A Brotherhood And A Year To Remember: Looking Back At The 2010 Goucher MLAX Landmark Conference Championship Season
By: Grace Kelly (Athletic Communications Student Assistant)
2020 marks 10 years since the Goucher College men's lacrosse program won its first ever Landmark Conference championship. The team executed a seven-goal victory against Catholic on May 8, 2010 to secure the championship, as well as an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament.
"They got what they deserved," said Kyle Hannan, who remains the program's winningest head coach. "Everybody understood their position and their role, and that made it possible to get the job done." Hannan's victory against Catholic was not only his first of two conference championships with the Gophers—it was also his 100th win as head coach.
For Hannan, the win was "so gratifying. All I could think about was those 30 guys and what they went through. They built a brotherhood—they're a special group of guys." For the team, the win was, and still is, a moment they will never forget.
A conference championship is always at the top of the list of goals for the program, but the 2010 squad was more determined than ever to achieve that goal.
"We had come close in 2008 and 2009," recalled faceoff specialist Nick LaBricciosa. "Our senior class wanted to leave campus having accomplished that feat." LaBricciosa was one of seven seniors on the 2010 roster.
Also among the Class of 2010 was Jacob Fratella, who, from the beginning of the season, was determined to do whatever was necessary to help his team.
"I wanted to make sure that I was doing everything I possibly could to ensure that, as a team, we reached our goal and were in a position to win as much as possible," said Fratella. "That is all any of us cared about. We knew that if we focused on winning as a team and achieving our goals we set as a group, individual recognition would follow. I think I speak for everyone in that we didn't really care if that individual recognition did come, as long as we were winning as a group."
The leadership of the seniors motivated underclassmen like Rory Averett to secure a victory.
"The moment I knew a Landmark Conference championship was within reach was when we lost our last game of the 2009 season to Scranton," said Averett, who has held the program's record for goals scored in a career since 2012. "After that game, I knew we returned a great group of leaders in the 2010 class. It was with their leadership and the talent we returned in 2010 that I knew we had a good chance at winning a Landmark championship." Averett scored five of the team's 11 goals in the championship game.
With the common goal in mind, the team got to work. They finished the regular season with a 12-3 record, including a 6-0 in-conference record. When preparing for the postseason, they were confident that they could beat anyone who stood in their way.
Goalkeeper Chris Stricklin called the team's undefeated conference record "assuring, but not surprising." He was confident in his talent and the talent of his teammates. Stricklin's confidence and swagger in the goal helped lead the Gophers to a 6-2 victory over the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in the conference semifinals. Stricklin finished that game with 16 saves.
"Heading into the championship game, I was full of confidence," said Stricklin when asked how he was feeling as May 8th approached. "No lie, I was 100 percent sure we were going to win that game."
David Jadin, another member of the Class of 2010, stressed the importance of keeping a level head in preparation. Hannan was proud of the senior class for stepping up after the heartbreak of the 2009 season.
"Guys like David really took charge and made sure everyone was doing what they were supposed to do,". Said Hannan. "The thought process going into the game was very similar to any other game. We went through the same preparation, team meetings, practice schedule, etc." But there was an understanding amongst the team that there was more on the line than usual.
"We tried to treat it as any other game. Although, I will say, that was difficult," added Fratella. "In the time leading up to the game, the coaches did a great job of keeping us calm and focused on just playing our brand of lacrosse, to not let the moment overwhelm us, and just focus on working toward the same goal we had in every game: to play a full 60 minutes of Goucher lacrosse."
Kyle Boncaro remembered what Coach Hannan would always tell the team: "Do the little things right and the rest will fall into place. Stick to the game plan." This mindset helped keep the team calm, cool, and collected as they stepped on the field to face Catholic for a conference championship.
A collective team effort that began in the first seven seconds of the game with a LaBricciosa-assisted goal by Averett, the goal that the team had worked so hard to achieve became a reality. After 60 minutes of hard-fought lacrosse, the Gophers pulled out an 11-4 win and could finally celebrate hard work paying off.
Fratella described the feeling when the final whistle blew as "pure exultation and jubilation. We had worked for so long focused on obtaining that feeling that it was truly incredible to finally be able to experience it. I know I had thought so many times about what it would be like and it was better than I could have ever imagined. Running down the field after the final whistle to celebrate with my best friends was something I will never forget."
LaBricciosa felt "a mixture of elation and relief. It had been months, if not years, of work leading to the point and having all of that hard work pay off was incredible. Cutting down the net, the team photo with the trophy, and watching the tournament selection show were memories I'll remember forever." Jadin echoed similar sentiments, remembering a sense of relief and excitement as the team celebrated with friends and family.
Stricklin, Averett, and Boncaro savored the moment while it lasted, but recognized that there was still work to be done leading up to the first round of the NCAA tournament. Four days after the conference championship, the team suffered a 10-6 loss to Middlebury in the first round of the tournament. But the team still had much to celebrate.
The 2010 season was followed by accolade after accolade for many on the roster. Matt Lynch and Justin Dunn both received USILA All-American honorable mentions in 2010 and 2011, and Lynch received third-team honors in 2012. Boncaro and Averett received USILA All-American honorable mentions in 2012.
Nine of the 13 members of the Goucher men's lacrosse All-Decade Team were members of the 2010 championship team (Averett, Boncaro, Jacob Fratella, Lynch, Jadin, LaBricciosa, Bryce Carson, Justin Dunn, Connor Mishaw). The All-Decade Team was voted upon by the Goucher community in November.
The final whistle on May 8, 2010 will be a memory that the members and coaches of this Goucher men's lacrosse team will remember forever. "I had the best time of my life," says Stricklin. Since graduating from Goucher, Stricklin and his teammates have stayed connected to the Goucher men's lacrosse program, attending home contests and alumni events regularly.
"The current players are able to see the pride in what it means to be a part of Goucher lacrosse," said current head coach Brian Kelly when asked what the support of the alumni means to the program. "It reminds us that we are a part of something bigger than just the men that take the field. Through donations and presence at our games, our alumni have been very involved and are a crucial part of our program."
It is through the memory of the Landmark Conference victory in 2010 and the relationships that these men have built with each other that they are able to stay so connected to Goucher.
"We are family," says Jadin. "We've been there for every major milestone since graduation, good and bad. We've been there for engagements, weddings, babies, and we've also been there after the passing of family members. That will never change. My teammates are my best friends and they always will be. Our bond is deep and that is all thanks to our time at Goucher."
