In a season that began amid concerns about their inexperience, the Johns Hopkins Men's Lacrosse team came together as a whole, advanced to the NCAA semifinal game and played like a squad of seasoned veterans.
With four freshmen in the starting lineup on opening day, there was much room for concern on the part of onlookers who said the squad was too young. But the Men's Lacrosse team turned critics into fans and doubters into believers as they soon proved themselves to be one of the nation's strongest teams.
The Jays are a perennial powerhouse in Division I lacrosse, but this year they were never expected to wield the scoring power or defensive prowess they soon inflicted on their opponents. But by blending a mix of talent and toughness, the Jays consistently found themselves in the win column.
The team compiled an impressive 11-1 regular-season record before defeating Massachusetts in the NCAA Quarterfinals only to fall to No. 4 Princeton 11-9 in the semifinals.
Despite the heartbreaking loss that ended their season without a national championship, Blue Jays' Head Coach Dave Pietramala appreciated the accomplishments of his squad.
"When you've experienced a special group like this, its tough to see it come to an end. But, these guys have nothing to be ashamed about. In the beginning of the season we were the third-worst team in Baltimore, 13 games later we're 12-1 and playing the defending champions in the Final Four," said Pietramala at a post-game press conference following the Princeton loss.
TheBlue Jays made their presence known from the beginning of the season, when they put together an impressive 8-5 upset victory over preseason No. 1 and defending NCAA champions Princeton in front of a raucous crowd at Homewood Field.
Hopkins followed that victory with two more, in a streak that carried them to the No. 1 ranking before losing badly to Virginia 12-6.
The Blue Jays, however, managed to bounce back after the embarrassing loss. They won their remaining nine games, ended the regular season ranked No. 1, and earned the top seed in the NCAA Tournament before facing the Princeton Tigers once again, this time in the NCAA Semifinal.
The much-anticipated match-up surely took on extra significance because of Hopkins' season-opening triumph against the Tigers.
Looking to exact revenge, Princeton took an early lead and never looked back. Thanks to scores by Brad Dumont and Josh White within the first six minutes of the contest, the Jays found themselves trailing 2-0 seemingly when the game had just begun.
Junior midfielder Adam Doneger put the Jays on the board with their first goal, but his efforts were not nearly enough. Things only got worse for the Jays when B.J. Prager scored two goals and Dumont added one more to increase the Tigers' lead to a commanding score of 5-1. The two teams exchanged goals for the remainder of the half, and the Tigers went into halftime boasting an impressive 7-3 lead.
The second half held in store much of the same, as the Jays found themselves unable to narrow the gap. Each time Hopkins managed to string together a scoring run, their charge was answered by one of equal proportion by the Tigers.
Holding off a late Blue Jay charge, Princeton secured victory by a score of 11-9, ending the Blue Jays' season.
But despite the loss, Hopkins players had much to be proud of. The team, which had widely been considered the youngest in the nation had stepped up in a way few had expected that they would.
Underscoring the team's inexperience was the sheer youth of many players. Beginning the year, juniors Bobby Benson and Adam Doneger had combined to start 55 games. The other 37 players on the team had combined to start just 35 games between them. And yet, the team's inexperience didn't seem to matter as the Jays secured victory after victory without looking back.
Of the 10 players who started every game, four were freshmen, including Kyle Barrie, Peter LeSueur, Kyle Harrison and Chris Watson. Conor Ford accomplished the same feat as a sophomore.
Harrison expressed mixed emotions when characterizing his feelings about the lacrosse team's season.
"Obviously a season is never successful without a championsip, but making it to the the Final Four was great, especially because we had such a young team," he said.
Another key element of the Blue Jays' success was the confident, dominant play of inexperienced senior goalkeeper Nick Murtha. Murtha had never started a game prior to this year, and yet he played like a seasoned veteran, leading the Jays to crucial victories along the course of the season.
"Nick stepped up and made a huge difference for us," said Harrison.
Thus, even though the Men's Lacrosse team's 2001-02 season came to a close without a coveted championship trophy, this did not mean that the team had failed to accomplish goals. Rather, they often exceeded expectations, beating top-notch teams and showing that they have a bright future.
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