After three straight losses, the Georgetown men’s lacrosse team (5-7, 2-2 Big East) is resigned to spending a fourth straight year at home while the rest of the nation’s elite programs participate in the NCAA tournament.

This was not how it was supposed to end, especially for a team ranked No. 15 in the preseason polls. But a combination of one of the nation’s toughest schedules and an inability to seal the deal in close games dashed the Hoyas’ hopes of making the postseason.

The season has been especially disappointing for Head Coach Dave Urick, who has led the Blue and Gray for 21 years and is the third-winningest coach in NCAA lacrosse history. Even if the team wins its last two games, it will be only the second season in his career that his team will not finish above .500. The only other time was in 2007.

“The expectation level here is always high, which is not necessarily a bad thing,” Urick said. “But it has created a sense of accomplishment here that has not been lived up to in recent years.”

While last year’s team finished 9-5 and was ranked No. 10 in the country, they were controversially not included in the NCAA tournament field. Building off of the high points of last year, this year’s squad looked promising when it kicked off play in February.

After winning their season opener against Jacksonville, the Hoyas were thrashed, 20-8, on the road by then-No. 3 Maryland. While the loss was not a surprise given the strength of the Terrapins’ lacrosse program, it would prove to be a sign of things to come.

Georgetown rallied to win against Big East foe St. John’s, but then dropped a one-goal to a top-20 Harvard team. They put forth another strong effort against No. 1 Syracuse but suffered another one-goal loss in overtime.

The Blue and Gray managed to pick up another Big East win against Providence, but a late collapse cost them dearly when they fell to Duke, 14-12, in Durham, N.C. Georgetown was able to string two wins together at the beginning of April by picking up a home victory against Navy and then taking the quick bus ride to Emmitsburg, Md., to dispatch Mount St. Mary’s.

Just when it looked like their season was turning around, the next two games denied any hope Georgetown had of overcoming its slow start. One-goal losses at then-No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 18 Loyola — a gut-wrenching four-overtime affair — eliminated the Hoyas from the NCAA tournament picture.

To add insult to injury, Georgetown lost to No. 15 Yale last Saturday, which means the team must win their last two games to avoid dealing Urick the first losing season of his 31-year career.

“Our ultimate goal here is to compete for the national championship,” Urick said. “I’ve never been involved in a season with this many one-goal losses, and especially not two tough ones in overtime.”

While there was no single factor to be blamed for all the Hoyas’ one-goal losses, an inability to finish what they had started seemed to be the most common theme.

“In some games things didn’t go our way, in others we didn’t execute,” Urick lamented.

Looking at Georgetown’s record, it is obvious that the schedule did them no favors. All seven losses came against ranked teams, and all five wins were against teams that were unranked.

“We chose an extremely tough schedule and they ended up playing their way out,” Urick said. “We need to deal with it and channel the frustration down the road. We will consider adding a team or two that isn’t as competitive.”

However, the picture for the Hoyas this year wasn’t all gloomy. Senior goalie Jack Davis played strongly throughout the season and graduate student attack Rickey Mirabito was an able facilitator who ranked sixth in the nation in assists per game.

“Mirabito and Davis have done an excellent job,” Urick said. “It’s frustrating for those guys that have been here when the program was playing in the postseason.”

Senior defensemen Barney Ehrmann — who has been playing as a long-stick midfielder of late — also received plaudits for his strong play this year. Inside Lacrosse named him the fourth-best senior in the country.

“I think that Barney is a viable candidate for All-American,” Urick said.

The program will say farewell to 14 seniors and graduate students at the end of the season, many of whom never had the chance to see action in an NCAA tournament game.

“There is disappointment, particularly from the seniors,” Urick said. “I feel for them as much as anybody.”

Even as the Hoyas faced adversity this season, Urick was pleased with the way this year’s seniors grew into a leadership role.

“I like to think that the older guys set the tone. For the most part that’s the dynamic that has developed here,” Urick said. “Now we’ve got to keep trying to get better and give younger guys an opportunity to get playing time and develop.”

Looking towards the future, Georgetown can be confident in two sophomores who came to the forefront this year. Attacks Davey Emala and Travis Comeau proved to be dynamic offensive players. Emala is third in the nation in goals per game and Comeau has had six hat tricks this season.

Although the Blue and Gray have two games left, a match-up against Rutgers in Piscataway, N.J. on Saturday and a senior night clash against Villanova on May 7, the planning for next season is already underway.

“The program is in an interesting phase,” Urick said. “We need to take a long, hard look at what we did and didn’t do.”