Last Week...
At Annapolis for Delaware-Navy...
The Blue Men bring some serious lacrosse to Crab Town...
Navy's Iceman steps up in the second half, going 5 for 6 in the third quarter...
When veteran head coach Bob Shillinglaw took his Delaware team into the locker room at halftime, he knew something that many of the fans in Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium did not: Navy had a 6-2 lead on the scoreboard, but not on the field. The score in the second half would prove his thesis.

This was a well played game by both teams. The Blue Men placed 62.5% of their 32 shots on goal in this contest--and another half dozen shots that were very narrow misses. And Navy was almost as good. Goalies have to step up for those kind of shooting statistics--and that's exactly what Navy's Matt Russell and Delaware's Chris Collins did. The crowd was awed on more than several occasions by spectacular point-blank saves made at both ends of the field.

The much-touted match-up between Navy's face-off specialists Chris "Iceman" Pieczonka and William Wallace against Delaware's Alex Smith, who leads all Division I center midfielders with a winning percentage of .722, was everything it had been advertised to be.

Both teams were missing critical players. Delaware's Dave Powers, the team's second leading scorer, broke his hand in practice a few days before this game. And Steve Looney, Navy's third leading scorer, suffered an ankle injury in practice.

The tone was set before the game was even two minutes old when Delaware's Andy Hipple penetrated the Navy defense and found himself one-on-one with Navy goal keeper Matt Russell. But Russell stopped the shot point-blank.

Billy Looney scored first for Navy with 9:45 left in the first period on a right-handed high-to-high shot from about eight yards out.

Cam Howard evened things for the Blue Men at 5:11. He scored after wrapping around the crease from behind.

At 3:22 Billy Looney fired a hard shot on goal, but Delaware's Chris Collins snuffed it. It was a continuation of a series of spectacular saves by goalies for both teams.

The quarter looked like it would close in a 1-1 tie after Navy's Graham Gill attempted to feed an open Ben Horn in front of the net, but Navy blew the play.

Navy's Dwayne Osgood's presence has been increasing felt on the field. This time Osgood took the ball on the run, passed to Ben Horn, who fed Cody Shea in front with only 9.6 seconds remaining in the quarter.

At the opening of the second quarter, Delaware took the ball off the face-off and scored immediately. It was a pretty play from center midfielder Alex Smith to Dan Hechtkopf to Andy Hipple.

Matt Russell made another outstanding save at 11:35, victimizing Cam Howard of a goal that looked near-certain to the crowd. This seemed to energize Navy, which then put together a six goal scoring run that would extend into the third quarter.

First, Tommy Wallin fed Nick Mirabito on the right side. The plebe attacker scored with a right-handed bouncer from 10 yards out at 9:36. Then, not two minutes later, Mirabito scored again, this time with the opposite hand, on another bounce shot that just caught the inside of the pipe. Midshipman Clipper Lennon induced a turnover, which eventually put the ball in the possession of Jon Birsner. Delaware had been largely successful in shutting down Birsner's feeding effectiveness, but this time he was able to locate Dan Harris who bounced a hard shot off the pipe. Ben Horn pushed Navy's lead to 5-2 on a feed from Graham Gill. Horn fired a shot high into he net from the right side.

Delaware was starting to let the game get away. Navy dominated possession during the second period and the Blue Men were forced to rush shots to keep apace.

The final goal came at 2:13 when Navy's William Wallace scored the first unassisted goal of the day with a jumper from 12 yards out on the right side. The ball hit right at the feet of Chris Collins, who barely missed the save.

At halftime the Swami looked at his stats. Navy was holding a 6-2 lead, but the contest seemed much closer. Even allowing a four goal run for its opponent, Delaware was playing a good game. Alex Smith had won seven of nine face-offs, three of them cleanly. And the Blue Men were placing their shots on cage. Matt Russell came up with nine saves in the first half, but several of Delaware's shots had barely missed the target. And Delaware was keeping pace with Navy in the ground ball department, scarfing up 16 loose balls to Navy's 17. This was going to be an interesting second half.

The Blue Men had been using a combination of zone and man defense in the first half. This would continue, but a few tweaks at halftime would dramatically increase its effectiveness.

Navy was doing its own tweaking at halftime. Chris Pieczonka, who had been frustrated by Alex Smith for 30 minutes, won the opening face-off in the third quarter. It was a sign of things to come. The Iceman went five for six against Smith in the third quarter, and Delaware was limited to two wins in the final period.

Navy added to its lead at 9:20 with Nick Mirabito's third goal. He buried it in the net with his left hand from seven yards out on the left side with an assist from William Wallace.

With the Midshipmen now leading by five, the stage was set for another dramatic appearance by Seth DiNola. Bitten by the scoring bug in Army-Navy II, DiNola fired in Navy's next score with a shot from in front at 9:11 on a feed from Chris Pieczonka. Then, when Pieczonka lost his only face-off of the quarter on the next play, DiNola picked Smith's pocket for possession of the ball.

Three minutes later Graham Gill shot from point blank only to watch Chris Collins come up with yet another spectacular save. This was the best game the Swami has seen two goalies play all season.

With two-thirds of the third quarter gone, it was now time for Delaware to put on its show.

Navy was to draw six penalties in this game, but Delaware would only score on the Mids' man down defense once. With 4:47 remaining, Dan Hechtkopf scored unassisted on a man up situation when Mitch Hendler was flagged for pushing.

Two minutes later, Hechtkopf assisted Drew Turner when the Navy defense slid way too early, leaving a critical shooter open.

With only 24 seconds remaining, Jordan Hall hit from the center with an unassisted goal. The quarter closed with Navy leading, 8-5.

Navy escaped several bullets by killing off penalty minutes with offensive possessions. Had Delaware been more effective on EMO, this game could have had a different outcome.

The fourth quarter opened with William Wallace winning the face-off for Navy. The Mids began to slow the game down, and limited Delaware to just seven shots in the final frame.

Navy's final goal came halfway through the period. Clipper Lennon threaded his way through the Delaware defense, switching hands from left to right, and notched a goal after a complete turnaround. In terms of dodging, it was the best goal of the game.

The clock had now run down to less than three minutes, and Navy still clung to a 9-5 lead. But Delaware would not quit.

At 2:28 Drew Turner scored off an Andy Hipple feed on the run. A minute later, Delaware took advantage of an unsettled situation and struck from the right side with a high-to-high shot by Joe Trentzsch from Jordan Hall.

It was too late for Delaware to catch up. The Blue Men had played an excellent game. But Navy's defense was stingy, and an uninterrupted six goal spurt for Navy created too big a chasm to bridge.

Final Score: Navy 9, Delaware 7.
swami@laxswami.com


At Washington for Army-Georgetown...
Injured Army's valiant season comes to an end...
Jake Hyde is on the road with Army...
We decided to arrive early because of the risk of a sell-out at Georgetown's cramped temporary North Kehoe home field. We parked for free in the new garage under the Southwest Quad and walked up the hill between McDonough Gym and the construction at the Hoyas' future Harbin Field home.

As it was, the forecast of rain may have delayed the turnout somewhat and there was room in the stands at the face-off. Eventually, though, the stands were full and youth players, their coaches, and some of their parents filled the area on the grass directly in front of the stands. The rain held off, and weather was not a factor since the iffy footing on the slick grass and loose dirt affected both teams equally.

I'm not going to give a play-by-play recap of the game because that is available elsewhere. Instead, I will offer a few impressions. I had read that these were two beat up teams, staggering into the tournament and was interested to see which had healed most. Army's press releases said that Coach Emmer was curtailing practices in hopes of letting the team recover from its unprecedented sixteen games so far, seven of which had fallen in one twenty-one day stretch. In addition, two of their defensive starters definitely would not play. Georgetown releases, on the other hand, promised that their defense would be intact for the first time in at least a month. Also, I was eager to see the Brodie Merrill - John Walker match-up.

In the event, there was little drama to either of these questions. Georgetown dominated every facet of the game over an Army team that appeared to be as lame and depleted as advertised. Merrill totally neutralized Walker and was his usual dominant self all over the field. He is without a doubt the best long stick player I have seen all year, in person or on TV ... a definite candidate for Player-of-the-Year.

That said, I discovered a long and closely held Army secret from parents in the stands and afterwards passing through the Army tailgate on our way back to our car. John Walker has been playing with a serious and progressively worsening injury for at least two months. It was described to me variously as a hip misalignment, a cracked vertebra, and, most authoritatively, as both. Whatever it is, Walker has practiced little with the team over the last month and not at all over the two weeks before the Georgetown game. The top orthopedic surgeon from Walter Reed Army Medical Center was on the Army sidelines tending to him versus Georgetown (as he had been at the Patriot League Tournament). Once I heard this, it was clear watching Walker that something was wrong. One time he almost literally had to crawl off the field. While his ineffectiveness against Georgetown was a severe loss to the Army team, knowledge of the injury makes his performances against Duke and twice against Navy even more impressive. He should not be judged by the Georgetown game.

Early on, it looked as if this would be a competitive game. As he did all day, Corno won the opening face-off (I thought the box score was generous to award six FOs to Army on the day; I had them winning two) but the Army D held and cleared the ball to the offensive end. Army generated several good shots on feeds to cutting middies in the first quarter, including two close misses and a pipe. But none scored. The pattern of play began to be set in that first quarter. Georgetown peppered the Army goalie with nineteen shots, the Army keeper saved nine, Army failed to clear on three of its seven attempts (they failed on 40% for the day) and committed five turnovers - several on clean strips by Georgetown defenders, and Georgetown scored four goals.

Army's pattern of lost face-offs, failed clears, and turnovers continued into the second quarter as Georgetown built its lead to 6-0 over the first four minutes of the period. Army then made a mini-run to cut the Georgetown margin to 6-3 at the half, but there was no confidence among Army fans. Over its last six games before Georgetown, Army had been outscored 23-14 in the third quarter (37-33 on the year) and 20-13 in the fourth quarter (38-31).

This game was no different as Georgetown scored ten second half goals. The Army offense had one futile possession at the start of the third quarter but then did not TOUCH the ball for over seven minutes while Georgetown poured in four more goals. Thus, Georgetown scored its last five or six goals against an exhausted Army defense that was, nevertheless, trying to press the Georgetown attack in a desperate attempt to gain possession. Many opportunities opened inside the Army defense leaving the cadet keepers helpless.

The simple summery of this game is that Georgetown dominated all aspects of the game all day. Army never gave up and, ironically, that very fact contributed to the lopsided score. I had not seen Georgetown before, and was very impressed.

But this was not the Army team I saw against a very good Cornell in March. It's always hard to know what causes a late season swoon for a talented and motivated team. Key injuries? Too many games? Maybe just not enough depth of talent? Who knows?

As I left, I stuck my head into the two teams' tailgates cheek-by-jowl in the parking lot by McDonough Gym. The Hoya players and families were suitably jubilant and the Army contingent as somber as would be expected. Most poignant among the Army group were the fifteen seniors for whom lacrosse is over, at least for the duration of their five-year active duty obligation. That, more than the loss, or even the nature of the loss, was what had stunned them. Those of us who played have experienced something similar, though without the apparent finality service academy players face after their last game. I overheard one player say to his father, with eyes brimming as they walked off the field, that he couldn't imagine the rest of his life because he had played or practiced lacrosse every day for at least seventeen years. We all know what is next for these young warriors and can only wish them well as they go in harm's way.

Final Score: Georgetown 16, Army 6.
jakehyde@laxswami.com


In Wildcat City..
The Northwestern chicks are headed for the Final Four in Annapolis...
Miss C. C. Ryan reports from Evanston, Illinois...
To all those that doubted the Northwestern women’s lacrosse team – all the Ivy snobs, the Maryland elitists, the East Coast doubters – the Wildcats sent a clear message on Tuesday when they beat Princeton 8-6.

“Shut up,” they said. “You just watch us play.”

The Wildcats entered the game knowing a) it would be their toughest of the season, and b) it would be their best opportunity to show they’re really serious about this game of lacrosse. They showed it, and they earned a visit a darn good Dartmouth team in Annapolis.

Princeton came into the matchup favored in every sense of the word – that is, if you exclude this season. In the quarterfinal round, Princeton had emerged victorious for five straight years and in 10 of the last 13 years. The Tigers had won 12 of its last 13 NCAA tournament games.

Northwestern, which has only been around for a measly four years, has played only two tournament games in that time and dropped one of them.

Needless to say, the Tigers must have been darn confident. Or, well, cocky, if you read the pretentious-sounding school paper, The Princetonian.

“We think this is the dream bracket,” coach Chris Sailer told the Princetonian last week. “To get to beat Maryland in the first round and then to go up against the undefeated top seed – you can’t write a better story for a road to the Final Four.”

Well, Ms. Sailer was getting a little carried away, and Northwestern chose to write a slightly different story. I mean, they are Numero Uno in the country.

This is what I can say about Tigers. They have really sweet uniforms. Better than any team I’ve seen travel to Evanston, Ill. So, here is the consolation prize I give to the Tigers: Best Uniform of Any Team That’s Been Beaten By Northwestern.

Anyway, the game. Man, did it start tight. Each team seemed hesitant. The gamelan for both teams like it was playing careful in the first few minutes to get a chance to feel out the other team. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t quick and intense though. Both teams were playing with speed and intense pressure, but not a lot of running. It was the very definition of a “tight game.”

Lindsey Munday, who is one point away from setting NU’s single-season points record, set up Sarah Albrecht for the goal’s first game at 1:34. No one scored for the next ten minutes.

The Princeton defense held the NU offense to the outside, and put real pressured on the Wildcats when they tried to roll or run or sneak into their favorite spots in front of the net. They did a good job of holding back NU’s top goal-scorers. The Tigers neutralized the electric Kristen Kjellman with double-teaming and frustrated Aly Josephs so much that she actually gave up the ball a few times. Princeton did a great job of cutting off the deadly NU in-front-of-the-net passes. NU capitalized only when Princeton made minor mistakes.

On the other end, the NU defense looked a little mystified by the Princeton O at first. They were scrambling, and the players couldn’t seem to figure out who exactly they were guarding. But after the first few minutes, the NU defense got it together. Princeton was challenging the NU defense, but NU’s Koester twins were at their very best, pressing the attackers in possession and forcing them to cough at the ball it. Princeton found some time to set up plays, but never seemed to get it exactly how they wanted it.

Princeton’s Kathleen Miller tied things up for the Tigers at 11:49 with an unassisted tally. Kjellman scored, then Lindsay Biles, the Ivy League Player of the Year, did what she does best for the Tigers and tied things up again off an assist from Kathleen Miller.

Josephs, who had seven goals for the Wildcats in the first-round game, got her only goal of the game with just fewer than 12 minutes left in the half.

Ten minutes later, Albrecht got her second of four goals. She tried to roll around her defender, got denied, so chose to cut in front instead. Her shot to the far side of the net put her team up 4-2 for halftime.

NU put a shot right to Princeton goalie Sarah Kolodner’s chest at half’s buzzer.

Whatever the Wildcats talked about at half time must have worked, because exactly one minute into the second half, Albrecht took a feed at the center line, ran the ball up the sideline, cut in on her defender, and made it 5-2.

“Slow her down, slow her down,” a Princeton defender screamed to Albrecht’s matchup on the play. But like the rest of her team, the defender was able to stop the Wildcat.

Ingrid Goldberg got Princeton to 5-3 by carrying the ball in and shooting at NU’s Ashley Gersuk. NU answered with two more goals, one from Donna McCann and another by Albrecht, before Biles notched her second of the game. Lindsey scored off the free position two minutes later, at 20:44.

Goldberg got another goal for Princeton at 23:24 of the half, and Ashley Amo made the NU fans nervous when she brought her team within two goals, at 8-6, with 1:52 left in the game. The Tigers couldn’t pull off the upset, though, with NU passing the ball around like an impressive game of hot potato in the final minutes.

For the first time in six seasons, Princeton was going home instead of heading to the Final Four. And for the first time in four seasons, NU was leaving home after the quarter finals, ready for something bigger.

Final Score: NU 8, Princeton 6
ccryan@laxswami.com

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