Army West Point Athletics
Army Lacrosse Hosts Marist in Season Opener Saturday
February 14, 2007 | Men's Lacrosse
WEST POINT, N.Y. -- The Army lacrosse team will kick off its 2007 season Saturday (2/17) against Hudson Valley foe Marist at 1 p.m. at Michie Stadium.
The Black Knights are coming off an 8-7 campaign in 2006 which saw them advance to the finals of the Patriot League Tournament for the second time.
Marist is also playing its season-opener after Tuesday’s game at Lehigh was postponed due to snow.
SEASON-OPENERS: Army is 67-22 all-time in season-opening games but has lost its last six. The last Black Knights win in the first game of the season was in 2000 when they beat Air Force at Michie Stadium 16-4.
MARIST SERIES: This will be the second meeting between Army and Marist. The first game was played in 2004 at Michie Stadium and the Black Knights won 11-5.
NEXT UP: The Black Knights will hit the road for the first time this season with a game at Syracuse Friday at 7 p.m.
POLLS: Army is ranked 20th in the coach’s preseason poll and listed as also receiving votes in the media rankings. Virginia is the top pick in both.
SEASON OUTLOOK: Gone are 88 goals, 52 assists and 140 points. That’s 72% of the goals, 69% of the assists and 71% of the Army lacrosse’s total team points from 2006.
For second-year head coach Joe Alberici, it won’t change the approach for the Black Knights in 2007.
“What we are trying to do here is to keep things constant,” Alberici said. “It’s a great tradition that Army lacrosse has, second to none. It’s our duty to try to uphold that tradition. We keep the long term goals very similar to what they have always been: compete for a national championship and win a conference title. Those are two pretty big goals when you look at the Patriot League, lacrosse nationally and how competitive they are.”
Despite the loss of John Walker, an honorable mention All-America choice and Mike Obringer, a first-team All-Patriot League selection, Alberici and the Black Knights will compete for their fourth NCAA playoff in the past five years.
Alberici is the 10th coach in Army’ 87-year history and will continue to focus on attention to details in his quest to lead the storied program to new heights.
Walker, a second-team All-Patriot League pick and honorable mention choice by USILA/STX, led the 2006 Black Knights with 42 points and 26 assists to go along with 16 goals. Obringer was second on the team with 27 goals and 12 assists.
In addition, Matt Luyster, the 2005 Patriot League “Defensive Player of the Year,” has graduated, along with Jon Burton who scored 12 goals, Erik Nerdalen who tailed two goals, midfielders Tom Ronan, Tony Vozzolo, Nate Foust and Tory Sokul and defensemen Andrew Yakulis, Drew Narcum and Matt Bowerman.
“With so many new faces, guys who are less experienced on Saturday, we are really taking the approach of being one and zero every day,” Alberici said. “That’s really our motto: be 1-0 every day and focus on the process. If you take care of the process and do things the way you are asked to do and go at it as hard as you can, being 1-0 every day will help lead to victories and help get us to where we want to be.”
Army is coming off an 8-7 season in which it played in the Patriot League finals after compiling a 4-2 conference mark. The Black Knights lost to Navy 8-5 in the title game and then at home against Ohio State to end the regular season, snapping its string of three consecutive NCAA tournament appearances.
The Black Knights do return 28 letterwinners and have depth at all positions, something voters for Inside Lacrosse noticed when it tabbed Army 24th in the nations preseason poll this winter.
ATTACK: The Black Knights have 10 attackmen listed on the roster and each brings a little something different, something Alberici is confident will help offset the loss of Walker, who racked up 125 goals and 209 points during his career.
Hunter Wakeland, a senior from Arundel, Maine, is the leading returning scorer with five goals and three assists and is expected to carry the scoring load, along with Brooks Korvin, a sophomore who scored once and had an assist last season.
“We lose John Walker, a great, great player, first-team All-America and one of the top players in the country at that position,” Alberici said. “We also lose a kid like Mike Obringer who scored six goals on six shots against Air Force. We are going to have three brand new guys there.”
Patrick Fullerton who had two assists last season, juniors J.P. Keneally and Alex Morse, sophomore Jason Peyer and plebes Tyler Oates and Tyler Seymour round out the group up front.
“We have some kids who got on the field and have some experience,” Alberici said. “Our strength is in numbers. We have a lot of guys who bring a little something different. They are very similar in abilities but bring something a little different to the table.”
MIDFIELD: The approach in the midfield will be similar to the attack: strength in numbers and men who can help the team in a variety of ways. The core of players is expected to be the team strength.
Ryan Chase, a team captain, will anchor the middies. Chase, who has always had a tremendous shot, has worked hard in the offseason to be more of a complete player. His hard work has paid off and big things are expected of the senior from Webster, N.Y. Last season, Chase was the top-scoring middie with 11 goals and six assists and was a second-team All-Patriot League pick.
Chase is expected to be joined on the first line by junior Justin Bokmeyer who did not play last season. Kevin LoRusso, a sophomore from Rocky Point, N.Y., is a tremendous ground ball player who adds a scoring threat as well as a defensive presence after scoring nine goals and handing out five assists in his first year.
Junior Paul Wigdzinski and sophomore Alex Rhoads will be the wings on faceoffs and their athleticism will force Alberici and the coaching staff to find spots for them on the field.
Senior Brian Ivany, who scored once last season, as well as juniors Andrew Supiano, Roy Ragusa and Mike Hanna, add depth to this position. Sophomore Sean Reppard adapted well in his first season with four assists and a goal while classmates Zach Jensen and Cameron Friscia will push for playing time.
Freshmen Brandon Butler, Steve Galbreath, Andrew Maisano, Matthew Poulos and Alex Gephart give the coaching staff even more options that can create matchup problems for the opposition.
SPECIALTY MIDS: The Black Knights are still working out specific lines but expect contributions from Zach Jansen, a sophomore from Horse Heads, N.Y. and freshman Alex Gephart. Jansen has excellent speed and is developing while Gephart has a great understanding of team defense.
Ryan McClure, a junior, was the lead long stick last year and is expected to do the same this year. Sam Harrison is coming off a terrific fall and will push for time here as well as Kevin Woodcheke, a freshman who can also contribute on defense.
FACEOFFS: It should come as no surprise that a variety of players will contribute on the X’. In keeping with the strength in numbers mantra as well as going 1-0 every day, Alberici and his staff will work to find the best people to take draws.
At least five different players will work to improve on the 47% of a year ago when the Black Knights won 142 of 300 draws.
Galbreath, Hanna, Wigdzinski, Reppard and Poulos have all shown potential in the preseason and will have the opportunity to compete for time.
DEFENSE: Alberici’s philosophy is defense first and the Black Knights will make opponents work for every scoring opportunity.
Four juniors, a sophomore and four freshmen will comprise this unit. Jay Larson competed in all 15 games last season while Craig Massie, Tom Gossweiler and Adam Hansinger all saw time on the pitch.
Sophomore Chris Mattos as well as newcomers Joseph Conroy, Michael Nalder and Scott Rosenshein will compete for playing time.
GOALIES: Adam Fullerton, a junior who played in every game last season, is back in net but will be pushed. Fullerton is an Inside Lacrosse Preseason All-Patriot League pick and made 164 saves in his sophomore campaign and allowed 120 goals.
Fullerton won eight games in each of the last two seasons and adds another dimension with his ability to quickly start the clear.
Nick LoRusso, a senior, played in three games last season and had a pair of saves and will push Fullerton as will Eddie Clark and Trip Auray who each played in one game a year ago.
SCHEDULE: A steady dose of nationally ranked opponents, coupled with a challenging Patriot League slate fill the 2007 Army Lacrosse schedule as the Black Knights look to return to the NCAA Tournament this spring.
The 14-game regular-season schedule is split evenly with seven home and seven road contests, with five games opposite Top 15 teams.
Army kicks off its 88th campaign with its earliest season-opener in program history, hosting Marist at West Point’s Michie Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 1 p.m.
The Black, Gold and Gray pack their bags for their first road-trip of the season the following week taking on No. 3 Syracuse (Feb. 23), before opening Patriot League play at Holy Cross (Feb. 27).
Alberici expects this year to be a challenge, not only because they have to replace seven starters from last year’s squad, but rather due to the fact there is no guaranteed win.
“We’re very excited about the 2007 Army lacrosse team and the challenge of this schedule,” stated Alberici. “It’s going to be very tough for a team with such a young base, but we’re confident that we have the right personnel in place to step up and carry on the proud tradition of Army lacrosse.
“We’re going to be playing a lot of top-ranked opponents, many of them on the road, and it will prepare us for another run at the Patriot League title. What I like the most about our schedule is that if we are successful against the teams we’re playing, we feel we won’t need any help to reach one of our goals in returning to the NCAA Tournament.”
Army’s home slate, in addition to Marist, includes Lafayette, No. 8 Cornell, Lehigh, Air Force, No. 15 Hofstra and Bucknell. The Black Knights will take on Rutgers, Colgate, No. 9 Navy, No. 6 Duke and Ohio State on the road.
The Black Knights meeting with Hofstra on March 27 will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
