Charles Nailen/The Hoya The men’s lacrosse team finished with a record of 11-3.
The Georgetown men’s lacrosse team started out the 2001 season with tempered optimism. They were facing holes left in their attack line by graduation, yet they also had one of the nation’s best defenses.
Over the course of the season, the No. 6 Hoyas took advantage of their strengths and worked their way to an 11-3 record and their fifth-consecutive NCAA tournament berth, although they ultimately were ousted in the first round by No. 7 Loyola.
The Hoyas started their season with six straight victories, over Ohio State, Army, Penn State, Butler, UMBC and Duke. The victory over then-No. 10 Duke was particularly important. The Blue Devils have become something of a rival for the Hoyas. The teams have split their four games in the past two years, with Georgetown losing close games to Duke in the 1999 and 2000 seasons, but beating them in the quarterfinals of the 1999 NCAA tournament as well as this season, 14-7. Also, prior to this season’s loss to Syracuse on May 5, the Hoyas had a 17-game home winning streak – their last home loss had come to Duke in 1999.
The win over Duke was a major success for the Hoyas, but a drop in their intensity level led them to a loss in their next game against then-No. 12 Navy. The Midshipmen were 0-3 before handing the Hoyas their first loss of the season.
Georgetown rebounded, however, rallying behind senior midfielder Scott Doyle’s four goals to beat then-No. 9 Bucknell three days later. They followed that up with an 11-8 win over Stony Brook, in which they had a slight defensive lapse, giving up four straight goals. But they quelled doubts about their defensive strength a week later when they beat then-No. 20 Hobart 17-5. Senior midfielder Mike Henehan and junior attack Doug Staab both scored four times to lead the Hoyas to victory.
April 21 was a very important day for the Hoyas as they traveled to Amherst, Mass. to take on the then-No. 4 Minutemen. Junior midfielder Steve Dusseau scored possibly the most important goal of the season with 12 seconds to go to lift Georgetown to a 13-12 victory. The win gave the Hoyas the top-spot in the Eastern College Athletic Conference and put them in the position to clinch an NCAA berth with a win over Rutgers the following week.
The Hoyas went on to beat Rutgers, 15-7, with Dusseau and Doyle scoring four goals each. The victory gave the Hoyas their second straight ECAC championship and the conference’s automatic NCAA tournament bid.
The last game of the regular season brought the Hoyas’ hated rival, the then-No. 2 Syracuse Orangemen, to the Hilltop. The game was expected to be very important in relation to the seedings for the NCAA tournament, and the two squads were very evenly matched. At the time of the game, Syracuse’s 13.08 scoring average was seventh in the nation, while Georgetown’s 12.92 goals per game was eighth. But the Hoyas were fifth in scoring defense (7.42), while the Orangemen allowed an average of 7.58 goals per game, ranking them seventh in the country.
Syracuse’s face-off man, senior midfielder Chris Cercy, proved to be a huge factor in the game. He entered the matchup having won 70 percent of his face-offs, the best percentage in the country. He displayed his skills for the crowd of 3,218 that day, winning 24 of 32 face-offs and scoring twice. Despite Dusseau’s three goals and junior goalie Scott Schroeder’s 20 saves, the Orangemen ran away with the win, 19-9.
The loss was a tough one for the Hoyas to swallow at the end of what had been a successful season and it made their goal of an NCAA championship seem all the more unlikely. A day later they drew a matchup against No. 7-seed Loyola in the first round, at UMBC.
In the first round game, the Greyhounds’ senior goalie Jason Born had a career-high 21 saves, so although Georgetown outshot Loyola 47-26, it was to no avail as they fell 19-9. Loyola went on to lose to top-seeded Princeton in the quarterfinals.
The end of the season brings the departure of some of the team’s most vital players, seniors and tri-captains Rodger Colbert (defense), Mike Henehan (attack) and Scott Doyle (midfield). Colbert, the team’s defensive leader ended his Georgetown career with 167 ground balls. Henehan made the move from midfield to attack this season and finished with 57 goals in his four years. With the Hoyas’ midfield taking on more of the scoring load in the 2001, Doyle had 29 goals this spring, six more than in his previous three years combined.
The team’s other seniors are midfielders Keith Baker, Sean Cartin, Jim Conley, Ryan Perraut and Tom Tamberrino, attack Jamie Sharpe, defender Brad Cook and goalkeeper Dan Mooney. Cartin took a good deal of the face-offs for the Hoyas this year, wining 93 of 182. Sharpe was fifth on the team in points this year with 25, while Tamberrino was sixth with 17.
Although the graduation of the class of 2001 will leave some holes for the Hoyas to fill, they will still be able to rely heavily on Dusseau and sophomore attack Mike Hammer, who were first and second, respectively, in points for the Hoyas this season.
Dusseau had 38 goals and 12 assists and was named ECAC Offensive Player of the Year. His 38 goals was the most any Hoya midfielder has ever scored in one season and put him at 13th in the nation for goals per game. He was also recently named to the First Team All-District Academic All-America. He is sure to shoulder much of the scoring load for the Hoyas in 2002.
Hammer had 33 goals on 15 points and 18 assists and will also be vital to the Hoyas’ success next year. Meanwhile, Schroeder’s 8.26 goals against average was good enough for 11th in the country this year, and will again be an asset to the Hoyas next season.
