some of that leadership from Dowd this year,
but is careful not to put too much on him.
“Craig has the most experience down there, but no one guy
has to put them on his shoulders,” said Urick.
“That’s one concern that I do have with Craig is that
he’s going to try to do too much.”
