For four overtimes, the battle lines were drawn again. On one side, Prep grads Shuler, Andrew Brancaccio and Brian Tabb. On the other, Samperton and fellow Landon grads Phil Mufarrij, Stoddie Nibley and Scott Smith.
But after Georgetown Prep’s Brian Casey scored the winning goal just before the end of the fourth overtime, the seven natives of the Bethesda⁄Chevy Chase area were back on the same side. As college teammates, the color line that once divided them has, except for a few hours each spring, completely disappeared.
‘‘In high school, there’s the rivalry,” Smith said. ‘‘In college ... I actually feel like my relationships with the Prep kids are as close with my relationships with the Landon kids, on a different level from the rest of the team. You kind of automatically become friends with them. It’s unique in that sense, probably because you just have such respect for them as competitors.”
Georgetown’s 2008 season ended Saturday at Penn State. An overtime loss, by a score of 12-11, dropped the Hoyas to 9-4 on the season and snapped their streak of 10 consecutive appearances in the NCAA Tournament.
Yet it has truly become a national program in 18 seasons under head coach Dave Urick. Players hail not only from all over Maryland, but also upstate New York, New England, and as far away as California and Washington State.
But Urick has also forged a special relationship with the D.C. region’s two most storied high school programs.
‘‘They’re two of the best high school lacrosse programs in the country,” Urick said. ‘‘Certainly for those of us that aspire to play at a very high level in Division I college lacrosse, you’re blessed if you can attract some of those guys.”
Mufarrij and Shuler have older brothers who graduated from Georgetown. Brancaccio, who committed to the Hoyas as a high school junior, has known Urick for years.
‘‘I always felt really comfortable with Georgetown,” Brancaccio said. ‘‘I always just kind of knew I was going to come here. ... When you step on campus, you just feel something.”
To a man, the seven IAC Hoyas agreed that the similarities between Landon and Prep alums far outweigh the differences. Many played together on youth teams before they got to high school, lived in the same neighborhood, or attended the same middle school.
‘‘The kids I played against at Prep, I’ve known them since growing up,” Mufarrij said. ‘‘I never hated them; but on the field, it’s completely different. ... I love going to school with them now, getting to know them even better than you used to.”
They also know the feeling in reverse. Prep and Landon don’t send lacrosse players only to Georgetown. Just as former rivals have become teammates, former teammates have become rivals. Over the course of the season, the teams Georgetown played against included six graduates of Landon and five of Georgetown Prep.
The careers of the Landon and Prep grads at Georgetown have varied. Brancaccio started as a freshman in 2007 and finished third on the team in goals this year, with 18. Samperton played in every game this season, starting two, after moving from attack to midfield. Shuler and Tabb, both freshmen, worked their way into the rotation this spring. Shuler had three assists in 10 games, and Tabb was the team’s second faceoff specialist.
‘‘Coming here, that mental aspect, you have that edge on people,” Tabb said. ‘‘Going to Landon or Prep, you’re being coached by two of the best coaches there’ve ever been in high school. ...
‘‘The first faceoff guy I went against in college was 270 pounds. I’m a buck-seventy soaking wet. ... Once the weight aspect and size aspect catch up, that will help me a lot.”
Smith, Mufarrij and Nibley have all been set back by injury. Smith has been sidelined for two years with foot woes, while Mufarrij and Nibley are both working their way back into the team’s plans after being hurt two years ago. A fourth Georgetown Prep graduate, Nick Veith, didn’t play at all this season after a series of setbacks.
Whatever their position, statistics or health status, though, they are bound together by their common roots in the Bethesda area, and the IAC. Whichever side of the county’s fiercest lacrosse rivalry they started on.
‘‘We talk a lot of trash to each other,” Nibley said, ‘‘but when it comes down to it, we’re basically best friends.”
