Andreas Jeninga/The Hoya With five goals, Neal Goldman, a 2004 first team All-Conference selection, led the Hoyas to a NCAA first round playoff victory over the Towson Tigers.

Neal Goldman faces his last chance to earn a trip to the NCAA final four this weekend – a feat the Hoyas last accomplished in 1999, and one that lured him initially to play lacrosse on the Hilltop.

A 5-8, 170-pound attack, Goldman (COL ’04) has played in each and every one of the Hoyas’ 58 games in his four years on the Hilltop, a testament to his work ethic and his determination.

“He’s not the Incredible Hulk in terms of size,” Head Coach Dave Urick says, “but he taken what the good Lord’s given him and he’s stayed away from injury problems.”

Goldman presently holds the team lead in total points (41) and is the ECAC leader in points per game (2.92). Following a career-best five-goal effort against Towson in an NCAA first round playoff game last Sunday, Goldman sits among the top 10 career scorers in Georgetown history with 134 points.

But his lacrosse career was not always the triumphant tale it has become. He had to work hard to get to the Hilltop and to impress people with every opportunity. “I wanted to make a name for myself early on,” he says.

Urick can only look back in awe at how his team captain and first team All-Conference selection has grown and matured, both as an athlete and as an individual. “Never in my wildest dreams did I expect him to have the success he’s had,” he says.

Goldman’s athletic career began in baseball, a sport his father had played in high school and into college. Though Goldman loved to pitch and play shortstop, he had an affinity for “any kind of backyard sport in the neighborhood,” he recalls – he got involved in pick-up football and basketball games whenever he had the chance.

The summer before high school, however, his family moved from Pennsylvania to Ellicott City, Md. Searching for new friends and a new calling in this Baltimore suburb, he befriended two guys who insisted that lacrosse, not baseball, should be his sport in the spring.

A day before tryouts, he made up his mind. The next day, he secured a place on the junior varsity roster.

While the change seemed completely natural to him, the transition to lacrosse was a leap of faith for his mother and father.

“Both my parents were kind of shocked,” Goldman says. “They didn’t really see it coming, and they really didn’t know much about lacrosse.”

But he practiced considerably, earning an opportunity to play on the varsity team during his sophomore year. Following a run to the state championship in his junior year, Goldman made the Bay State team, composed of the most talented lacrosse players in aryland.

The Bay State team was a welcome opportunity to gain some exposure. After practicing a couple of times on North Kehoe, the Hilltop also gained exposure to him. Yet his coach at Mt. Hebron High discouraged him from getting his heart set on becoming a Hoya.

“[He] thought that Georgetown was going to be the biggest stretch for me,” Goldman says. “My skills were there, they were just raw and unpolished.”

The Hoyas’ previous success – a visit to the final four in 1999 – placed Georgetown on his list of colleges to consider. But it was Urick who erased any doubts that Georgetown wasn’t at the top of that list.

“Coach U was the main deciding factor,” Goldman says. “There was nothing about him I didn’t like.”

Urick built an immediate camaraderie with the young Hoya, making a play on his last name and dubbing him “Nugget.” Goldman quickly filled in a role previously held by Danny Mooney (MSB ’01) – the good-natured player who was usually the target of Urick’s wisecracks.

Likewise, it took little time for Goldman to become a regular on the team’s extra-man offense. In his first year, he tallied 11 goals and 34 groundballs.

“He’s good on the ground. He’s right down with the ball, so it’s easy for him,” Urick jokes, taking a jab at Goldman’s short stature.

Goldman continued to develop his skills during sophomore year and as a junior he started in all 15 contests. The good example he set and his persistence led him to be named a team captain for his senior year, along with teammates Andrew Braziel (COL ’04), Walid Hajj (COL ’04) and Andrew Owen (COL ’04).

What set Goldman apart from his comrades is the work he does – work that inherently earns the respect of his teammates. Goldman warms up with the goalies every day in practice, and his accurate shooting serves to develop their skills, not just his own. Selfless actions like these, Urick says, demonstrate his commitment to the game and to the team.

“He’s sincere. He puts his heart and soul into it,” Urick adds. “People will follow you when they see that. You can’t fool them.”

Along with taking on the responsibility of being team captain, this year Goldman also made the decision to participate in the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults, a program for adults who wish to join the Catholic faith.

It was the Georgetown experience, along with the mentorship of Fr. Kevin Wildes, S.J., whom Goldman met on his first official visit to the Hilltop, which compelled him to enroll in RCIA.

Goldman was baptized as a Catholic at the Easter Vigil mass, a ceremony at which Wildes was present. Although it was Wildes that suggested the program, it was Goldman who demonstrated the persistence that has embodied his ascent to lacrosse success and followed through.

“He’s very focused,” Wildes says. “He’s got great maturity and [is] quite able to see the bigger picture.”

“I found faith in myself,” Goldman says. “I wanted to do this myself, to take advantage of the tools I had here.”

A workaholic, a captain and now a Catholic, Goldman presently looks ahead. Not far – only to Sunday, the day on which the Hoyas are scheduled to face the Syracuse Orange in the NCAA quarterfinals.

“Anything less than the final four is unacceptable,” he insists, although there is uncertainty in his voice as to whether or not that dream will ever come true. Despite his work ethic, in the end he acknowledges that playing lacrosse is really just for the fun of the game.

Win or lose on Sunday, Goldman has proven, as Urick puts it, that though “bigger, faster and stronger” continues to be the trend in college athletics, Goldman compensates for it with tremendous determination.

“There’s still room in [men’s] lacrosse for that guy who’s not the Incredible Hulk,” Urick says.