Last Week...
In Annapolis at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium...
Team Swami was center stage for all the tailgate action...
A record crowd follows the Swami to the game...
The Swami was fuming. The night before at the Naval Academy, U.S. Marine guards had insisted on "patting down" the Swamiettes as they entered Gate One for the Alumni Game. Hey, it took them over 10 minutes to check for explosives. Then the "shout-out" the Alumni Teams gave the Swami for the CSTV cameras hit the cutting room floor. Finally, a bad back, aggravated by a chilly evening, forced the Swami and his companion, Miss Bunny Bimbette, the movie star, to leave Rip Miller Field before the Swami would have been undoubtedly honored with some sort of elaborate half-time ceremony. How much worse could things get?

The next morning, the Swami was reading his copious fan mail as his companion, Miss Bunny Bimbette, the movie star, cautioned by the Swami not to run over anyone, slowly maneuvered the Swami's Lincoln Navigator into the parking lot at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Miss Bimbette, as is usual for chicks, was late returning from the beauty parlor.

Swami: Hey babe, the Swami wanted to be here early for all the tailgates. What kept you?

Bunny: Oh Swami, I had my nails done this morning. I wanted to make a patriotic statement for the Army-Navy game.

The Swami glanced at her fingernails.

Swami: I like the right hand, babe. The gold Navy "N" on the dark blue background is a nice touch.

Miss Bimbette then flashed the fingernails on her left hand.

Swami: I don't get it, babe. What's with the stars on the black background?

Bunny: Oh Swami, men can be so dumb. It's for the Black Nights of Army.

Swami: They're going to like that, babe.


The Swami reports from Annapolis: The action was fast, furious, and non-stop...
An excited throng, brought to its feet by a Navy fast break, gasps when Mitch Hendler scores...
With a little over a minute remaining in the first quarter, Navy was in a familiar position: deep trouble. Unlucky Midshipman Nick Mirabito had just missed his second shot on goal in twenty seconds. This one hit the pipe and bounced fortuitously into the hands of the Mids' arch-enemy. Army, now leading 3-2, would assault the Midshipmen's goal once more, seeking to double Navy's point total before the second quarter could begin.

Now, the Black Knights' monster midfielder, 6' 2" 210 lb. Chris Larsen, had the ball behind the Navy goal and smelled blood. He curled, counter clock-wise around the crease, executed an inside pivot to shake one defender, then ducked the check of a second, while firing a high point-blank rocket at Navy goal tender Matt Russell. Russell came far out to block the shot, once more saving Navy's bacon. But Larsen had released the ball with such force that the Navy goalie could not control the rebound, which shot out to another Army attacker. Navy swarmed the ball, with defender Andrew Dow hacking away until it spun to the ground. Then, long stick midfielder Seth DiNola slid into the pack and came out with possession. Time had run down to less than 10 seconds. DiNola passed to teammate Mike Felber to begin the clear. Felber saw close defender Mitch Hendler on the run and hit him perfectly with a pass from the right side.

How many times does a defenseman dream of being one-on-three against an arch-rival then shooting from 16 yards out in the middle of the field? Hopefully never. But Hendler knew he had no time to look for anyone who might be open and took the shot. Miraculously, it crossed the plane of the goal with one-tenth of a second remaining.

The horn sounded. It was the end of the quarter and the Navy bench had erupted, knocking Hendler to the ground. The senior defenseman had tied the game.

It was the first shot of his college career.

Once again, in mere seconds, the most exciting team in college lacrosse had turned an almost certain 4-2 Army lead into a knotted game. How can lacrosse fans not love this action?

Going into the game, Navy had to be worried about Jim Wagner. He's one of the best two or three shooters in Division I lacrosse now. And it didn't take Wagner long to make his presence felt. With barely three minutes burned off the clock in the first quarter, Wagner hit Navy's goal with a shovel shot from the left side, about 12 yards out. This gave Army and early, and quick, lead.

Three minutes later, Matt Scheel curled around the crease from behind, shook his defender, and appeared one-on-one with Navy goalie Matt Russell. Scheel's goal put Army up by two.

It wasn't until 6:41 that Navy was able to get some offense going. At that point, Ben Horn took a feed from Steve Looney and dove with a right-handed score. It was going to be a long day for Navy if the Midshipmen would have to work for goals like this.

Wagner struck again at 6:29 with a ten yard bouncer. Matt Russell had left the goal to assist his defense, and Navy was caught off guard.

While Army-Navy games are famous for hitting, referees tend to let these disciplined teams play, and do not call a lot of penalties. So it was last Saturday when both teams occupied the penalty box for a total of 2:30. But, at 4:09 Army was called for interference. Navy has been deadly on EMO lately, and just seconds into this penalty, Jon Birsner assisted Steve Looney, who hit Army's net from front and center with a high hard shot.

The quarter was drawing to an end, and Army definitely had the upper hand. Navy looked slow and not well coordinated. Then, just as the quarter closed, Mitch Hendler electrified the crowd with a 16 yard shot that crossed the plane of the goal with only a tenth of a second remaining on the clock. The Navy bench erupted and the game was tied at three goals apiece.

Not a minute into the second quarter, Jon Birsner scored on a goal that was a carbon copy of his effort the week before against Maryland. He circled the crease counter-clockwise, looked like he was going to feed someone in front, and turned and fired off a jump shot. This was the goal that would put Navy ahead for good.

Both teams ratcheted up the speed in the second quarter, and possession changes were rampant as both defensive midfields went to work on their opponents.

At 13:02 Navy goalie Matt Russell came up with a beautiful save. This seemed to energize the Mids even more.

After a pipe shot from Jon Birsner, Billy Looney unleashed a right-handed side winder that whistled past Army goalie Matt Darak. But Army came right back with a John Walker score from 13 yards out on the right side. The high to high shot had too much steam on it to be stopped.

Nick Mirabito, Navy's starting freshman attacker, had already been plagued with several near misses. But, at 7:16, Mirabito scored on a low shot from close in after coming from behind and shaking his defender.

Seconds later Justin Bokmeyer scored for Army on a feed from John Walker. It was another side arm shot from the right side. The game was beginning to settle down now and unforced turnovers were becoming less frequent. Army seemed to be answering Navy's goals within minutes.

With Navy leading, 6-5, and six minutes left in the half, Army's defense now tightened the screws. Navy blew a fast break with a shot right into Darak's stick. It was a golden opportunity missed. A minute and a half later, Darak made the most spectacular of his saves--an impossible stop right on the doorstep. The half ended.

The Swami glanced at this stats. Navy had a slight edge in face-offs and ground balls, but nothing spectacular. But one number jumped off the page at the Swami. Navy had 25 shots to Army's 11. With two pipe shots and two near misses by Nick Mirabito, if Navy's shots started falling, Army could find itself in trouble quickly.

During the break the Swami strolled up to the concession stand. It hurts the Swami to have to buy one of Navy's hot dogs--they are the worst. Not only are they not made of real dogs, but they're totally tasteless. Perhaps this is because they're the "all-beef" variety. Hey, no service academy should be serving all-beef dogs. The only 100% patriotic American hot dog is the "all-meat" variety. If your dog does not contain some measure of ground eyeballs and rat feces, it's un-American. Even Hopkins fans know that.

When the Swami returned to his seat, the Swamiettes had showed up and were engaged in a conversation concerning Miss Bimbette's fingernails. All agreed that her tribute to Army was far more clever than the simple gold "N" recognizing the home team.

In retrospect, the third quarter was disastrous for Army. The game was about as even as possible during the first half, but Navy pushed its advantage to two goals almost immediately when Steve Looney scored with a perfectly placed shot.

Army dodged a bullet when Navy's Terence Higgins just barely missed intercepting a clearing pass. Higgins hustled to the far side line in a dive for the ball which eventually carried him out of bounds.

With 12 minutes on the clock, Matt Russell made another terrific save and threw a great outlet pass. Navy was on transition. Seconds later the ball was in Army's goal off a shot by Nick Mirabito and an assist from Dan Harris.

Jon Birsner fed Dan Horn for Navy's next goal, at 7:57. Navy was now rolling, and the Mids extended their lead to 9-5.

Dwayne Osgood had the ball a minute after the Horn goal. He looked like he was too far out to get off an accurate shot, but he flung a low bouncer past Darak for the score.

Army took a time out to re-group, and the game settled a bit. It looked like the third quarter would end with a 10-6 Navy advantage, but Billy Looney had other ideas. With only 11 seconds left on the clock, he managed to get off a shot over the shoulder of his defender that found its mark. 11-6.

Adam Fullerton came in for Army in goal for the fourth quarter.

Within 45 seconds, Army scored on an unassisted goal by Chris Larsen, who, once again, shook a Navy defender behind the crease. Army had kept pace with Navy's shooting during the third quarter, and was now headed for a 10-4 fourth quarter shot advantage.

When John Walker worked his way in close to the goal and scored at 10:52 the many Army fans present came to life. Navy's three goal lead was now within striking distance.

Billy Looney scored again at 9:16 to complete his hat trick. But it would be the Mids' only goal of the quarter. Army now had nine minutes in which to score four goals. Things were beginning to look grim for the Black Knights.

Navy controlled the ball as best it could, but in any game with Army that is an iffy proposition at best. Jim Wagner would score his fourth goal of the game at 3:57, but, by that time, it was obvious that Navy was not going to lose the game.

Navy's four goal run, staged over a six minute stretch of the third quarter was the killer.

It was a great game attended by a record crowd on a beautiful Spring day. You should have been there.

Final score: Navy 12, Army 9
swami@laxswami.com


Miss Venus Lee reports from Annapolis...
Charmed by insidious Army lax moms...
The gullible Miss Lee is undoubtedly duped...
I must confess that it was my assignment to cover the Army-Navy Alumni game last Friday evening in Annapolis. But when the Alumni Association invited me to a reception at Ogle Hall held at approximately the same time, I could not decline.

It may not seem like a long walk from the Alumni House, located near St. John's College, to Rip Miller Field, but the ancient and unevenly bricked sidewalks of Annapolis were not made for high heeled shoes, and Rip Miller Field was not constructed to accommodate evening dresses.

I had to pass on the Alumni Game.

I would like to thank those associated with this event for thinking of me. It was an honor to attend. The web site of "This Week" is sometimes irreverent to many of the educational institutions involved with Division I lacrosse, and I am often amazed how personally some of the athletic departments of those schools take the criticisms and comments we publish--especially those that are intended to tweak their fans and alumni. For whatever reason, the service academies show no such sensitivities, quite often supplying us with humorous anecdotes about their own graduates, especially those with flamboyant or controversial personalities. Our Bill O'Brien (USMA '91) file is bulging, for example.

Miss Venus Lee signs a program during a reception at the Naval Academy's Alumni House (Ogle Hall).

Usually, when visiting Baltimore for the Spring, I stay with my brother, who lives near the Johns Hopkins University campus. Last week however, I had to make a quick trip to California. My return flight did not land at BWI Airport until 3:00 PM Friday, so I headed straight to Annapolis where I had reservations at the Sheraton Hotel. After a quick change I drove to Ogle Hall. Parking in Annapolis is impossible and the only space I found was quite a distance away. I was also tired from the six hour flight. When the reception was over, I returned to the Sheraton for an anticipated uninterrupted night's sleep. Who knew? At 2:30 AM the entire hotel was rudely awakened. It seems that most of the Army-Navy alumni players had also chosen to stay at the Sheraton. After the game, they had closed down two popular night spots near City Dock. Now they were back at the hotel, singing, carrying on, and shouting. A half-hearted intervention by the hotel staff only resulted in the decibel level being turned up. This was a wild crew. Fortunately, the hotel bar was closed. I got to sleep at 3:15 AM.

Annapolis offers a better opportunity for fans of both teams to tailgate since the stadium is not located on academy grounds, as is Army's. As you can imagine, security is high at both institutions these days. According to Naval Academy officials, the record crowd for Saturday's noon contest began arriving in the parking lot of Navy-Marine Corps Stadium before 9:00 AM.

I arrived about an hour before the rest of our crew and had the opportunity to meet with a variety of tailgaters from both teams, including relatives of some of the players. This was also Parents' Day for the first classmen of the Naval Academy.

After the Swami made his grand appearance, we entered the stadium together, choosing seats on the North side of the field, so that Miss Bimbette could tan herself during the game.

The advertised noon start turned out to be a tad optimistic. At 12:10 PM, two F/A-18 Hornets roared over the stadium at an unbelievably low altitude, which revved up an already overheated crowd.

The game began two minutes later.

Army grabbed an immediate lead, which it controlled for all of the first quarter. This did not surprise me, for I agreed with the Swami that Army would be one of the most underrated teams in Division I this season. What did surprise me was the shooting of Army's Jim Wagner, who lit up the scoreboard twice in the first eight and a half minutes. Yes, I had seen Wagner two years ago, but his improvement since then was manifest. And, in 2003, Navy managed to hold him to only three shots. Here it was a little more than halfway through the first quarter, and Wagner was stalking Navy's fleet like a rogue enemy submarine.

There was every sign that Army would close out the first period with a one or two goal lead, until the last play of the quarter. It was then that Navy's Mitch Hendler would turn things on their heads for the Black Knights.

Midshipman 1/c Hendler, a close defenseman from Boys' Latin, had never taken a shot in his collegiate career. He led a fast break off a contested ground ball in Navy's end, and, knowing that there was no time to pass off, took a low percentage shot that was not particularly hard, on Army's goal. It came straight from the middle of the field. But Navy had taken the ball to Army so fast that the Cadets' defense had to drop to cover Navy's attack. There was no one to pick up Hendler. He bounced in it the goal just a split second before Army goalkeeper Matt Darak could get his stick down.

The shot was taken so close to the expiration of time in the quarter, that it caused the officials to caucus to consider its legitimacy. The scoreboard at this facility is located rather high up on a hill, and it is impossible to watch both the goal and the clock at the same time.

Fans argued in the stands, but no one present really knew if time had run out.

Nonetheless, the score stood, and Navy had tied the game.

Virtually all the analysis before this game was on the mark. If Navy could entice Army into the Midshipmens' running-induced mayhem, the Mids were advantaged. But if Army had the time and room to pass the ball and pick shots, their outside shooters would have the upper hand. Here was a first quarter that showed signs of both--and that this game could well go either way.

Raised as an Army fan, I was both apprehensive and hopeful at the same time. I have seen enough of Navy to know of its inconsistencies. But Navy, while not playing up to Army in the first quarter, was showing consistency. I knew that had to stop. The Midshipmen are wild men on the lacrosse field, and when you see consistency from them, expect the other shoe to drop at any time. Furious scoring runs as well as mindless defensive lapses are equal hallmarks of this turbulent team--with both sometimes occurring during the same game.

In this case, consistency led to a wild four goal scoring run by Navy. It turned out to be the knock-out punch from which Army could not recover. Absent that, this was a dead-even game.

I've seen both Duke and Georgetown play several times so far this season. Both teams are fast. But Navy is in a speed class by itself. At 11:52, Nick Mirabito scored Navy's eighth goal. Just seconds earlier the ball had been at the other end of the field in Matt Russell's stick.

Navy's problem all this year has been to bring balance to its game. Navy needs to use its speed, but Navy also needs to value its possessions. Against Army last Saturday, there were times when Navy rushed shots. Navy was fortunate that Army did not exact a higher price for that haste. Next week, if given the opportunity, Hopkins will.

At the end of the game, we spent a good 90 minutes at various tailgate parties, including the big Army gathering which was held near the water tower. There I was able to talk with some of the same Army lax moms that the Swami accused of molesting him at West Point in 2004 while he performed an Elvis imitation. What a joker the Swami can be.

This was an intelligent, mature group of women, not at all prone to the juvenilia the Swami attributed to them.

We all enjoyed a good laugh at what I thought was the Swami's overtly apocryphal account of the Army lax moms assaulting him.

At least until one of the women said, "I would never do anything like that, but I did enjoy his Elvis imitation."

Hmmm.
venuslee@laxswami.com


On the road with Northwestern...
The Wildcats tune up for their big game in Baltimore...
Northwestern is facing its toughest road trip of the year...
Yawn. I mean, can this team be any more boring to watch? Seriously. I come to watch a nicely-played, nicely-fought lacrosse game. Instead, I see this damn Northwestern team scoring like a million goals and running circles around yet another team outfitted in a boring navy uniform. Good thing I'm traveling to Johns Hopkins this weekend – I'll get to see some uniform diversity, and hopefully a little score diversity too.

Northwestern wins 14-6. Doesn't sound that bad right?, or at least when you consider this team has already this season outscored opponents by 21-2, 22-6, and 15-3 (twice). Plus, two days after they played Penn State, the Wildcats went 20-3 over conference opponent Davidson (4-9).

Anyway, back to the game I'm supposed to be covering: No. 1 Northwestern (14-0) versus No. 8 Penn State (8-4). I'm not going to bore you and replay the whole game, because it's the same old story.

The Wildcats open scoring and make it 6-0 before the Nittany Lions even get on the board. Penn State's Shari Maslin gets one 22:34 into the game, but NU’s golden girl Kristen Kjellman answers back with two straight in as many minutes. It's 8-2 at the half.

Surprise, surprise, Northwestern gets the first three goals of the second half, generously allows Emily Chambers to score a goal, gets three more goals, blah blah blah. NU's looking like a basketball team with no shot clock as it keeps possession from Penn State.

The Nittany Lions look like they might roar back in the last ten minutes, and they get three more goals. But, who would have guessed? Northwestern fends them off with its solid defense and good saves from its goalie.

That's all you really need to know about this game.

Final score: Northwestern 14, Penn State 6

And, now, on to the next contest, which is guaranteed to be a good one. This one might even top the #1-#2 match up between Northwestern and Duke--because this game is for the conference title.

No. 1 Northwestern is 3-0 and No. 11 Hopkins is 3-1 in the American Lacrosse Conference. The what conference? NU, Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Penn State, Davidson and two Ohio teams make up this ALC.

So basically, if Hopkins beats NU, it can challenge for the conference title and thus the automatic tourney berth. If NU – the only team undefeated in the conference – wins, they'll probably take that title and a little more credibility to their Numero Uno national ranking.

So, this is quite the game, and I wasn't quite sure how I should present it, until… I looked at the roster and noticed that there will be two Sarah Walshes playing in Friday's game. And so, to debate who will win this match-up, we have:

SWHop: Hopkins’ Sarah Walsh, a sophomore attacker who is second on her team with 28 points

SWCat: NU's Sarah Walsh, who is a senior attacker who started…one game this season. But she has one goal!

**Disclaimer: these are fictional representations

Girls, you may begin debating now.

SWCat: Okay, so I'm obviously going to win this debate and this game, because, hello? Not only are we No. 1 in the country, we just kicked No. 2’s *ss. We haven't lost this season, so why would we lose to you? You're not even in the Top 10. You can just forfeit now.

SWHop: Read the newspapers, honey. You guys “don't care about” rankings, or at least that's what you say. Besides, two years ago, you were what? No. 31? Oooh, that's impressive.

SWCat: Yeah, well…at least we got better.

SWHop: Besides, look at some of those teams that have kept you undefeated. Oregon? Davidson? Cal? We play the big guns, honey. The Princetons, the Marylands, the East Coast powers.

SWCat: Yeah, and you lose to them.

SWHop: Besides, we played Penn State, beat ‘em 13-4. Ha, that's two less goals we let them score. And Ohio, remember you beat them by only 13 points. We beat them by 14 and shut them out.

SWCat: That's not that much of a difference, Sarah.

SWHop: Whatevs. You're not winning this one, Catgirl. This is our house. This is Homewood Field, baby. This is lacrosse country.

SWCat: You seem to forget the No. 1 ranking belongs to the Midwest now.

SWHop: Doesn't matter. Rules are different here. We haven't dropped a game here since last April. Perfect 4-0 this season. When’s the last time you won on our field? Oh, that's right, you haven't.

SWCat: Okay, fine, we dropped one game at your stinking field, three years ago. But c’mon, It was close. 11-7.

SWHop: And then we beatcha again when we met in Nashville the next year.

SWCat: That's ancient history by now, Hoppie. Last year was it? Yeah last year, we beat you fair and square 15-8. We've got the momentum.

SWHop: Momentum? We've got that. Won six of our last seven, we did.

SWCat: Uh, hello. 14 straight wins here.

SWHop: Okay, fine….(thinking) Our goalie's save percentage is .006 better than your goalie's save percentage. Ha! (sticks out tongue)

SWCat: But our Gersuk’s GAA is 6.25. Your Riddick’s is 7.0. Ha.

SWHop: We've got Mary Key. She's definitely key to our team. She's one of the best scorers in the league. ALC Playa of the Week a few weeks ago, and a Tewaaraton candidate.

SWCat: Almost impressive…but not quite. We've got Lindsey Munday, Kristen Kjellman, and Courtney Koester – all Tewaaraton contendahs. Oh, and uh Lindsey has 77 points – 23 more than your Key.

SWHop: Holy sh…I mean, yeah okay. She's pretty good, then. Fine, then. We're older, so we're obviously better.

SWCat: Just because your program was established 25 before ours was, does not make you better. And, shut up, shorty, you're just a sophomore.

SWHop: Back up. You and your No. 1 team and your No. 1 offense are not going to bully us into losing this game. You don't need this game. I'm sure that No. 1 will get you and your little friends to the tournament. But us, we need this win to make sure we're guaranteed a spot come May.

SWCat: Do not doubt that we want this game just as much as you. The higher the playoff spot, the happier we'll be. You think we want to meet Virginia again this tournament? No, thank you. Nuh-uh. Cats might have nine lives, but we don't want to give another one of ours to the Cavs this year.

SWHop: Focus, Walshie. We're talking about this game, not the tournament? We're totally gonna win, cuz we're playing at home.

SWCat: We're gonna win, cuz we’re No. 1.

SWHop: We're gonna win, cuz we want to be the ones to finally beat y’all. Someone’s got to do it.
ccryan@laxswami.com

This Week...
Lacrosse broadcast links...
Each week the Swami notices questions on the Laxpower board about which games will be broadcast that weekend. Hey, they're all here!

If you need to connect to lacrosse games on the Internet, remember: the Swami's list is the most complete compilation of lacrosse TV and radio broadcasts on the Internet. To get to that page, or any of the Swami's other exciting pages, just run your mouse over the floating link bar at the left of your screen. That will activate the pull-out tray which contains links to Radio/TV, the Swami's other links and the Swami Fan Club, which is now the most populous fan club in lacrosse. Hey, when you read the Swami, you get it all!

It usually takes a while to get down all the many changes that college stations make to their webcasts between seasons, so be patient.

The Game of the Week:

... Navy at Johns Hopkins

Saturday, April 23, 1:00 PM, Homewood Field, Baltimore, MD

Listen to Pete Medhurst call the game over WNAV 1430 AM. The pre-game show begins at 12:45 PM. Click on WNAV logo.