By Ryan McCord
By now you all know where the head coach went. Talented defenders and a handful of senior role players have graduated. The two All-Americans on the offensive side-who accounted for almost 100 goals-are gone as well, making their own respective impacts professionally in the NLL. As for the 2007 men’s lacrosse team, only a few key players carry over from 2006’s star-studded lineup, including one from the front line.
Remember the other guy on attack? The skinny freshman from Yorktown, NY?
Well Tommy Dooley is no longer a skinny freshman. In fact, the 2006 CAA Rookie of the Year is hardly recognizable in full uniform anymore. In the off-season he developed a workout routine that included lifting weights and eating three meals a day. He adjusted to the loss of John Danowski, and prepared himself for a season that is sure to employ plenty of added responsibilities that come with being “the man.”
“Every freshman that has a great first year always has the sophomore slump a little bit simply because you’re not an unknown anymore,” first-year head coach Seth Tierney explained. “Times have changed for Tommy and he knows that.”
Tierney expects Dooley to receive a lot of attention defensively, but the third leading scorer in the CAA last season welcomes the double-teams and added hacks his forearms are about to receive.
“I enjoy contact,” Dooley said. “I grew up with three older brothers. I played hockey. I’m kind of used to it.”
Not only are Dooley’s older siblings partly responsible for developing his mental and physical toughness, but their passion for lacrosse wore off on him at a young age as well. His older brother Scott played for coach Danowski from 1999-2002, and being around the Hofstra program at a young age played a tremendous influence in his decision to pack his bags for Hempstead after high school.
From the New York state high school quarterfinals one year to the NCAA quarterfinals the next, Dooley was floating on cloud nine playing for a program he believed in and a head coach in John Danowski that showed tremendous confidence in him as well.
Then Duke University offered Danowski the opportunity of a lifetime after the 2006 season, leaving Dooley and the rest of the program not only with a renovated roster, but a new leader to go with it.
“It was difficult to handle,” said Dooley, reflecting on Danowski’s departure. “For a week or two there was a sense of shock and disappointment. The first thing you look for when you’re being recruited is if you like the coach. We all enjoyed having him around a lot. But then I found out coach Tierney was coming here. We lost a great one and gained a great one too.”
So is the former Hofstra coaching legend the right man to step in and take over for a program looking to bounce back less than a year after a legendary scandal?
“I think he’s great to coach anywhere,” Dooley said. “He gets along well with his players. He won’t treat them any differently than he did here.”
Like Danowski before him, Tierney admits that Dooley has all the tools to go down in history as one of the better players the Hofstra program has ever seen.
“He’s a wonderful person with a great work ethic and he is determined to be great,” Tierney said. “He needs to work on his athleticism and quickness. He has the potential to be great.”
If all the accolades have gotten to the soft-spoken sophomore’s head, it certainly didn’t show after practice recently, where Dooley could be seen rounding up balls, a responsibility that traditionally belongs to the freshman class.
“Ah, I wanted to get out of here,” Dooley said with a smile. “I chip in whenever I can. I’m still young and still a sophomore.”