When Navy Heard the News
For the most part, the Navy lacrossse team did not gather to watch the NCAA tournament selection show on Sunday night because it was in the middle of exams. Junior midfielder Shane Durkin said he was in the library studying for a thermodynamics exam but was getting phone calls from his father during the selection show on ESPNU.
"My dad was giving me the play-by-play," Durkin said. "We definitely needed a couple things to play out over the weekend....Colgate helped big-time by beating Syracuse. That gave us a third top 10 win."
Junior Matt Bitter, a reserve attackman, emerged from exams on Saturday night to find that Georgetown, Army and Princeton had lost and Colgate had upset then-No. 1 Syracuse.
"I couldn't believe it when I found out Army had lost and Georgetown had lost," Bitter said. "And you have to give Colgate a lot of credit. After watching them in the Patriot League tournament [the Raiders defeated Navy, 12-9, in the semifinals], I told someone that I wouldn't be surprised if they beat Syracuse. They are playing really well right now."
The Midshipmen (9-5) face North Carolina (8-5) on Saturday night in Chapel Hill, N.C. Bitter enters with a little bit more motivation than usual: His younger brother plays for the Tar Heels. Freshman Billy Bitter is a reserve attackman and plays on extra-man offense. He has 6 goals and 15 assists this year.
"My brother and I have been talking about it this week, but then my father got involved and I think he's trying to be an instigator," Matt Bitter said. "He sent an email the other day to both of us that I forwarded to the team. At the end all it said was, 'May the best son win.'"
The last time a Navy player faced his younger brother, Georgetown redshirt freshman Ricky Mirabito scored the winning goal in overtime in an 11-10 win over the Midshipmen and senior Nick Mirabito on March 29.
"I've heard some stuff about it but not too much," Bitter said. "The Mirabitos are a little more high-profile than we are."
By Christian Swezey |
May 8, 2008; 2:29 PM ET
| Category:
Navy
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