When a team finds itself ranked fifth in the nation in any collegiate sport, it’s usually not a question of whether or not they will reach the post-season; it’s how far they will go. The Georgetown men’s lacrosse team currently sits at fifth place in the USILA Coaches Poll, but for head coach Dave Urick, any complacency is unacceptable.
“You get too wrapped up in the weekly poll, but that really doesn’t have anything to do with selection,” he said on Wednesday. “We try to make that point in practice. It looks great when you see those rankings but it’s a whole different committee selecting the fields.”
Georgetown missed its chance at an automatic bid when Loyola clinched the Eastern College Athletic Conference championship last week. Now the Hoyas must fight for one of the remaining at-large bids, but with only 32 total spots available and the potential for conference tournament underdogs stealing automatic invitations, they have thier work cut out for them.
“We have to play our way in,” Urick said. “These next two games are huge as far as post-season eligibility.”
The next team standing in the way of the Hoyas’ post-season push is Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights are 5-6 this season, but their record hardly reflects how dangerous the team is. Half of Rutgers’ losses were to Army and Princeton—two top-20 teams—and last year’s semi-finalists Delaware by a combined four points. Two of their three remaining losses came at the hands of Syracuse and Loyola, teams that have also beaten Georgetown this season. The Knights also boast an impressive blowout win over sixth-ranked UMBC.
“Their record doesn’t overwhelm you, but they are a very good lacrosse team,” Urick said. “They are young and talented, and I’m sure they will fight and scratch to get themselves back to .500. They won’t lack for motivation, that’s for sure.”
Besides the home field advantage and the extra motivation, Rutgers will bring two other potent weapons to the field. Freshman Kory Kelly and sophomore Justin Pennington, last year’s ECAC Rookie of the Year, have combined for 39 goals this season.
“[Pennington] is an awfully impressive athlete,” Urick said. “I’ve seen him enough on tape to know that he is going to be a handful. I don’t think you are going to stop him from scoring, you just have to hope he doesn’t have a career day against you.”
Opening face-off will take place on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Rutgers.
