Standing just five feet, eight inches tall, Travis Comeau does not look like your stereotypical, hulking Division I lacrosse player. The sophomore attack does not act like a typical lacrosse star either, remaining humble while displaying his friendly and polite demeanor. Yet the Alberta, Canada native has made a name for himself as one of the premier scorers in the Big East over his first two years on the Hilltop.
Travis Comeau scored 11 goals in a three game stretch earlier this season. (Courtesy of Georgetown Sports Information)
Comeau grew up playing box lacrosse to supplement his love for hockey. The variant of lacrosse is played on a hockey rink with smaller nets and a tighter playing field. Despite the differences, it helped Comeau to establish his inside game, developing his skills near the goal. Now with the Hoyas, the sophomore is always in the middle of the action offensively, recently reaching 25 goals for his second straight season. As a smaller player, however, he takes quite a beating over the course of a game.
“Obviously, he’s not the biggest guy to come down the pike, but he’s got an awfully big heart,” head coach Dave Urick said.
Comeau’s undeniable physical toughness is built upon those childhood days playing box lacrosse and hockey. These early experiences helped him to develop a unique style, one that helps him score against tight defensive situations. His transition to field lacrosse started only in 2008, when he flourished under the tutelage of former Hoya All-American Brodie Merrill at the Hill Academy in Ontario. There, Merrill taught him a different type of toughness, the kind Urick instilled in him during his days on the Hilltop.
“Coach Merrill realizes that everyone has potential. It’s a matter of finding that right mindset,” Comeau said. “One of the biggest successes he had as a player was simply being mentally tough. You’ve got to have that mental toughness.”
Merrill started the Hill Academy to allow Canadian hockey and lacrosse recruits to gain further exposure by American universities. His coaching methods take a lot from his playing days under Urick, resembling it so much that Comeau refers to it as another year on the Hilltop. For Merrill, Comeau’s stardom as a lacrosse attack and standout hockey goalie at the fifth-year school foreshadowed his success at Georgetown, but he realizes such early success is not common.
“Travis plays with a lot of toughness and grit; he’s not afraid to take a check or make a play,” Merrill, who played until 2005, said. “It’s pretty rare for someone his size to have his kind of success, especially so early on…but I’m not surprised. He’s got great instinct and is extremely coachable.”
Spectators, in large part, would never believe a crafty attack like Comeau could be in just his third full year of organized field lacrosse, but Urick takes it a step further. Urick, who has coached the Hoyas for 22 years, compares his star left-handed attack to another southpaw who holds the Hoya record for career goals with 144: his son and current Georgetown assistant coach Scott Urick.
“Travis plays to his strengths. He’s a finisher,” the elder Urick said. “He reminds me a lot of Scott in some ways, especially since they’re both left-handed.”
This season, despite Comeau and sophomore counterpart Davey Emala’s success, has been one marked by devastating one-goal losses to Syracuse, Loyola, Harvard, and Notre Dame. However, it all started with a thumb injury to the two attackmen’s classmate, Zac Guy, which forced the upstate New York native to redshirt the season.
“He [Comeau] and Zac are very good friends,” Urick said. “He [Guy] is a bona fide natural attackman. They just had that chemistry and seemed to have developed an awareness of each other on the field.”
Hopes for a formidable offensive core consisting of the two friends and graduate student Rickey Mirabito were crushed after the first game of the season against Jacksonville. However, Emala’s emergence this season means that the Hoyas can reload with Guy feeding Comeau and Emala for goals next season.
This summer marks a transition period for the Hoyas, as they will have to bring in new leaders because of the impending graduation of senior goalie Jack Davis, senior defenseman Barney Ehrmann, and Mirabito. Nevertheless, the continued progress of Guy and Emala should transform this Hoya team, as they take the reins and try to rebound from a disappointing 2011.
As for Comeau, he plans on playing more box lacrosse this summer, to hone his skills close to the net. He is also taking Guy and Emala to Canada so they can experience the high-intensity sport and grow with him.
“I’m kind of holding my breath on that one,” Urick said with a laugh.
The Hoyas wrap up this season with Big East battles against Rutgers and Villanova. Then, the Blue and Gray will prepare for a changing of the guard, where Comeau said he hopes to make an impact over his final two years. Two years and 50 goals in, the Canadian is already off to a great start.
