Goucher preview
This entry is the fifth in a series taking a look at each of the seven Division III programs in this state according to their order of finish from last season. The Sun’s lacrosse preview is slated to be published on Thursday, Feb. 17. Today is Goucher’s turn.
Overview: The Gophers enjoyed one of their more successful seasons last spring when they captured the Landmark Conference Tournament and earned the school’s first berth in the NCAA Tournament. Goucher lost in the first round to Middlebury, but emotions run high that the team can make another repeat appearance in the NCAA tourney. Landmines litter the schedule, but coach Kyle Hannan & Co. are eager to test the waters.
Reason for optimism: Don’t be surprised if the offense barely skips a beat. Thanks to the return of a trio of 30-goal scorers in junior attackmen Rory Averett (48 goals and eight assists) and Kyle Boncaro (38, 28) and junior midfielder Matt Lynch (34, 24) and eight of the squad’s top nine midfielders from last season, the Gophers are overflowing with talent on the offensive end. “It’s a luxury. It’s pretty nice,” Hannan said.” We return all those offensive guys, but it’s different. We’re still feeling ourselves out, figuring out what’s going to be the best routines. You’d think that we would just jump right into it and do exactly what we did last year, but we are going to change some things and add a little bit more to what we did offensively with our plays and our concepts.”
Reason for pessimism: The biggest question mark is in the cage, which had been manned by Chris Stricklin (6.13 goals-against average and .653 save percentage). But with his graduation, sophomores Connor Mishaw and J.J. Sagl are battling for the right to start. Hannan said he’s considering a rotation. “I’ve never been a big goalie-rotation or play-halves kind of coach,” he said. “I like to lock in on one guy and have the defense believe in him. But at the same time, every year is different, and if that helps our team and keeps everybody motivated, that’s something I won’t close the door on. But I’d prefer to choose a goalie and let it be his job.”
Keep an eye on: The team also bid farewell to Nick LaBricciosa, who won 51.4 pervent of the faceoffs he took last spring. Junior John Curry is the leading candidate to assume that responsibility, but he’s also projected to start in the midfield. That means his role could be limited, and sophomore Gavin Loney and freshman Stephen Patterson could be expected to contribute. “Are we going to be where we were at last year? That’s still to be determined because Nick just did a super job for us last year,” Hannan said. “We’re going to have to get better wing play, but we’re pretty comfortable with John Curry with his athleticism and his knowledge of how to be a successful faceoff player.”
What he said: Goucher can fully expect league foes like Drew and Catholic to aim to knock off the reigning Landmark Conference tournament champion – a scenario that Hannan sort of welcomes. “There is some excitement behind that because you kind of have to defend your territory now” he said. “Nobody sees you when you’re climbing the mountain and then once you get on top, everybody sees you. That’s kind of where we are now. We’re visible, and people kind of know you. But that’s a really neat challenge for us because we want to play competitive games and have people give us their best efforts every time just like we want to give other teams our best effort all the time.”
