Lacrosse: Georgetown Picked to be Big Dogs in the ECAC
Written by playerpress.com, Tuesday January 13 2009
The Hoyas are expected to do some major barking once the season gets underway in the Eastern College Athletic Conference. This is no big surprise since the Hoyas have won the league title six times. To reclaim the conference crown they will have to unseat the current champion, Loyola, MD.
An extra incentive for Georgetown to return to the top of the ECAC will be that this is their final season in the conference. In 2010 they will enter the inaugural Big East Lacrosse League, a move that will continue to unify their athletic programs under one conference banner. Their bid to capture a seventh ECAC title is helped by the return of three preseason All Americans to their roster.
Andrew Brancaccio earned the distinction by finishing fourth on the team in scoring with 20 points, 18 goals and two assists. This also earned him postseason All ECAC honors. The junior also scored 20 goals in his freshman season. Craig Dowd drew the attention by recording 11 goals and 21 assists for 32 points. He was third in the ECAC for assists and 12th in the country. Barney Ehrmann earned All American and All ECAC for his stellar defensive play. The back liner had 52 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers last season.
Although by season’s end Georgetown had slipped to #16 nationally they were one of only two teams to defeat NCAA semifinalist Duke in 2008. They face the Blue Devils this season on March 21 in Durham. Prior to the trip to NC they have a March 7 home meeting with defending champion Syracuse.
Loyola wants to keep their ECAC title and advance into the playoffs and the Greyhounds have an equally ambitious schedule. Included to their conference clashes are tilts with Duke, Syracuse and Notre Dame. They face Duke on the road, host Syracuse and open their regular season by meeting the Fighting Irish on a neutral site. The game will be played in Power Springs, GA. They will face the Hoyas on Georgetown’s home field on April 11.
Penn State is considered a dark horse for the conference title and they hit the ground running by opening up their home game schedule with Notre Dame and Loyola. The Fighting Irish will be at College Park on February 22 and will face the Nittany Lions in their second game of the season. Game three of their season is a matchup with Loyola. They conclude their schedule by facing Georgetown in D.C.
To prepare for their upcoming season the Nittany Lions entered the Blue Jay Classic, a fall tournament in Baltimore, MD where they faced powerhouse Johns Hopkins and North Carolina. Prior to opening the ’09 season they will scrimmage Johns Hopkins at College Park on February 7.
The preseason coaches’ poll had Rutgers tied for third with Penn State and the Scarlet Knights are also preparing for their final season in the ECAC. As a result they have games on tap against Villanova and Syracuse. Next season the Scarlet Knights will join the Hoyas in the Big East and this gives them the opportunity to face competition against future conference mates.
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