Opportunity Now for D-II Upstart Chestnut Hill
by Chris Gentilviso | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online
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| Chestnut Hill men's lacrosse coach Richard Carrington addresses his players in the huddle. The Griffins are 3-3 in their inaugural season, but still searching for their first ECC win. |
There is no set formula to building a team from scratch.
When head coach Richard Carrington assembled Chestnut Hill’s
first men’s lacrosse roster, there was a common truth
embedded in each of the 26 spots he had to fill.
“I think the biggest challenge coming in was not having a
blueprint,” Carrington said. “We came into a situation
where everyone that's on this team -- they're new to Chestnut
Hill.”
But with the help of an established power conference on their
side, the Griffins are progressing toward their blueprint for
success.
Equipped with a roster of 24 freshmen and two community college
transfers, Carrington’s first step to eliminating the
proverbial youth of his club was to throw it into a proven fire. On
Feb. 19, 2009, Chestnut Hill became the 11th member of the
prestigious East Coast Conference, inheriting a schedule that
included dates with the last two Division II national championship
teams.
“It was a no-brainer for me,” Carrington said.
“You have to play against the best teams in order to become
the best team. We knew walking into this season that it was going
to be very challenging and that there were going to be games where
we were going to take some lumps.”
Thirteen months later, those lumps have formed. After losses to
Dominican (N.Y.), NYIT and C.W. Post by a combined 57-8 margin,
Chestnut Hill is still in search of its first ECC win.
But for the Griffins, year one is not defined by wins or losses.
By facing premier opponents on the field, Carrington is quickly
finding his core nucleus of players prepared to carry the program
forward.
When freshman goalkeeper Dakota Maurer arrived at Chestnut Hill,
Carrington recalled thinking that Maurer would be ready for a role
as backup goalie. Through the program’s six games, Maurer has
reversed that impression. The Lititz, Pa. native has started each
of the team’s six games, stopping 47 shots and helping the
Griffins to non-conference wins against Neumann, American
International and Penn State-Abington.
Under the off-the-field tutelage of assistant coach Doug Miller,
Maurer’s comfort continues to rise. Miller has a decade of
experience working with legendary Roanoke head coach Bill Pilat at
The Goalie School, specializing in 1-on-1 training at the
position.
Without a backlog of upperclassmen in front of him, Maurer has
logged plenty of early minutes on the field, expanding his learning
curve in rapid fashion.
“There's no leadership above you to point you in the right
direction,” Maurer said. “It helps out a lot. In terms
of development to our game, our coaches do that for us and they do
a great job. But as far as our characteristics, it helps build
responsibility and character.”
While there was no blueprint prior to the start of the season,
freshman Nate Tharp has a vision of what it will take to reach the
same championship heights as his current conference foes.
Of Carrington’s 26 recruits for 2010, only two called the
lacrosse hotbed of Maryland home, and Tharp was one of them. After
enduring a handful brutal prep bouts at St. Vincent Pallotti H.S.
in Laurel, Tharp has been one of the more consistent Griffins this
season, netting goals in each of his five games played.
When Tharp looks over at the sidelines of ECC powers, he sees that
blueprint for success in action.
“They're on the wall," Tharp said. "They have the skills
already. They've got these teams meshed. They've been together.
They have chemistry. Seeing that, you hope that you can build that
same chemistry with your teammates.”
Carrington holds that same hope. By exposing his players early on
to that top-notch competition, the blueprint will theoretically
become less hidden come 2013 – a well-established group of
seniors with the experience to compete at the top of the
standings.
“We brought in a pretty big class,” Carrington said.
“But out of that class, we're looking for that core group of
guys that we know will be here for all four years. This way, as we
continue recruiting, we're able to take the new recruits under
their wing and show them the way that we want to do
things.”
Division II Notes
Five years ago, St. Leo men’s lacrosse
coach Brad Jorgensen was in the same circumstance
as Carrington. Five years after leading the Lions through their
inaugural season as a lacrosse program, Jorgensen's 2010 team has
propelled itself to No. 8 in this week’s USILA Division II
poll. St. Leo (8-1) held off a frantic second-half comeback by
Mars Hill last Saturday, netting a 9-7 victory for
its sixth straight win … NYIT (4-1) needed
overtime to hold its No. 6 spot, topping Seton
Hill 17-16 last Saturday. The Bears have faced one-goal
nailbiters in three of their five contests this season, including a
10-9 victory over Belmont Abbey in their season opener on Feb. 21
… On the women’s side, No. 1 Adelphi
(5-0) reeled off weekend wins over No. 7 Stonehill
and Assumption. Since the start of last season, the defending
national-champion Panthers have won 23 straight games. Of the 10
remaining regular season games left on Adelphi's schedule, only two
are against current top-10 foes: at No. 9 New
Haven (April 20) and at home against No. 3 C.W.
Post (May 1).
