Joe Alberici just completed his fifth season as the head coach of the Army lacrosse team. Alberici and his team are coming off a run to the 2010 Patriot League title and second round of the NCAA Tournament where the Black Knights knocked off two-time defending national champion Syracuse in the opening round at the Carrier Dome. Alberici is currently serving as an assistant coach for Team USA at the FIL World Championships in Manchester, England. He will chronicle the team's time across the pond through this blog.

Greetings from "sunny" Manchester. Today we finally had our first day of sunshine since arriving last Tuesday. Oops. Did I say sunshine? I just returned from lunch to finish touching up the blog and it started raining. Such is life in England.

I have some bad news and some good news to report. First the bad. In the much anticipated matchup against defending champion Canada on Saturday, we came up short. In a closely played contest throughout, we fell 10-9 in a game that featured no team leading by more than two goals the entire way.

The first half closed with Canada leading, 5-3. We made some uncharacteristic turnovers, while coming away empty handed on too many offensive possessions. We got things going again in the third quarter and knotted the score, 6-6, going into the fourth quarter. However, the Canadians built a 10-8 lead with under five minutes to play that proved to be too much to recover from. We were able to pull back within one with 2:27 left to play, but couldn't find the equalizer.

The final two minutes consisted of frantic scrums for possessions. Team USA's last-ditch effort, a Hail Mary clear from Paul Rabil with five seconds left, nearly connected. But Ned Crotty could not get a shot off in time on the other end as the final horn sounded.

Now for some good news. We were able to bounce back and play well against Germany (who was moved into our division after the Iroquois team was forced to forfeit their games) on Sunday. We overwhelmed them from the beginning and finished the game with a 22-4 victory. West Point's own Adam Fullerton played the final three quarters in the victory, recording four saves while only allowing two goals. He was stellar outside the goal and ignited several fast breaks with his outstanding outlets.

There was extreme disappointment in our locker room after our loss to Canada as we have had "both barrels" pointed at them since their upset win to clinch the 2006 World Championship. However, we understand that, as long as we take care of business in our remaining two group play games, we will most likely get another shot at Canada when it matters most - in the championship game.

In other news, there is additional West Point flavor here in England, outside of Team USA. Carlos Trujillo (USMA '94) is the head coach for Mexico and is doing a terrific job with the emerging lacrosse nation, while John Ryan (USMA '03) is a member of Team Ireland. All reports are that John is still in top form motoring up and down the field for the Irish.

Tonight, we take on the host nation England. I will continue to update you on our progress as we pursue the Gold. And don't forget, you can also follow along with Team USA's progress by visiting the team's home page at www.laxmagazine.com/community/march_to_manchester. All the latest game results, schedule, videos and updates will be available throughout the week. Fans can also visit the FIL World Championship website at www.2010worldlacrosse.com.

Go Army! Go USA!

All the Best,
Coach A.

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