After winning the last year's NCAA Championship, the men's lacrosse team received all the fanfare and adulation that can be expected for a team that had just broken an extended championship drought.
But aside from the memorabilia and accolades, they also got something they will carry with them for the entire 2006 season: a target on their backs.
"I think everybody looks at their schedule and sees the defending national champions, then they get really motivated and they also draw big crowds," head coach Dave Pietramala said.
This was definitely the case for the Jays when they headed to Hofstra to face an inspired, experienced team that Hopkins defeated 11-5 last year. This time around, the Pride capitalized against an emotionally weak Hopkins team, and pulled off an 11-6 upset.
"You win a championship and sometimes you forget what it took to make you champions," Pietramala said of the Blue Jays' recent lack of emotional intensity. "You think about how you won, but not what you did to win."
Hopkins headed to Long Island looking to vent some frustration after opening the season with a far-from-satisfying three-game home stand.
But Hofstra's game-time intensity was too much for the Jays to handle.
"For this team to win, we need to play inspired, we need to play with a lot of emotion," senior midfielder Greg Peyser, one of the team's co-captains, said. "That was something we lacked, and Hofstra had it."
Hofstra came out firing, notching an early 3-0 lead against the Jays. Hopkins didn't get up on the board until sophomore attacker Kevin Huntley got a man-up goal with three minutes left in the first period. But Hofstra came back to rattle off three straight, giving the Jays a 6-1 deficit to mull over during halftime.
Hofstra opened the second half with another goal, but the Blue Jays responded with a goal from Huntley, assisted by freshman midfielder Mark Bryan, and then a goal from Bryan, assisted by Huntley.
The Pride's four-point lead only increased in the fourth quarter, as they scored four straight to make it 11-3. Hopkins was able to pull off three goals in the last minute of play, but it was too little, too late for the Jays, who were handed an 11-6 loss.
Pietramala and his players maintain that it was a mental loss for the Jays, and that their shaky start to the season can't be explained by anything other than attitude.
"We're very disappointed with the loss, but more disappointed with how we lost," Pietramala said. "Hofstra was more exited to play and to battle than we were."
Hopkins and Hofstra both took 31 shots in the game, and the Jays dominated on faceoffs, winning 17-21, and picked up 28 ground balls, three more than Hofstra amassed. But the most telling statistic of the game was the Jays' 23 turnovers, which Peyser attributed to the team's lack of mental intensity.
"If we play with emotions, we'll be a very good team," he said. "It's a good combination of kids, and we returned a lot of our offense. It's just a question of us coming together and playing."
The Jays dropped to No. 13 in the country after the loss to Hofstra, and with this Saturday's home game against No. 10 Syracuse looming on the horizon, Pietramala has made it clear to his team what they need to do in order to get back to last year's form.
"On Monday, we started a new season, back to basics, with a very blue collar approach," he said.
"The whole key for us is going to be the way we practice. Yesterday, there was a lot of excitement, lots of emotion, and it was extremely competitive."
Pietramala added that the Blue Jays have started keeping score at practice in order to ensure that every workout is intense and competitive, and the team hopes they will be able to invoke that energy in big game situations.
"Practice has been tough, which is what we need so the game is easier on Saturday," Huntley said. "We want to outwork Syracuse during the week so we are more prepared for the game. I think we will play with much more emotion and do the little things knowing the effort we put in during practice."
Pietramala also said that despite the two early losses, his team has displayed enough potential that he remains positive about the rest of the season, especially once his young squad is given more time to gel and their leaders get a chance to establish themselves.
"We've got new leaders, they're still learning how to lead us," he said. "Our leaders need to step up and do a better job, and I'm confident they will. We're going to find the guys who want to work hardest, and we're going to put them on the field."
