Georgetown coach Dave Urick remembers the days when the NCAA tournament didn’t dominate the lacrosse season.
When the North-South game was the crown jewel of the sport.
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When the postseason effectively didn’t exist.
As he brought each of those items up Thursday, he was effectively drawing a comparison between his early days in the sport and the scenario facing the Hoyas (5-6) as they enter the final three games of their season.
Georgetown’s NCAA hopes are basically gone. And so dates with Yale (9-2), Rutgers (5-6) and Villanova (8-3) will carry as much —- or as little —- meaning as the Hoyas care to imbue them with.
“When you relate it to the dark ages to guys, you just played,” Urick said. “You played throughout the year and every week and you played to see who was better that day. That’s the mindset we need to adopt. We’ve got to go find out who’s the better team when we play Yale, who’s better when we play Rutgers and who’s better when we play Villanova. To me, that’s incentive enough. Hopefully it is. So far, I think it is.”
While Georgetown will likely miss the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight year, it is the first time the Hoyas haven’t harbored postseason hopes into May. And without two wins in the final three games, Georgetown will be left with its first losing season since 1989 —- and the first in 32 years of college coaching for Urick.
That’s a designation the Hoyas don’t covet —- and just another sliver of incentive for a team hoping to finish a rough season strong.
—- Patrick Stevens
