Campaign Georgetown /The Hoya Several players look on during one of last year’s games. The women finished the year undefeated in the Big East and 13-4 for the season. The team hopes to better its record and make the tournament.

Another May. Another National Tournament. Another “almost.”

The Georgetown women’s lacrosse team has made the NCAA Tournament each of the last six years. Twice, they have made it to within just one game of a title, but never quite all the way. At first glance, the odds look stacked against them this year too.

They lost five starters, including All-American captains Wick Stanwick and Melissa Biles. They suffered a tough 16-9 loss to Virginia in the Quarterfinal Round last year. But despite the uphill battle these losses seem to indicate, Head Coach Kim Simons says this year will be different.

“Before last year there was a sense of that `always a bridesmaid’ pressure. But last year, losing in the quarterfinals the way we did wiped the slate clean in terms of not taking for granted the NCAA Tournament and not taking for granted making it to the finals,” Simons said.

Despite the losses, the Hoyas begin the season ranked No. 6 in the pre-season coaches poll, with Princeton, Maryland and season-spoiler Virginia taking the top three spots. Last year’s team stayed in the top six all season, finishing the season with a 13-4 record. For the third consecutive year, Georgetown was picked to win the Big East title, which it certainly has the potential to do.

For the Hoyas, though, potential is not enough.

“If we want to win this thing, we’re going to have to do things a little bit differently and get back to outworking everybody else,” Simons said. “That’s the thing the team has really grabbed a hold of.” She cited leadership, chemistry and competitive spirit as absolute must-haves for success this season, adding that the last two were somewhat lacking in the team that took the field last season.

Leadership this season will come from the team’s three captains, the only three seniors: midfielders Michi Ellers, Gloria Lozano and Anouk Peters. Last year the three combined for a third of the team’s goals and more than a quarter of all ground balls. As if to add one more challenge, however, Peters recently broke her foot and will be sidelined for at least the first few weeks of the season.

In spite of the setback, the team seems to be responding well. “Now it’s on the shoulders of Michi and Gloria to step up in terms of their play and their leadership,” Simons said of Peters’ injury. “So far I’ve been very pleased with their efforts, as well as with their leadership. You can sense when you watch them on the field that their teammates are following them, and that’s incredibly important.”

With only three seniors, however, Georgetown’s youth will play a large part in the team’s potential success. Each class will be looked to for certain contributions. Junior middies Allison Chambers and Lauryn Bernier should make an immediate impact as returning starters from last year’s lineup. Chambers led the team in shooting percentage last year, finding the back of the net better than 45 percent of the time, while Bernier also shot better than 40 percent and added 47 ground balls.

The Hoyas will likely look to junior attack Sarah Oliphant, who started 10 games last season, to run the offense. The team’s three other juniors – attacks Catherine Elbe and Hollis Pica, and midfielder Lauren Redler – last year combined for 10 groundballs and three goals, but had no starts between them.

“It’s a class that doesn’t have a whole lot of experience. They’re a large class in terms of numbers, but there are only two consistent returning starters. So far Ali Chambers and Lauryn Bernier have both stepped up significantly and that has been a huge push for us,” Simons said.

A large freshman class will challenge the returning players for playing time and, according to Simons, possibly even starting positions. Expect to see at least two freshmen starting against Cornell when Georgetown opens its season. Coco Stanwick, younger sister to Georgetown lacrosse legends Sheehan and Wick Stanwick, will begin her quest for the one thing her sisters never earned during their time with the team – a national championship. In addition, Laura Cipro will slide into the defensive lineup.

“Both have been very steady and they’ve been continually improving since they walked on campus in the fall. We have three or four others who could see significant playing time; that’s going to depend on how upperclassmen play and also how they continue to develop as the season progresses,” Simons said.

While Stanwick and Cipro will add to Georgetown’s attack and defense, the team’s hopes will be fastened tightly to its midfield, that nebulous middle line, playing both offense and defense. Anchored by the three seniors, and supported by Chambers and Bernier, Simons calls this season’s midfield “the best all-around midfield that we’ve ever had, and the most potent in terms of both offense and defense.”

Junior Sarah Robinson will start in the cage for the Hoyas. Plagued by inconsistency last season, Robinson stopped 99 shots while allowing 105 to slip past. Like the rest of the team, Robinson’s efforts will have to be consistent if she hopes to take her team back to the tournament – and keep her starting position. Freshman goaltender Margaret Farland, while untested at the collegiate level, has shown promise early and will certainly make her case for playing time.

It is a long road from the first game of the season back to the Championship, but the Hoyas open against Cornell, a team they last played in the Semifinal Round two years ago. The decision to open against Cornell puts Georgetown in a familiar position.

“They are a team we don’t play, don’t know a lot about; that was one of the things that hurt us a lot last year going into that Virginia game – it was a team we had never played. We had a bit of a hard time adjusting to a team we didn’t know a whole lot about,” Simons said.

Simons, who gave birth to her second son on Jan. 4, has relied heavily on her assistant coaches to ready the team for the coming season. Assistant Coach and former Hoya Bowen Holden and newly promoted Associate Head Coach Ricky Fried, along with the senior leaders, prepared the team to open its season Saturday at noon.

Just as important, however, the groundwork is laid for a Georgetown team that could conceivably do what no other has done so far: win the national championship.