Jays Lacrosse is one of the most storied athletic programs in the country. In a word, Hopkins Lax is super-duper.
Dave Pietramala’s 11th season as head coach will begin with the season opener at Towson on Feb. 19. Before then, the laxer bros have two scrimmages, both away; one at Penn State and one at Cornell.
The Jays are hyped as national championship contenders every season and this year is no different. After falling to Duke last year in the quarter finals, Hopkins received the 11th spot in the 2011 Face-Off Yearbook preseason poll.
Three, especially super, athletes were named preseason All-Americans. Sophomore defenseman Tucker Durkin earned third team honors. Senior Kyle Whaton and sophomore John Ranagan received honorable mentions.
The Jays may feature one of the youngest squads in the past decade with a strong showing expected from the sophomore class. Two seasons ago Chris Boland led the team in scoring but missed the 2010 season due to injury; now he’s back and ready to repeat his super ‘09 performance. With Wharton’s shots on goal approaching 100 mph and senior captain Matt Dolente’s feared face-off skills, a super season is nearly guaranteed.
Hopkins Laxers have a tradition of excellence on and off the field. Dozens of former Jays have played or are playing lacrosse professionally. While many others have gone on to be equally successful in other fields, including 2008 graduate Mike Doneger. Doneger wrote, directed and starred in a Pepsi-Max commercial which may air during this Sunday’s Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is to sports what Lacrosse is to Hopkins: The most super event all year.
The game features the top two defenses: the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers, and two super talented quarterbacks: Ben Roethlisberger and Aaron Rogers. The NFL Championship is being held in Dallas, Texas, where everything is bigger, including the hype for the football game and the super commercials expected to bog down all four quarters.
“Elevator Girl,” Doneger’s super commercial, is one of five finalists in a contest that included about 6,000 entries. That means the former Hopkins Laxer Bro is on an all expenses paid trip to the Super Bowl to watch the game in one of Dallas’s luxury suites.
Doneger also submitted an entry a year ago, but said over the phone that he used a better camera this year and the end result was a major improvement. “We shot the commercial in less than three hours and needed just another day to edit it,” Doneger said. Also starring in the commercial is actress Jaime Zeluck, and Will Simmons was the editor.
After Pepsi-Max chose the five finalists, website visitors were allowed to vote for their favorite commercials - three of which will be aired during the Super Bowl. Doneger, from Hewlett, NY, is a “big Jets fan.” “I don’t really care who wins the game,” said Doneger, “I will be focusing on the commercials.”
Doneger’s commercial could be the break he’s looking for. The commercial with the highest USA Today Ad Meter score gets a contract to help create commercials with Pepsi and Doritos.
Doneger currently lives in Los Angeles and has written and directed multiple short films. His next project, after the Super Bowl, is to begin production on his feature length film.
He credits his Writing Seminars classes, especially screenwriting professor Mark Lapadula, for preparing him to write, direct and compete for national attention in Hollywood. Doneger hopes to model his career off Woody Allen and be involved with every aspect of the production. “I want to create, and once I have the finished product people will come to me.”
With any luck Doneger’s commercial will garner some national buzz and maybe his Pepsi-Max commercial will air during the Jays’s twelve games that will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
Doneger is still an avid Hopkins Lax fan and hopes to get back to Homewood this spring to support his team.
Hopkins Laxers are winners. That means winning championships, winning Super Bowl contests and winning recognition for super hairdos.
The reputable sports blog website, www.brobible.com, recently named the D1 Lacrosse Preseason All-Flow team. Seniors Mike Maydick and Mark Goodrich were named to the OverFlow team for their locks being almost too long while junior standout Will McCance and top freshman flow-cruit Rob Guida were named to the Let It Rage team.
