Jan. 31, 2001
Centerville, Mass. -
The Georgetown Hoyas have been selected as the
preseason favorite to capture the 2001 ECAC Lacrosse Championship by the
league's coaches. The Hoyas won the inaugural ECAC championship last year
finishing the season with a perfect 6-0 record in the league.
In 2000, Georgetown took the league's automatic-bid to the NCAA
championship where they lost to eventual champion, Syracuse, 17-13, in the
quarterfinals. Returning five starters from last year's team, leadership
will come from senior defender Rodger Colbert, named all-ECAC in 2000,
junior midfielder Steve Dusseau, who was an honorable mention all-American
selection last year, and junior netminder Scott Schroeder who started for
the Hoyas in the cage last season.
Navy earned second position in the poll with a narrow lead over tied
third-place teams Massachusetts and Penn State. With the loss of
all-American goalkeeper Mickey Jarboe and three-time all-American defender
Chad Donnelly, the Midshipmen are looking for a few good men to lead the
defense. Massachusetts returns 12 seniors in 2001. Seniors Rich Kunkel, Alex
Racioppi and John Madigan, who led the Minutemen in scoring last season,
will contribute on offense. Penn State enters the 2001 season with its
strength in the midfield as seniors Michael Kern, Ted Holmes, Sean Huss,
Randy Kleinman and Kevin Haggerty return for the Nittany Lions. Penn State
posted a 7-7 overall record in 2001 and is looking forward to its second
year of ECAC league play.
Selected fifth in the league, UMBC's greatest experience will come
from it defense. Four returning starters in the backfield include Eric
Hester, Jon Smith, Dave Smith and goaltender Steve Cusa, who was second in
the league last year with a 7.26 goals against average. At Rutgers, new head
coach Bill Dirrigl has a young team to develop. The Scarlet Knights, rated
sixth in the league, return its top-three scorers from last season in
all-American Keith Cromwell, Scott Massey and Mike McLaughlin.
At the end of the poll, the Seawolves of Stony Brook are looking for
its first league win in 2001, posting a 0-6 conference record last season.
With a young team last year, Stony Brook will look to build on the
experiences gained in the ECAC's first year of existence.
2000 ECAC Preseason Coaches' Poll
1. Georgetown (6) 36
2. Navy 27
3t. Massachusetts (1) 24
3t. Penn St. 24
5. UMBC 18
6. Rutgers 12
7. Stony Brook 6
