Lacrosse looks to rebound in 2014

From Joe DiMaggio’s 56 game hit streak, to Brett Favre’s 297 consecutive regular season starts, and now the Hopkins men’s lacrosse team consecutive playoff berths, every streak must eventually end.

The Blue Jays’ streak of 41 consecutive NCAA playoff appearances dates back all the way to 1971, tied for the longest such streak in college sports. After finishing a respectable 9-5 last season, the streak was snapped and Hopkins missed the tournament. Instead of sulking, though, the players are using last season as motivation to get back and start a new dynasty.

“The locker room is excited,” long stick midfielder Michael Pellegrino said. “This is the first year Hopkins has been an underdog. It’s nice to have a chip on your shoulder and have people doubt you instead of coming into a season and having people say, ‘Oh, they should win this year.’ This year, they’re coming in and saying, ‘They’re not even going to make the playoffs.’ We’re really excited to prove people wrong this year.”

After such a long run of success, one would expect the team to be under extra pressure to return to dominance. According to attackman Wells Stanwick, this is not the case.

“It’s almost less pressure, actually,” Stanwick said. “We’re kind of flying under the radar. No one expects us to do much, so I think it actually takes a lot of pressure off of us.”

The New Pieces

Last season, the Blue Jays sported one the NCAA’s strongest defenses, tying for third in goals allowed per game at 7.79. The offense, however, was middle of the pack, tied for 14th at 11.50 goals per game and finishing closer to 60th ranked Canisius (7.77) than to top ranked Albany (15.94).

In an attempt to bring back the elite offenses of years past, the Blue Jays have implemented a new offensive scheme and have been working hard on fundamentals like ball movement and stick work.

“It’s a motion based offense where there’s a lot more movement and not as many set plays,” Stanwick said. “We’re playing off each other and playing more freely, which I think helps a lot.”

Hopkins will bring back Stanwick, who led the team in points (47) and assists (23) while finishing second in goals (24). Joining Stanwick will be returning attacker Brandon Benn, who led the team in goals (34) and was second in points (35).

The team’s defense will likely take a hit, however, as it loses two-time William C. Schmeisser Award winner Tucker Durkin and his team-leading 16 caused turnovers. Also graduated is former starting goalie Pierce Bassett, who carried the third best save percentage (.604) in Division I. The defensive unit will have a lot to live up to given the team’s defensive performance last season, but new starting goalie Eric Schneider is ready to fill in after playing in eight games last season.

“It feels great,” Schneider said. “I’ve definitely been working for this opportunity for a long time. I’m very happy and honored to fill that position. Pierce Basset was a great goalie last year and obviously I’ve got big shoes to fill, but I’m feeling very confident going into Ohio State.”

The New Captains

This year’s team will feature three entirely new captains, headlined by Pellegrino. After a season in which he was second on the team in scooping up ground balls (38) and causing turnovers (15), Pellegrino will become the first junior captain since former attackman Jake Byrne was voted to lead in 2006. Despite the new title, Pellegrino said he will look to do more of the same.

“I just bring the same attitude I’ve been bringing since my freshman year,” Pellegrino said. “I was elected captain for who I am, so I’m not going to change who I am.”

Joining Pellegrino as team captains will be midfielders Rob Guida and James Malm. Guida in particular will look to get back to form after starting in six games last season but missing eight with an early season injury. Projected out to a full season, Guida would have scored seven goals (9th on the team), dished out nine assists (4th), tallied 16 points (tied for 7th), and scooped up 23 ground balls (6th).

The New Mentality

After the team’s first playoff absence in four decades, the Blue Jays are trying to put last season where it belongs: in the past.

“We’re just trying to move forward and find our own identity,” Schneider said. “We need to focus on what we can control.”

Head Coach Dave Pietramala has been stressing three main factors that have nothing to do with ability but everything to do with success. The new captain has memorized these goals and taken them to heart.

“If you think about them, they actually makes a lot of sense,” Pellegrino said. “We have to play tough, we have to play smart, and we have to play together. If we can do those three things, we should win almost every game we play.”

The team is also trying to stay loose and relaxed for what should be a difficult season. One pre-game ritual in particular helps to lighten the mood.

“Every week we do a different prank,” Schneider said. “Last week there was snow, so we started throwing snowballs at coach. One time [midfielder] Phil Castronova impersonated coach and it was spot on. We borrowed his hat and took one of his jackets out of the lockers. It was pretty funny.”

Aside from the planned pranks, an incident before the team’s scrimmage against Georgetown two weeks ago made everyone laugh.

“We were coming out for the Georgetown scrimmage and we were sending the goalies out,” Stanwick said. “The goalies for some reason were taking the balls out of a bucket of like 50 balls. The backup goalie Ryan Feit ended up slipping and sent all the balls down the hallway. That was pretty funny and I think it loosened every body up for the scrimmage.”

Whether it is snowballs or lacrosse balls that foster team chemistry and bring the players together, the Blue Jays are still working towards a playoff berth. However, they plan to keep their heads down and take the season step by step.

“Looking forward and looking to the playoffs is ultimately what hurts teams a lot of times,” Schneider said. “Coach always talks about focusing on the process and doing the little things and they’ll add up, and I firmly believe in that. If we take care of everything we have to do each and every practice day, it’ll give us a good opportunity to succeed against Ohio State. And if we can carry that throughout the season, I think we’ll be okay.”

Schneider’s teammate and captain echoed the thought.

“We’re only going to go as far as our next game,” Pellegrino said. “We just have to go 1-0 each week.”

The New Season

Despite what has been called a disappointing season, the Blue Jays still managed to finish 3rd in scoring margin last year (3.71), scoring 52 more goals than they allowed across their 14 games. The leader in the category, Cornell (5.50) made it to the semi-finals where they lost to Duke, who narrowly beat Hopkins for second (3.86) and won the entire tournament. If the Blue Jays can maintain an elite scoring margin, history says they are bound for success.

Hopkins will also bring back five of its top 10 point leaders, each of its top three goal scorers, and two of its top three turnover creators.

After Ohio State, the slate only get harder for the Blue Jays. The month of March alone will see the team face off against #2 Syracuse, #9 Virginia, and #3 North Carolina, in back-to-back-to-back weeks. But playing the best has been a staple of the Hopkins schedule and has been one of the reasons they are always in the mix for a playoff spot, despite a sometimes less than stellar win-loss record.

They will begin the season ranked No. 13 according to ESPN. They will face a tough schedule, as eight of their 14 regular season opponents are ranked in the top 20 teams according to the preseason rankings. They will carry a new set of captains, a new goalie, and a new offensive scheme. They will enter this season as underdogs for the first time in 41 years and they couldn’t be hungrier.

“I feel like the last couple years we’ve done a lot of talking,” Stanwick said. “A lot of times teams do a lot of talking and we want to stay away from that and go game by game. Two weeks ago we were looking at Georgetown, last week we were looking at Penn State, and this week we’re looking at Ohio State.”