The East Coast Athletic Conference(ECAC)is one of the most well-rounded conferences within D1 lacrosse, with more then half of their participating teams having planted or at least showed their faces within the D1 top 20 last year. It is quite possible that at least one more of the ECAC teams will make an appearance in the top 20 rankings this spring, as Rutgers is looking to put together a competitive season in 2001. While the ECAC (which consists of Georgetown, Navy, UMBC, UMass, Penn State, Rutgers, and Stony Brook) sent only one team into the NCAA playoffs last spring, it continues to produce a conference full of teams that are capable of competing with almost anyone out there. Read on to check out some of the up-and-coming players that have entered into the ECAC this fall.

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY HOYAS:

The Georgetown University Hoyas are coming off a 2000 season in which they lost only three games, two of which were to the national champions Syracuse Orangemen. The one other L was a one-goal loss to the Duke Blue Devils another top-10 D1 squad. The Hoyas ran through the ECAC last year untouched with a perfect 6-0 record earning the conference's automatic bid into the playoffs (although they probably would have been invited with an at-large bid anyhow). After a sick opening round win over the Big Red of Cornell, the Hoyas put together a serious run against Syracuse in the quarterfinals at a rainy Rutgers Stadium. Looking at the Hoyas box score of their final game in 2000 against Syracuse, it is quite obvious what positions will be left wide open this spring. Senior attackmen Scott Urick and Peter Velepec accounted for nine of the thirteen Hoyas goals in the quarterfinal game, with Andy Flick the third starting senior attackmen having gone 1 and 1 on the day. The Hoyas will have to replace their entire attack this year, and maybe some of these new incoming freshmen will be able to help out. This may not be a complete run-down of the incoming freshmen recruiting class for Georgetown, but it is a solid look at some of the top incoming players for the Hoyas. Between the lines for the Hoyas will be three midfielders in Walid Hajj (Baltimore, MD/McDonough School), Mike Shuler (Chevy Chase, MD/Georgetown Prep), and Brad Young (Pittsburgh, PA/Mt. Lebanon). Looking to help possibly fill in the some of the holes that will exist on the Hoya attack will be incoming freshmen attack recruits Neal Goldman (Ellicott City, MD/Mt. Hebron), Chase Peterson (Woodbine, VA/Episcopal), and Kevin Shooshan (Potomac, MD/Landon School). Once we track down the rest of the class and the new Hoya players we will fill you in on it all.

NAVY MIDSHIPMEN:

The Navy Midshipmen have officially entered into the Post-Jarboe era. Mickey Jarboe, Navy's All-American anchor in goal over the past few years has finally moved on after a tremendous playing career for Coach Richie Meade and the Naval Academy. Although Navy finished the 2000 season within the top 12 ranked teams in D1 they weren't asked into the playoffs due mainly to Hobart and Notre Dame leap-frogging them with their Patriot and Great West automatic invitations to the dance. A win in anyone of their one-goal losses to UNC, Maryland, or Hopkins last spring most likely would have pushed them over the top into the NCAA's. The eventual predecessors in goal have played well so far down in Annapolis this fall, and with some of these freshmen being able to help some this spring the Midshipmen first year of the new era should go alright. Coming into the Academy this fall as recruited lacrosse players for the Midshipmen are two attackmen, six midfielders, and four longpoles(three defensemen and one pole). Coming in as Navy's attack recruits are Dave Pittard(Skaneateles, NY) and Mike Bossi(Hun School, NJ). In between the lines for Navy as freshmen midfielders are Chris Jamison (Holy Trinity, NY), Steve Piacente (Fordham Prep, NY), Adam Reel (Loomis Chaffee, CT-from New Hampshire), Ben Bailey (Peddie School, NJ-from Tennessee), Nicholas Alfano (Navy Prep - Hicksville, NY), and face-off midfielder Mike Begley (West Genesee, NY). For defensive purposes Coach Meade and his staff brought in three close defensemen in Jared Bosanko (Corning East, NY), Nick Cardillo(Victor, NY), and Greg Garvey (Dublin Scioto, OH) along with long-pole midfielder Tom Morris(Thomas Edison, VA) who comes in after a year at NAPS. Pittard at attack and Morris at pole could help out the Midshipmen this spring with Ben Bailey at midfield looking very solid so far and most likely making a significant impact this spring for his squad. As always we'll just have to wait and see how the Post-Jarboe era pans out.

UMBC RETRIEVERS:

Coach Zimmerman's UMBC Retrievers finished last season with a 7-7 record having lost four of those seven games to teams that went on to play in the NCAA May playoffs. All seven of last year's losses were to teams in the top 20. The Retrievers made the playoffs in 1998 and 1999, but failed to qualify last year for the first time in the past three years. Although UMBC plays some tough out-of-conference games, Coach Zimmerman's squad will focus more on their games within the ECAC in order to make a run at the AQ that promises a trip directly into the playoffs. This year's freshmen class at UMBC is made up of fourteen players, thirteen of which are from Maryland and one from Michigan. In general, the class is lean on the defensive side of the field with only one goalie and one defenseman, but very strong in the midfield and attack column. The incoming attack recruits for UMBC are Jesse Buppert (South Carroll, MD), Chris Petrichenko (Easton, MD), Justin Smith (DeMatha, MD), and Jerry Solazzo(DeMatha, MD). At midfield the Retrievers bring in seven midfielders this fall which include Franklin Berry (Mt. Hebron, MD), Mac Chase (Severna Park, MD), Matt Gallagher (DeMatha, MD), Brian Johnson (Eastern Tech, MD), Pat Muston (Novi, MI), Danny Stansbury(South Carroll, MD), and Tom Tittsworth (Mt. Hebron, MD). The two new faces on defense this fall for the Retrivers are goaltender Tim Flanagan who comes in as a junior via Archbishop Curley HS/Essex CC and defenseman Jeff Clark (Queen Anne's, MD). Also looking to help out UMBC this fall and later on in his career will be Sean McQuinn out of DeMatha. Coach Zimmerman feels that this is a solid class composed of good athletes/competitors that are very coachable and will help to add depth at all positions.

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS MINUTEMEN:

The University of Massachusetts Minutemen head men's lacrosse coach Greg Cannella has brought in a well-balanced class of ten freshmen this fall, which include three attackmen, two midfielders, four longpoles, and one goalie. Coach Cannella having been at the helm for a little over five years now brings in a strong class, but still feels as if this year's team will be a very senior oriented one. At the attack for the freshmen class are Kevin Glenz (Lynbrook, NY) a great feeder, Neil Lundberg (Bloomfield Hills, MI) a power player, and Jeff Zywicki (Nepean, Ontario) a good scorer from Canada. All three attackmen have performed well so far this fall and will look to play some amount this spring. The two midfielder recruits that have come into Amherst this fall are Justin Walker (Fairport, NY) a good athletic midfielder and Todd Cunningham (East Setauket, NY). Defensively, Coach Cannella and staff welcome five new faces in defensemen Bo Pritchard(Webster, NY), Patrick Hall(Wilton, CT) and junior college transfer James Naus (North Massapequa,NY). Rounding off the defensive recruits are longpole midfielder Chris Gervat(Northport, NY) and goalie Scott Hinchey (Glastonbury, CT). Gervat was able to start at pole this fall, which helped him gain a lot of experience. "It's an athletic group that has some great ability," said Cannella. "We are real excited about their past experiences. Many of them come from programs that won state championships. There are some players with good size, and we are looking forward to bringing them in here..."

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY SCARLET KNIGHTS:

Granted the Rutgers University Scarlet Knights only conference win last year was against Stony Brook (who pitched a goose egg in conference play themselves), there are two good reasons that Rutgers is getting some ink in this article. The first legitimate reason is their incoming freshmen recruiting class this fall. Although super recruiter Andrew DeCicco is now working for the Pioneers of Sacred Heart, he was highly successful last spring in keeping some of the top high school talent in New Jersey at home for Rutgers. The second reason is Bill Dirrigl. The word out on the street is that Rutgers new Head Coach Bill Dirrigl has got the ball rolling down there and isn't going to take his time trying to get the Knights back on the right track. Hayes is out, Dirrigl is in - we'll have to wait and see if Rutgers can turn their potential blockbuster program into the real deal. Here is a quick run-down of the incoming players this fall for Dirrigl's Rutgers program. Remember these aren't players Dirrigl recruited to come to Rutgers, but some of them will be the first players he will have four full years to work with. At attack, Matt Apel (Bridgewater-Raritan HS, NJ), Greg Bayvel(Mountain Lakes HS, NJ), Mike Buck (Mountain Lakes HS, NJ), and Mike Coomber (Ridgewood HS, NJ). Coming in as midfielder recruits are Anthony Bohlinger (St. Joseph's of Metuchen, NJ), Joe Duncan (Mountain Lakes HS, NJ) , Joe Stellke (Longwood HS, NY), and Tim White (South Side, NY). Defensively, reporting into New Brunswick this fall are Jon Bobel(Caesar Rodney, DE), Andrew Conforti (Hunterdon Central HS, NJ), and Alex Kenyon(Staples, CT) along with long-pole midfielder Dan Bivona (Hunterdon HS Central, NJ) and goaltender Chris Kenyon (Staples, CT).

Good Luck to all the new freshmen recruits in the ECAC(still tracking down Penn State and the rest of the Georgetown class).