St. Mary's preview
After taking a look at the Division I schools in Maryland, let’s take a spin with the Division III teams. Today’s entry is the fifth of a week-long series taking a look at each of the seven Division III programs in this state according to alphabetical order. Tomorrow’s subject will be Stevenson, but today is St. Mary’s turn.
Overview: The Seahawks finished with the same 5-2 record in the Capital Athletic Conference as Salisbury, but they compiled a 3-5 record outside the league. Long considered the Sea Gulls' biggest obstacle in the conference, St. Mary's has been leapfrogged by Stevenson, which has grabbed the local and national headlines. Coach Chris Hasbrouck is eager to get the program back into contention and a player in determining the NCAA Tournament field.
Reason for optimism: The Sea Gulls graduated just five players from last year's squad and only two of those players were starters. That means that a large majority of the players have had game experience, and Hasbrouck is hopeful that the players can convert that experience into more plays and potential wins. "We've been young for a while, and those kids are a year older," he said. "It's a great group. Seven of our top 10 scorers are back. So we hope we'll be able to lean on that earlier in the year."
Reason for pessmism: The defense fared well at times, but generally didn't live up to its end of the bargain. The unit surrendered an average of 9.1 goals per game last season, and one of the starters who graduated was A.J. Armstrong. Sophomore and Archbishop Spalding graduate Sean Hatley is back and will be joined by junior Mike Ott (Broadneck) as the two starters. The third spot is up for grabs between junior Andrew Klontz and sophomore Eric Heisner. Hasbrouck is hoping for some stability on that end of the field. "That was the one spot where we had been going through some changes," he said.
Keep an eye on: As potent as the starting attack of juniors Dennis Rosson (a Severn graduate who led the team with 28 goals and 19 assists) and Chris Becraft (23, 12) and sophomore and Boys' Latin graduate Michael Mules (4, 0) is, the midfield could be just as dangerous. Senior Ryan Alexander posted 21 goals and 11 assists last season, while juniors Chris Morihlatko (Broadneck, 10, 4) and Bobby Cooke (Mount Hebron, 8, 4) complement the rest of the offense. Throw in junior and St. Paul's graduate Chris Lacy, and Hasbrouck is hopeful that the midfield can produce. "We have a lot of experience returning in the middle of the field," he said. "We're hoping to use a little bit more of our depth this year."
What he said: Much like last season, this year's team has few seniors (only three). Hasbrouck is leaning on the underclassmen to lead the way. "The juniors have been starting since they were freshmen," he said. "It's that junior class playing up to its potential that's going to determine how well we do. We've had two great back-to-back recruiting classes and the sophomores and freshmen give us great depth. But right now, it's going to be what the junior class can do. If they play up to their potential, I think that's going to go a long way in determining what we do this year."
