|
US Lacrosse College Notebook
March 7, 2003
Lone Star Treat
It's been more than 30 years since a Division I men's lacrosse game
was played in Texas, but the wait will be over when sixth-ranked
Georgetown (1-0) meets Hobart
(2-0) on March 11 at the Texas
Military Institute, just north of San Antonio.
Dave Cole, a 1959 Hobart graduate and the current lacrosse
coach at TMI, was working Hobart's summer camp when he planted the
idea in Hobart coach Matt Kerwick's mind. “He said the
ball's in your court,” said Cole.
Cole set up the arrangements and now the state stands to benefit
from seeing the game played at such a high level.
“Fifteen years ago there was no lacrosse in Texas,” said
Cole. “Now there are 125 teams and more than 5,000 kids playing.
We've sent a lot of our kids back East on scholarships. This game
is for the kids.”
No admission will be charged and the game's start time was held
back to 4:30 to allow a number of youth teams to travel to the game.
The youth teams in Austin, more than an hour away, will be busing
to the game with each team wearing their game jerseys.
“It's really a donation by the two schools for the sport,”
said Cole.
It's only fitting that Hobart's opponent will be Georgetown. The
Hoyas are coached by Dave Urick, who won 10 national championships
at Hobart. Kerwick played for Urick at Hobart and later coached
with him at Georgetown before taking over at Hobart last season.
The only previous Division I game played in Texas was in 1971 when
Navy beat Johns Hopkins 9-6 in the Astrodome in Houston.
Around the Country
“Getting Bax-ter Good”
Lehigh
reached back into its own women's lacrosse history during the offseason
when it hired Judy Turner Baxter to replace Jackie Keeley
as head coach. Baxter had previously served as head coach of the
Mountain Hawks from 1978-85, presiding over the winningest period
in program history. Lehigh went 75-33-1 during Baxter's tenure,
qualifying for two NCAA tournaments and winning the 1985 East Coast
Conference championship.
She departed Bethlehem after that season and has since taught and
coached lacrosse at Minnesota high schools. The move to bring back
Baxter, a two-time coach of the year in the now-defunct ECC, is
paying immediate dividends. Lehigh is 3-0 and can match its 2002
win total with a win at home today against LaSalle.
Junior Emily Studdiford has scored seven goals and added
five assists, and sophomore Kellan Van Hoesen leads the team
with nine goals. Freshman goalie Kyle Begina has stopped
63.2 percent of shots faced and is a big reason why the Mountain
Hawks are outscoring their opponents 32-14 thus far. Lehigh played
its best lacrosse at home last year (.500) and is in the midst of
seven straight home games to open 2003.
Free Lacrosse
Tickets to Navy-North
Carolina men's games are becoming a better and better value
every year. Forget the sheer excitement of the one-goal games the
teams have played each of the last four seasons. Fans are getting
more lacrosse for their dollar at these games because the two have
played overtime marathons in two straight and three of their last
four matchups.
Last Friday night at a chilly Rip Miller Field in Annapolis, Md.,
Eddy Holton scored on a pass from Ian Dingman with
2:13 remaining in the fourth overtime to lift the Mids to
a 9-8 win over the Heels, snapping UNC's three-game win streak in
the series, each of which by an 11-10 final. The win sent much of
the crowd of 2,891 into hysterics and onto the field. They had reason
to celebrate, especially after Andrew Lucas provided yet
another of Carolina's dramatic moments in the series with the game-tying
goal with three tenths of a second left in regulation.
As long as the game was, it still had more time to go before matching
last year's six-overtime classic in Chapel Hill, the longest
college lacrosse game ever. Pat Jackson's empty-netter with
:21 left gave the Heels the win. UNC's Jeff Sonke won the
2001 edition with a bounce shot with one second left in regulation,
and that came after he beat Navy in 2000 with 2:42 remaining in
the first overtime. Since 2000, Navy and North Carolina have played
38:44 of extra lacrosse, treating fans to two-thirds of another
game for free.
Fear the Turtle
Don't look now but the hottest team in women's lacrosse might be
the University of Maryland.
The Terrapins won seven straight national championships from 1995
to 2001 before slipping to an 11-10 record last year. Maryland is
off to a 3-0 start this year, including a 9-8 overtime victory over
second-ranked Duke on Thursday.
The Terrapins host unbeaten and seventh-ranked Syracuse
on Saturday.
Making a Point
UMass
senior Kevin Leveille scored a career high 10 points on seven
goals and three assists Saturday to pace the Minutemen's 17-7 defeat
of Stony Brook. The 10
points is the most in a game by a UMass player since Jim McAleavey
(who sits third on the school's career scoring list) tallied 11
points (3g-8a) in a win over Boston
College in 1990. ... Dartmouth
freshman Jamie Coffin exploded for nine points on four goals
and five assists in Tuesday's 20-7 victory over Quinnipiac.
The point effort was the best by a Big Green player since Brian
Merritt poured in 11 points (5g-6a) against Vermont
in 1997.
Dolphins Throw Rankings for a Flip
LeMoyne,
which played in the NCAA Division II men's lacrosse tournament for
the first time last year, opened its 2003 season with an 11-10 victory
over defending national champion Limestone.
The Dolphins moved into a tie with New
York Tech for the top spot in the USILA Division II poll. Next
up: 2001 national champion Adelphi
on March 15.
US Lacrosse College Notebook is a weekly feature on the US Lacrosse
web site. For information about supporting the sport through membership
in US Lacrosse, visit our membership page.
|
