Thinking Outside The Box

April 26, 2010 | Men's Lacrosse

Thinking Outside The Box
By Mike Murphy

Mike Murphy is in his seventh season as an assistant coach with the Army lacrosse team. Under his tutelage, the Black Knights have consistently been ranked among the nation's top defenses, while he has also guided some of the most prolific goalkeepers in Academy history. A native of Beverly, Massachusetts, Murphy graduated from New Hampshire in 1996 where he was a three-year lacrosse letterman for the Wildcats.

Monday, April 26

To Close for Comfort

The week after the Army/Navy game is never easy. The emotions that are exhausted the week leading up to the game are bad enough, but win or lose you have to be able to bounce back and play usually two more meaningful games on Tuesday and the following Saturday. Well as I mentioned in my last blog, we had a big conference game at Lafayette staring us in the face on Tuesday and then the regular season finale on Saturday versus Holy Cross.

The game did not start great for us on Tuesday, as we went down 3-0 early in the game. But our guys stayed true to our motto of just keep hammerin'. After ending the quarter down 4-2, our guys really started to make their move. We took a lead into halftime and came out swinging in the third quarter taking a 12-5 lead. That's when the fireworks started. Lafayette's potent offense went on a serious run to narrow the gap to one, but some late game heroics by Jeremy Boltus would salt away the victory.
The win secured us the top seed and the right to host the Patriot League tournament at Michie Stadium. But we had unfinished business to take care of before then. Saturday was Senior Day and the last regular season game of the year against Holy Cross.

Again, we came out sluggish and found ourselves down 4-0! But, one swing at a time, we kept hammerin' the rock and clawed our way back to take an 8-4 lead at halftime.

After a tough back-and-forth second half, we prevailed 13-10 to finish the regular season 6-0. It marked the first time an Army team had ever finished Patriot League Play 6-0.

You can read both complete game stories on our website.

Saturday was tough. I was very proud to see those seniors take the field, but very sad as well. They have been a great group and have worked hard during their time here at West Point. It was especially tough to see three of those guys get hugs from their parents.

I can remember walking into Mountain Lakes High School in New Jersey to do a school visit with Sam Harrison like it was yesterday. Sam was a wide-eyed, happy-go-lucky kid, but don't be fooled - he is still a tough competitor and has not changed that attitude one bit.

Sam has been an important part of this program and I am glad that he will be back next spring to be our Athletic Intern.

If Sam is the happy-go-lucky type, then Matt Poulos is the laid back one of the bunch. Never too high or low, Matt is the epitome of bringing your hard hat and lunch pail to "work" every day. Matt has done a great job of mentoring our young face-off unit this year. He has also really worked hard and has helped us compete in some big games.

While I have been very involved with those two guys from the beginning of the recruiting process through their continued development as student-athletes, the one guy that even I got a tear in my eye as I watched him give his mom a kiss on the cheek and a big hug to his dad was Alex Gephart. "Gep" as the guys call him has been the rock of this team all year. I can remember sitting in some cow pasture in the middle of New Jersey as Alex's Montclair-Kimberly Cougars were taking on the Pingry School. Alex had two goals and one assist and was all over the field. I came back and told Coach Alberici we had found a good one...he was not real fast, but he makes plays.

All seven of our seniors have done a great job leading our team, but I wanted to make special note of these three guys. I wish only the best for our senior class of Joe Conroy, Tyler Oates, Andrew Maisano, Tyler Seymour as well as Sam, Matt and Alex. Thanks guys.
Today begins the "second season." Today is our first practice as we get ready for the Patriot League Tournament. Our "gift" for winning the league...Bucknell! Today we will re-introduce our guys to the Bison. Bucknell is coming off a thrilling OT win over Colgate on Saturday. The Bison are the most talented team in the tournament. With last season's Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Austin Winter leading their attack, the Bison are a very dangerous offensive team. They got even better with the recent return of senior Tim Brandau from an early season injury. On the other side of the midfield, Coach Frank Fedorjaka's defense is one of the toughest around and will pose a great test to our young offense.

Two weeks ago in Lewisburg, we escaped with a 7-6 OT win and we know the Bison will be looking for revenge, as they have rattled off impressive wins over Lehigh 14-5 and the OT win vs. Colgate to close out their regular season.

This week's Army lacrosse Alumni spotlight shines on Tory Sokul. Tory is a 2006 West Point grad from New Hampshire, who is flying helicopters in Afghanistan right now. Tory sent us a great email the other day congratulating the team on its recent wins. It's amazing the amount of support we get from our former players. No matter where they are in the world, they take time to send a note back to us. Tory was a talented long stick midfielder who I was fortunate to spend three years coaching. Tory has an additional special place in my heart as he and I both wore #22 in college. All our guys who wear 22 get a little more "love" from coach Murph. (Sorry to refer to myself in the third person. - and don't let this little revelation go to your head Devin Lynch, who is our current #22).

We are so proud of Tory and all our lacrosse alumni serving our country in all parts of the world.

Coach Murph!