THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 9, 1994 TAG: 9406070152
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 17 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DENISE MICHAUX, COMPASS SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: 940609 LENGTH: Medium
After winning two consecutive Prep League titles and The Invitational Lacrosse Tournament, the Bulldogs are having difficulty finding teams that can beat them.
{REST} So what's the problem with that?
``The only way to get better is to play people who are better than you are,'' said coach Tom Duquette.
The Bulldogs have racked up a record of 33-2 during the past two seasons. They lost a 5-4 decision to St. Anne's-Belfield in 1993 when they went 16-1. The only blemish on this season's 17-1 record was a 12-6 loss to Boys Latin School in Baltimore.
Lack of competition hasn't kept Duquette's young team from improving.
``This is a group that is very serious about the game,'' said Duquette, who has 20 of his 27 players returning next year. ``They've played summer league and done all of the camps. They get a lot of their best experience during the summer because they get to play against older and better people.''
You would be hard pressed to find a collection of better players in the state of Virginia.
Of the 13 players named to the All-Prep League team, seven of them were from Norfolk Academy. Four Bulldogs were named first team All-Piedmont and four more were named to the second team last weekend.
Seniors John Wynne, attackman, Dee Lawrence, defenseman, and mid-fielder Andy York topped the All-Prep League list for the Bulldogs. They were joined by juniors Mike Moro, attackman, Charlie Burroughs and Ben Kottke at mid-field and Hannon Wright in goal.
All-everything attackman Wynne, who will be helping Princeton defend its national title next year, added first team All-Piedmont selection to his All-Prep League and All-America honors. He led the team in goals with 78 and shared the points lead with sophomore Drew McKnight at 104.
McKnight set a single-season school record dishing out 73 assists and earned an All-America selection, a rarity for a sophomore. He also claimed on spot on the All-Piedmont first team.
Burroughs and senior defenseman Jared Harrison, who will play for Lehigh next year, were the other first team All-Piedmont selections. Lawrence, Kottke, York and Wright were named to the second team. Lawrence and York are also on their way to the college ranks at Yale and Hampden-Sydney respectively.
Duquette added in ``Oh, by the way'' fashion that he earned All-Piedmont coach of the year honors.
``It's the players' game, not mine,'' said Duquette.
And those players have gotten so accustomed to winning there is always the danger of expecting it.
``That's always a worry,'' Duquette said. ``But they have an appreciation for the game and how it needs to be played.
``If they do things right and move the ball around a lot they are going to score lots of goals and win games.''
Scoring goals hasn't been a problem for the Bulldogs. They averaged 15 goals a game this past season - 78 percent of them were assisted.
``Every time we go out there it is truly a team effort,'' Duquette said. ``They are very unselfish. They pass the ball around a lot knowing that they will get it back eventually.''
No team has won three consecutive Prep League titles. Duquette hopes to change all that in 1995.
``Everybody will be gunning for us, that's for sure.'' by CNB