Navy preview
Monday’s entry kicks off a week-long series taking a look at each of the seven Division I programs in this state according to their order of finish from last season. Check back on Tuesday for a preview of UMBC, and The Sun’s lacrosse preview is slated to be published on Thursday, Feb. 17. Today is Navy’s turn.
Overview: Last spring saw the Midshipmen lose out on capturing what would have been their sixth Patriot League Tournament championship in the last seven years, and they missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003. The eight losses tied a season-low since Richie Meade became the head coach prior to the 1995 season. The outlook doesn’t appear easier with Army reloaded for another run at the Patriot League crown and another berth in the NCAA tourney, and Bucknell and Colgate nipping at Navy’s heels. But if there’s one thing about the Midshipmen, it’s that they’re unwilling to go down without a fight.
Reason for optimism: In a preseason scrimmage on Jan. 29, Navy edged reigning national champion Duke, 9-8. Meade cautioned against making too much of the result, but he conceded that he was pleased with the way starters R.J. Wickham, Matt Vernam, Michael Hirsch and Peter Rogers played. “Duke didn’t really overpower us very often,” Meade said last Thursday. “A lot of the goals we gave up were when young guys were on the field and either didn’t slide or were maybe a little too aggressive. So I think athletically, we’re OK. But in order to play our scheme, you’ve really got to understand it, and if you get two or three guys that don’t really have a great feeling of what we’re doing, it gets really ugly really fast. Our goal is to always keep an opponent under 10 and hopefully under seven, so it was OK. I thought we got a lot of shots on the goal. I don’t we shot particularly well, but we hustled, we played hard.”
Reason for pessimism: Graduation took a toll on the offense, and Inside Lacrosse reported that injuries have already sidelined starting attackman Ryan O’Leary (knee) and midfielder Taylor Cook (concussion). That would seem to place the offensive burden on senior Andy Warner, who is the only returner to score 10 or more goals last spring. “It still remains to be seen, but in practice at least, at attack, I think we’re better,” Meade said. “We actually have five freshmen that are going to see significant time, and a junior [Taylor Reynolds] that’s going to play a little bit and we have a senior [Sean Dinn] that has returned to the team after a couple of years. So it’s not as bleak as a lot of people think. But they’re going to need experience.”
Keep an eye on: Almost half of the roster is populated by freshmen, and 39 of the 56 players are freshmen and sophomores. Growing pains are inevitable, but Meade is intrigued by the potential. “This may be the youngest team we’ve put on the field in many years,” he said. “We’ve kind of changed who we’ve been in the last couple years. I think we’ve upgraded our speed and athletic ability in the midfield. I think at attack, we’re a little bit deeper. More inexperienced, but a lot of the guys are coming in after a year of playing at the Naval Academy Prep School. They’re talented, and I think the league is going to be very, very competitive.”
What he said: The Midshipmen are not the favorites to capture the Patriot League for a first time in a long time. In fact, few people are talking about Navy, which has not escaped the team’s attention. “I think for our team, we’re not even part of the conversation,” Meade said. “That’s fine with us. But like everybody else, it kind of pisses you off. So that’s kind of our attitude right now. We’ve got to fight our way back to where we’ve been.”
