Feb. 7, 2007

An intense little rivalry will be renewed this Saturday on the southern end of the San Francisco Bay, officially kicking off the season for the lower divisions. If you can call a one-game series a `rivalry,' that is.

In some respects it's natural for Whittier College and Notre Dame de Namur University to have a lacrosse rivalry. As the only two varsity NCAA teams in the state of California, it would be stupid if these two teams didn't play each other if only to save a couple of bucks on traveling across the country, which both have to do in order to play the eight NCAA sanctioned games they need to qualify for the postseason.

Granted, while they reside in the same state, these schools aren't neighbors. Whittier is located near the heart of Los Angeles while NDNU is located in NorCal, between San Francisco and San Jose. Exactly 400 miles separate the two campuses - or 70 more than what lies between Syracuse and Baltimore. They are also not in the same division, as Whittier is D3 and NDNU became a full-fledged D2 member last spring.

At first glance it might look like the Whittier/NDNU rivalry is a manufactured one, but there is some history between these two schools. NDNU hopes to follow the blueprint for West Coast success designed by Whittier, and in doing so has used many of the same architects.

Joe Romano, who is in his fourth season as head coach of the Argos, is a former Poet player (Class of '00) and was an assistant with Whittier for two years after his graduation. The head coach at that time? Doug Locker.

It's hard to have a conversation about California lacrosse without bringing up Locker. The mastermind of the Whittier teams that came out of nowhere to crash the `East Coast' NCAA Division III party for the first time 2002, Locker brilliantly sold the SoCal school to a broad array of talented recruits, including many from North of the Border.

Although he had been at Whittier for 21 years, amassing a 293-72 mark, Locker saw an opportunity to move up the athletic pecking order and took a director of athletics position after the 2002 campaign. It was a virtually unknown school: Notre Dame de Namur. Locker hired Romano, his former assistant, to start the program and Romano has used many of the same tactics utilized by Locker to build Whittier.

"I felt like he set the standard for what's right and what's wrong in recruiting," said Romano about Locker, who has since left NDNU and is now the general manager of the MLL's San Francisco Dragons. "If I took anything from him, and I hope I did, that's what I want to bring here."

Coincidence or not, Locker's arrival at NDNU marked the start of Whittier's decline. With Locker's players leading the way, the Poets recorded a 14-1 mark and a trip to the national semifinals in 2003, but the following year Whittier dipped to 8-4 and was eliminated in the first round of the NCAAs. In '05 and '06 the Poets failed to make the postseason field.

"Doug was the gold standard in terms of recruiting and they need to get back to that," said Romano. Whittier is on its third coach since Locker left as Nate Watkins took over the reins of the Poet program over the summer. A coaching turnstile will always hamper recruiting. Continuing the interrelation of the two schools, Watkins was a key element in the Dragons making the MLL playoffs last summer -- a team Locker put together.

Romano must battle head-to-head with Whittier for the best high school players in California, but he likes that. It not only makes him work harder, but the NDNU coach is not afraid to admit he still has a soft spot for his alma mater.

"I only root against Whittier two times a year," said Romano, referring to the two contests between the schools this spring, the other at the First 4 in March. "I've caught a lot of flack -- good flack -- over the past week. Former teammates have been calling and saying, `We're going to come up there and kick your butt.'"

The game looks like a toss-up on paper. The Argos already have a game under their belt, a sound defeat of the UC-Davis club team, but the Poets have the motivation of a 15-10 loss to NDNU last year in the first-ever match-up between the two teams.

It's a rivalry game, so it's tough to predict what will happen, but it's a great way to kick off the '07 season.

Contact Jac Coyne at jcoyne@uslacrosse.org.