I started following lacrosse in the early 2000s. Around that time, the Georgetown program could be referred to as… significant. In the late 90s and early to mid 2000s, the Hoyas were always involved in the Tournament, so I have to admit being a little surprised when I took a step back and looked at the overall history of the Hoyas program. By the way, what is a Hoya?
In 1997 Georgetown made its debut on the national scene reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Back in 1997 Dave Urick still coached the Hoyas. At one point Urick was considered a possible candidate as a top tier coach. Urick started off his career at Hobart, becoming the head football coach in 1976 and the head lacrosse coach in 1980. In his first year as head coach of the lacrosse team, he won the Francis “Babe” Kraus Award as the top coach in division III lacrosse. Success came early and often in those years with the Statesmen, winning ten straight division III National Championships. In 1990 Urick became the head coach at Georgetown University. While at Georgetown, Urick never had a losing season, in fact, he never had a losing record as head coach.
Between 1997 and 2007 the Hoyas made the NCAA Tournament every year, pushing past the opening round every year except 1997 and 2001. In 1999 the Georgetown Hoyas made the NCAA semi-finals, the furthest the team has ever gotten in the Tournament. During that ten-year period, Georgetown lost in the Tournament to the eventual National Champions six times (Maryland 1997, Syracuse 1999, Princeton 2002, Syracuse 2004, Virginia 2006, Johns Hopkins 2007) and the runner up twice (Syracuse 2000, Virginia 2003).
In 2008 Georgetown did not make the National Tournament, and hasn’t since. 2010 may have been one of the most controversial years in recent memory for the selection committee. In 2010 the committee chose to give Johns Hopkins an at large bid. Hopkins, which may have gotten the nod purely on name recognition, lost 18-5 to Duke in the first round. It was a complete disaster; the Blue Devils scored at will. Other possible at large bids that did not get chosen included Georgetown (9-5), Villanova (10-5), Yale (10-4), Brown (8-6), Drexel (10-5), and UMass (8-6). Out of that group, Georgetown, with a strength of schedule and RPI of ninth in the country, was the best team to not make the post-season. Durring the 2010 regular season, the Hoyas lost to Duke, the eventual National Champions, 15-10 and beat the eventual runner up Notre Dame 11-8. That was the closest the Hoyas have come to making the Tournament since 2007; mediocrity has settled in to the program.
Dave Urick is no longer the coach at Georgetown, being replaced by Kevin Warne in 2013. Since Warne’s arrival the Hoyas have gone 10-19. For all intensive purposes Georgetown has had to start over. In 2015 the Hoyas will face, among others, Notre Dame, Duke, Loyola, Denver, and Virginia. It will be another rough year for Georgetown, and it shouldn’t get any easier any time soon.
