By Joseph Staszewski
While Georgetown lacrosse is still the undisputed kings of the ECAC conference, it was St. John's that was holding court at home for the first time since lacrosse was cut in 1996.It was probably not the home debut the Red Storm dreamed of as they lost to No 8. Georgetown 16-6 Saturday afternoon, but it is still a game it will remember. “It's awesome,” St. John's freshman midfielder Justin O'Donnell said of playing his first regular season home game in front of a crowd of 604. “We got beat, but we played Georgetown, a well-known school for so long. They beat us but we scored a couple goals on them. It feels good.”The game had a special feel for St. John's head coach Rick Sowell, who was an assistant at Georgetown from 1990-1998 under current coach Dave Urick.”He's one of my best friends,” Sowell said. “At times he's a brother, at times he's a dad, at times he's a mentor.”Urich, who has led Georgetown (1-1, 1-0) to six consecutive ECAC titles and whose team is picked to win a seventh, had nothing but the highest praise for his former protege.”He obviously has a challenge ahead of him,” Urich said. “He has everything on the right path. I don't know if I've been around or seen a more competitive person.”Sowell's team reflects his passion and shows signs of possible things to come. The Red Storm battled back after Georgetown attacker Trevor Casey scored two goals in an eight second span with 11:46 left in the first quarter. The Hoyas would add two more goals for a 4-0 lead. With 33 seconds left in the opening quarter Red Storm captain Mike McGuire, who transferred to St. John's (1-2, 0-1) after playing three years at Georgetown, beat Hoyas goalie Rich D'Andrea with a shot high for a man up goal off an assist from O'Donnell.St. John's would strike again in the second quarter. O'Donnell, the team's leading scorer with seven goals, scored the first of his game-high three goals by ripping a rocket into the back of the net, cutting the Hoyas lead to just 4-2 with 11:46 left. But that was as close as the Red Storm would get.After Hoyas' All-American Brodie Merrill netted a goal eight seconds later, Georgetown would score three more in the period giving them an 8-3 halftime lead. The Hoyas would outscore the Johnnies by the same margin in the second half. St. John's continued to scrap though and got goals from Tom Michaelsen and Randy Mills. The young team, playing in arguable the best lacrosse conference in the country, showed signs of what the future may hold.”His kids play hard,” Urich said. “These are some good size kids out there and they're most mostly all freshman. There are some athletes there.”Becoming a better team is one thing. Getting St. John's to a level of success where title banners accompany fan-made signs at DaSilva Field is another.”Ultimately you want to win a championship,” Sowell said. “They've (Georgetown) had a level of success the last six, seven, eight years that have been pretty impressive. We've got miles and miles and miles of road before we've even in the ballpark. We're just at the beginning of a long road ahead.”Reach contributing writer Joseph Staszewski by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
