Spring Break
Men's lax looking sharp in opener
Issue date: 2/28/08
The men's lacrosse team, the defending Division-I National Champions, got off to a hot start in their opening game, taming the Albany Great Danes 10-5 on Saturday, Feb. 22.
At first glance, this year's season opener seemed nearly identical to last year's opening day match for the Blue Jays. Both games saw the Jays take on Albany at Homewood Field in the season opener, each taking place at noon on the fourth Saturday in February, each in front of more than 1,700 screaming and anxious fans, and each being nationally broadcasted on ESPNU. However, head coach Dave Pietramala and the Jays were looking for a different outcome than last year's 8-7 come-from-behind defeat at the hands of the Great Danes.
"There was a lot of motivation," said senior co-captain Paul Rabil, the two-time First Team USILA All-American midfielder and top-ranked collegiate lacrosse player according to Inside Lacrosse. "For one, Albany beat us last year. It's the first game of season, so you always want to get off on the right foot. We were playing at home and one of our goals every year is to not lose at home. It was really important for all those aspects and we were motivated and we just wanted to outwork them."
Albany was able to get on the board first, as pre-season All-American Jordan Levine put the Great Danes up 1-0 with an unassisted alley dodge down the right side past Hopkins sophomore goalie Michael Gvozden just 36 seconds into the game. But the Blue Jays were undeterred, with sophomore attack Steven Boyle evening the score from 10 feet out off a pass from fellow sophomore Michael Kimmel just over a minute later, following that up two minutes later with an unassisted goal to put the Blue Jays up 2-1.
The Jays were able to find the net one final time in the first quarter at the 8:06 mark when senior co-captain Michael Doneger took an assist from junior Brian Christopher and rifled a shot past Albany goalie Brett Queener to give Hopkins a three-goal lead. Both defenses held the other teams in check for most of the rest of the quarter, but with just six seconds left before the end of the quarter, Levine scored from in close after holding the ball for nearly the entire 60-second shot clock.
At first glance, this year's season opener seemed nearly identical to last year's opening day match for the Blue Jays. Both games saw the Jays take on Albany at Homewood Field in the season opener, each taking place at noon on the fourth Saturday in February, each in front of more than 1,700 screaming and anxious fans, and each being nationally broadcasted on ESPNU. However, head coach Dave Pietramala and the Jays were looking for a different outcome than last year's 8-7 come-from-behind defeat at the hands of the Great Danes.
"There was a lot of motivation," said senior co-captain Paul Rabil, the two-time First Team USILA All-American midfielder and top-ranked collegiate lacrosse player according to Inside Lacrosse. "For one, Albany beat us last year. It's the first game of season, so you always want to get off on the right foot. We were playing at home and one of our goals every year is to not lose at home. It was really important for all those aspects and we were motivated and we just wanted to outwork them."
Albany was able to get on the board first, as pre-season All-American Jordan Levine put the Great Danes up 1-0 with an unassisted alley dodge down the right side past Hopkins sophomore goalie Michael Gvozden just 36 seconds into the game. But the Blue Jays were undeterred, with sophomore attack Steven Boyle evening the score from 10 feet out off a pass from fellow sophomore Michael Kimmel just over a minute later, following that up two minutes later with an unassisted goal to put the Blue Jays up 2-1.
The Jays were able to find the net one final time in the first quarter at the 8:06 mark when senior co-captain Michael Doneger took an assist from junior Brian Christopher and rifled a shot past Albany goalie Brett Queener to give Hopkins a three-goal lead. Both defenses held the other teams in check for most of the rest of the quarter, but with just six seconds left before the end of the quarter, Levine scored from in close after holding the ball for nearly the entire 60-second shot clock.
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