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Alphabetical 2014 NCAA D1 Preview: Georgetown

We’re back with the Alphabetical 2014 NCAA D1 Previews! Like last year, we’ll go through all of the D1 men’s teams for 2014 (there are 67 this year!) and we are now moving on to the Georgetown Hoyas, located in Washington, DC. Fun fact: Georgetown is the only D1 lacrosse school that starts with the letter G.

Photo Credit: Craig Chase

2013 saw Kevin Warne take over as Head Coach from Dave Urick, and the team went 6-9 in Warne’s first campaign. The Hoyas played a bunch of tight games early, then beat the teams they should while dropping most of the rest. An OT win over St. John’s was their best victory of the year, and the Hoyas were competitive with Cuse towards the end of the regular season. Overall it was an ok first season.

In year 2, the pressure steps up and expectations increase. Can 2014 Georgetown rise to the occasion? Georgetown’s schedule is different (gone is Lafayette, Duke, and Cuse), but the SOS is close (they added Denver, Hofstra, and Towson).

The good news for Georgetown on offense is that their top 3 scorers are all back. Reilly O’Connor, Kevin McCormack, and Jeff Fountain all return. Each had at least 24 points last year, and O’Connor had 56 on 26 goals and 30 assists. The bad news is that the next four top scorers are all gone, so depth and experience could be an issue. Three guys can do a lot, but they will need help if the team wants to see success. The Hoyas only have 5 attackmen on the roster, and O’Reilly and Fountain are two of them. Bo Stafford put up 13 points last year, but there are two freshman who could push for time. Not a lot of depth, but there is talent.

At midfield, McCormack, Bucci, Grant Fisher, William Flatley, and a couple other guys bring back some solid experience.  There is good depth at midfield, and almost all the freshman mids are 6′ or over. Expect at least one or two of them to make an immediate impact. John Wujiak SCREAMS long stick middie to me, and he could move back to that slot after a great year a ssdm, but it’s doubtful due to Tyler Knarr’s proficiency with a pole. Wujiak could once again be a stellar d-mid, and will continue to contribute.

Knarr, Wujiak, Nic Mahaney, Bryson Greene, John Urbank and others return to lead a pretty solid defense. The unit gave up big goal totals at times last year, but also had games where they locked things down. With a solid returning core, they will look to be much more consistent on this end of the field. Knarr won 62% of his face offs last year with a pole, and that should help instill more confidence in the unit. Jake Haley started 13 games for Georgetown in 2013, and is likely the leading candidate for 2014, however both Alex Joyce and Alex Vicas are back on the roster after seeing limited time last season. Joyce played much more at about 120 minutes, with two starts.

Georgetown should benefit from having a solid group of long poles, and a relatively experienced defensive unit. Their face off strength will help them as well. They also have some solid experience and skill when it comes to scoring, but their relative inexperience in the midfield is a cause for concern. They have brought in talented players, but freshman could be making big decisions in key moments, and that can be risky. If anyone can get the young guys going, it could be Coach Warne. For Georgetown to go over. 500 by a couple games, they’ll need him to get those guys on the same page from day 1.

For more NCAA D1 Lacrosse coverage, check out Alphabetical 2013 NCAA D1 Preview: Air ForceAlbanyArmyBellarmineBinghamtonBostonBrownBryantBucknellCanisius,
Colgate,  CornellDartmouthDelawareDetroitDrexelDukeFairfield, and Furman.