News-Letter

Media Credit: Shiv Gandhi [Click to enlarge]

The eight-time NCAA Champion men's lacrosse team walked away last season with a less-than-satisfying 9-5 record, finishing with a heartbreaking loss to Syracuse in the quarterfinals round of the NCAA Championship Tournament.

Recognized as a perennial Division I powerhouse, the Blue Jays have made 35 straight postseason tournament appearances and are definitely hungry to bring home the national title this year.

"The way last year ended up left a bad taste in our mouths," junior long-stick midfielder Val Washington said. "We all feel a sense of urgency in bettering ourselves as individual players, as well as a team."

The wins will not come easily this spring as most of the team is made up of underclassmen. But so far the players have transformed that pressure to succeed into determination. During their fall play this pre-season, the guys defeated Binghamton, Rutgers and Ohio State, which definitely allowed the team to regain some of their confidence and helped them get a good sense of what still needs improvement.

Before the end of the fall semester, the team routinely participated in a combination of team practices and individual practices which featured one coach working with six to eight players.

"[Head] Coach [Dave] Pietramala has changed around the practice schedule a little bit this year as opposed to last year by involving more players in every drill, changing the routine of practice, and allowing players to get up and down the field more," junior defender Ben O'Neill said. "As a result, the practices have been much more enjoyable and competitive."

With a team goal of at least returning to the NCAA Final Four, the guys took an abbreviated winter break, returning to campus on Jan. 14. Since then, the team has been practicing for as long as three hours at a time for six days a week to get into form for the regular season.

"Everyone on the team is working to maintain the fundamental lacrosse skills of passing, catching and shooting," sophomore midfielder Andrew Jaffe said.

"Our guys have been anxiously preparing for the season all winter long. Throughout the holidays, they took workouts home with them to stay focused," Assistant Coach Bobby Benson said.

Strength and Conditioning Coach Jay Dyer has also played an integral part, creating special workouts to get the team ready and keep them in good health for the three-month-long season.

"[The workouts] included running and lifting portions to be performed four days a week," Jaffe said.

For all their hard work so far, the guys were appropriately rewarded. During their practice last Friday, Head Coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots paid the team a surprise visit.

Belichick is one of the winningest coaches in NFL history, the only coach to lead a team to three Super Bowl wins in a period of four years.

What many may not know is that Belichick was raised in Annapolis and that he and his son are avid lacrosse followers, with a special fondness for the Jays.

"He played [lacrosse] while growing up, and remembers the many Hopkins Lacrosse games that he attended," Jaffe said.

"When he was speaking to us, it wasn't just some guy talking about a sport he had never seen before. He obviously knew the game, and knew it pretty well," O'Neill added.

Pietramala and Belichick, both proven leaders of in their respective sports, became friends over the past year. They have stayed connected by sending e-mails on a weekly basis. Pietramala and the assistant coaches even traveled to Foxborough, Mass. and watched a few of the Patriots' practices during the lacrosse off-season.

Belichick returned the favor on Friday, observing the Hopkins lacrosse team for the duration of the day's practice, and even took part in some drills.

After the practice, Belichick gave a brief locker-room pep talk, giving his thoughts on what he saw from the guys on the field.

"He emphasized the use of the pre-season to improve weaknesses rather than to just using it to cross days off of the calendar until games began," Jaffe said.

Belichick also touched on several major teamwork components that he normally emphasizes with the Patriots.

"He pointed out a couple of things, like playing confidently and also how important it is to remember that the decisions you make as an individual will affect the team as a whole," senior long-stick midfielder Brendan Skakandi said.

"It was a very humbling experience meeting and having small talk with a man of his stature and prominence," O'Neill said. "His message was clear and got across to all of us. It was a great experience that every player in the locker room will remember for the rest of their lives."

The guys will hopefully use Belichick's motivational words as inspiration to return to their glory days of reigning as the best in the nation. At the moment, the team is focused on their first scrimmage, this weekend against Penn State.

The team's first regular season game will be at home against Albany on Feb. 24. All the players and coaches have high hopes and expectations for the year despite a schedule that's tougher than those at many of the other competing schools.

"The challenges we face with such a hard schedule will definitely make us a better team later on in the season," Skakandi said.

"It is an exciting time of year for everyone involved in our program," Benson said. "We look forward to the 2007 season."

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