July 11, 2008

It's never too early.

With the 2008 season in the books, our neuroses turn to 2009. From Division I to Division III, MCLA to WDIA, we're spanning the college lacrosse globe for a look at what's in store for coaches and players. Check back to LMO each Friday for a new Q&A feature, as our "Countdown to `09" series continues.

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by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

Since we've already seen headlines such as "Huntley Leads Riptide to Win" and "Rabil Scores Four for Boston," it's amazing that just a little over a month ago pros Kevin Huntley and Paul Rabil, along with Stephen Peyser, were wearing the light blue of Johns Hopkins in the national championship game.

But their departure is certainly on the mind of Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala. He's the one tasked with filling the big shoes of the graduated seniors and satisfying the sky-high expectations of the Blue Jays' program.

Not surprisingly, Pietramala is using his summer months to track down the next big names in the sport of lacrosse on the camp and recruiting circuit. Countdown managed to track down the Hopkins head man for a couple of questions.

Rabil. Peyser. Huntley. Those are pretty big names off the roster. Does it change expectations for the Hopkins program without those guys, or just put more pressure on some of the returners to fill the void?

The motto is: To Step Up. We have other players who have been waiting their turn to do more and now they have an opportunity to do just that. They are going to need to step up. But the expectations don't change.

What will change is maybe what we do on the offensive end. We obviously will have to adjust to personnel and maybe be a little more diverse in how we attack and where we attack from, but the expectations do not change. We feel like we have a chance to be better defensively this coming year, so we may do some things differently there, as well.

Did Mike Gvozden prove himself to your satisfaction during his performance in the postseason last year or does he still have some holes to fill? What kind of goals did you set for him next year?

I think Mike Gvozden is a talented young man and I think what you saw early was a young man that was transitioning to a new a role, to greater expectations, to a leadership role, and it took a little bit of time for him to figure out how he was going to address all that.

He figured out what it took to be successful in that role and what you saw in the latter part of the season - What was it? Eight in a row? - was Mike Gvozden becoming what we thought he could become. We're very excited about Mike returning and we have very high expectations for him.

How long does a national championship loss linger for you? Do you allot yourself a mourning period, of sorts, or do you turn your sights to the next season as quickly as possible?

I wake up every morning and think about it and I go to bed every night and think about it. And that won't change until we play another game and we get a win and we get to move forward.

Obviously, we're already moving forward, but for me, and for any coach, I don't think you stop thinking about that, and you use it as motivation until you get back on the horse again and you start playing again.

Did you watch that tape the next day or did you let it simmer for a while?

I haven't watched the tape yet. I'll save that for a rainy day this summer when no one else is around and it's just me and my TV. But I will watch it several times.

Guys like Michael Evans, Steven Boyle and Gvozden all return next year, but what are some names we may not have heard of who we should keep an eye out for next spring?

Brian Christopher is a guy who had a really great year his freshman year and was on the first midfield, and then for the last two years we moved him to the second midfield. He'll be a guy who has a chance to be on the first midfield and be back on the field again. He's one that you'll probably hear more from. Kyle Wharton is a guy we think can really shoot the ball very well and had a goal or two in the final four. He's a name you'll hear from more.

Defensively, [Matt] Drenan is a name you're going hear more of as he moves back to close defense and will be on the field more. Austin Walker is a guy we think is capable, but he must prove he can do it on a consistent basis. Tim Donovan is another kid who is out on the under-19 team right now and apparently is playing pretty well. And then there's Matt Dolente, who's our faceoff guy.

Those are some name you maybe didn't hear much from, but will have a chance to hear more of.

With Syracuse poised to join a Big East Conference, Hopkins now stands as the preeminent independent in Division I. Does this revelation impact your program either in regards to scheduling or perhaps eyeing a conference affiliation of you own?

At this time, the answer is no. You never know what might come up, but when speaking to Syracuse and Loyola and some of the other teams that have joined conferences or forming them, the Hopkins game remains very important to them. Those games are certainly important to us because they are long-standing, traditional rivalries.

The answer to that is I believe, as far as everyone I've spoken to, they want to keep these games, as do we. As for us joining a conference, right now we have no intention to do that. It's only something we would consider in the future if we had to.

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Countdown to '09 Archive
June 20, 2008 - Colby's Jon Thompson
June 27, 2008 - UNC's Joe Breschi
July 4, 2008 - Hamilton's Kaillie Briscoe