The third weekend in May has become familiar territory for Georgetown. The weekend, which features the four quarterfinal matchups of the NCAA tournament, has showcased the Hoyas in each of the last five years.

But for five years, that weekend has also been the end of the road for Georgetown as it has come up short in its attempt to reach the final four.

The repeat results have led Hoyas senior attackman Trevor Casey to feel like his team has hit a wall, especially considering Georgetown has brought in some of the nation’s top recruits for the past four years. He hopes Georgetown, with an 8-2 record and No. 6 ranking, can finally get past its roadblock in his final season.

‘Every year I think we get closer and closer to breaking down that wall,’ Casey said. ‘I think we’re just as good as in all those other games. I think some of the games in the last couple of years could have gone either way. I don’t think there was any lack of talent, other than the fact that the ball didn’t go our way.’

For the seniors on the team, two of their three games in the quarterfinals have been decided by one goal, including a 2005 overtime loss to Maryland. After the repeated heartbreaks, the game can become more mental for some players.

‘It may get in some guys heads,’ Casey said. ‘There are guys who have played in that game year after year and we know what it takes to get past that game. Every year is a new year, so anything can happen.’

Georgetown head coach Dave Urick is confident that his players can move on mentally from their recent history and focus on this year. The Hoyas have three more regular season games before starting the postseason in less than a month.

‘I don’t think it’s anything that they lose a lot of sleep over, quite honestly,’ Urick said. ‘What we have to continually stress to our guys is to not be content or satisfied to just get to the tournament but to go as far as you possibly can. That’s what it’s all about. It’s a tough thing, a lot of little things can separate one team from the next when you get to that level.’

Urick said that if his team continues to play good defense and can see increased offensive production, they can make a run to that elusive final four.

The Hoyas set a goal in the beginning of the year to win the NCAA Championship. But the players aren’t the only ones with high hopes for this team. The external expectations have been piling up as Urick has brought in some of the top recruits in the country in recent years. Two of the last four recruiting classes – now the juniors and the freshmen – were ranked the No. 1 classes by Inside Lacrosse.

‘Inside Lacrosse always does a huge write-up on the freshmen that are coming in,’ Casey said. ‘So they’re all hyped up when they get here, but I think they put too much pressure on themselves. Just coming in, they haven’t even played a college lacrosse game yet, so you can’t expect too much out of them.’

One player who has lived up to the expectations is freshman Andrew Brancaccio. Coming out of high school, Inside Lacrosse dubbed the midfielder the No. 1 recruit in the country. Brancaccio has not disappointed, scoring the second-most goals and recording the third-highest point total of any Hoya this season.

Urick said he and his staff do not follow any media rankings of players, but rather rely on their own evaluations. When looking at a player, Urick said he is as much, if not more, concerned with the player’s overall athletic ability and not just his lacrosse ability.

‘I don’t know who rates these things or how they go about determining which class is better than the others,’ Urick said. ‘It’s all pretty subjective.’

For now, Urick and his team are focused on closing out their regular season and winning their conference, which would secure an automatic bid to the tournament. Once there, the talk can move to playing on Memorial Day, the day the championship game is annually held.

‘I think the goal of the program, for the players particularly and certainly for the coaching staff, is to play on Monday and try and get over that quarterfinal hump, so to speak,’ Urick said. ‘We’ve been in the final four once, it was a while ago, and we obviously would love to get back there.’

Duke moves to No. 2Duke rose to No. 2 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media poll after upsetting then-No. 2 Virginia on Saturday. Cornell remained in the No. 1 spot for the sixth-straight week after wins against Syracuse and Dartmouth. Albany remained No. 3 despite staying undefeated on the season.

Stock UpNotre Dame. After a 3-3 start, the Irish has recorded five-straight wins. With three games remaining, Notre Dame is in good shape to return to the NCAA tournament for the second-consecutive year, after missing it the previous four years.

Stock DownArmy. The Black Knights surprised many with a Feb. 23 upset over Syracuse and won four of their next five to start 6-1. But it has been downhill from there, as Army has lost four straight going into a weekend match up with No. 2 Duke. The bright spot has been junior goalie Adam Fullerton, who ranks second in the NCAA in save percentage and fourth in goals against average.

Published on April 17, 2007 at 12:00 pm