History — Army West Point Lacrosse

TRACING LACROSSE’S ROOTS

Lacrosse had a sparse beginning at West Point as an Academy-sponsored sport. The U.S. Military Academy supported an intercollegiate squad in 1907, 1909 and 1910 before the sport really took off for good in 1921. Despite its shaky start off the field, the program enjoyed immediate on-field success, foreshadowing a long, rich history as one of the nation’s elite teams. Those squads of 1907, 1909 and 1910 combined to win all 10 of their games. By 1923, in only the program’s sixth year, head coach Talbot Hunter brought home the Academy’s first national championship when his Black Knights concluded the season with an 8-1-1 mark. In Hunter’s first campaign along the Hudson, Army was 2-3. However, the Black Knights rebounded with a 6-1 showing in 1922, beginning a stretch of 33 consecutive seasons in which Army posted a winning record. West Point’s lacrosse fortunes reached its all-time high under direction of the legendary Touchstone, who guided his charges to 214 wins, against just 73 losses and four ties, during a 29- year career as Army mentor. He roamed the Army sidelines from 1929 through 1957. During his tenure, the Black Knights of the Hudson won or shared three national titles, capturing the outright crown in 1944 before sharing it with Navy in 1945 and Princeton in 1951. Fortytwo of the 83 first team All-Americans in Army history came while Touchstone was the

coach. His resume, laden with a .743 winning percentage at Army and coupled with a strong four-year stint as head coach at Yale, earned him an induction into the Hall of Fame in 1960, just three years after his retirement. His entry into the Hall paved the way for All-Americans Harry Wilson, Thomas Truxtun and James Hartinger to follow. Wilson was the first West Point athlete to earn first team All-America accolades in both lacrosse and football in the same year, accomplishing that feat in 1926. Charles Born, a first team football All-American in 1925 was selected as a first team lacrosse All-American in 1928. Throughout its early days, the lacrosse program enjoyed a close affiliation with the Army football team as many gridders kept themselves athletically fit by excelling in lacrosse each spring. Among Army’s early lacrosse All-Americans were gridders Wilson, Born, Milt Summerfelt, Robert Stillman, Clinton True and Woodrow Wilson. Bill Carpenter would equal that feat prior to his graduation in 1960. Carpenter achieved national acclaim as the “Lonely End” on Army’s football team. Much like Touchstone, who was a lacrosse visionary, the “Lonely End” formation was the brainchild of Hall of Fame football coach Earl “Red” Blaik. So intertwined were the success of the gridders and laxmen that both programs captured national championships in 1944 and 1945.

DAWN OF THE MODERN ERA

The one constant throughout all of Army’s success was a stingy defense. Don Tillar and Carpenter were named the nation’s top defenseman in 1959 and 1960, respectively, headlining a span of 15 years in which six Black Knights were presented with that honor. The benefactor, as well as a chief contributor, of Army’s stellar defense during the mid-1960s was Norman Webb, who became a two-time national Goalie of the Year and an All-American. Adams had the unenviable task of replacing Touchstone in 1958. But “Ace” was equal to the task, forging a 9-0 mark in his first year on the job and earning a share of the national title. It was Army’s first perfect season since 1910. In a dozen years at West Point, Adams’ teams won .777 percent of its games — including a then Academy record 10-win performance during his final season in 1969 — and shared the national championship four times, 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1969. In 1961, after a 9-2 campaign, Adams was named national Coach of the Year. An All-America midfielder during his college days at Johns Hopkins, Adams joined Touchstone in the Hall of Fame during induction ceremonies in 1975. By that time Robert Miser, Webb and Cramblet had also been enshrined following stellar careers. Another stalwart from the Ace Adams era earned his way into the hallowed hall in 2003 when Tom Sheckells (USMA ’65) was voted in posthumously. In 2004, Dick Edell increased Army’s representation in the Hall of Fame to 12 with his enshrinement. It marked the second consecutive year that the Hall of Fame class included a member of the Army family. Cramblet and Cafaro, who were the cornerstones of the Army team during the transition from Adams to successor Al Pisano, helped establish the Black Knights as an explosive offensive team. Cramblet would graduate in 1970 as the Academy’s all-time leading scorer with 150 points, but Cafaro would shatter that mark one year later following an 85-point senior season that vaulted his career point total to 167. With Pisano at the helm, the Black Knights played an instrumental role in the emergence of the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA unveiled its eight-team playoff format in 1971 and the Black Knights found themselves in the first lacrosse final four. Cafaro was the impetus behind that success, scoring 18 points in Army’s two contests. The Black Knights defeated Hofstra in the opening round (19- 6) but lost to eventual champion Cornell, 17-16, in the semifinals. Both games were held at West Point. In fact, since the tourney’s inception, West Point has been the home to postseason play in seven different years, most recently in 2001 when the first round was held at Michie Stadium. The Black Knights were members of the first three NCAA tourney fields and last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2010, when they reached the second round. Army is one of only 11 lacrosse programs that have appeared in at least a dozen postseason tournaments since the event began in 1971. Dick Edell, who succeeded Pisano and forged a .733 winning percentage in his seven-year stint at the Academy, continued Army’s success. He guided the Black Knights to the NCAA Tournament in four of his seven years along the Army sideline. The Black Knights were members of the first three Goalie George Slabowski and attackman Frank Giordano were the featured stars of Edell’s era. Both earned first team All-America accolades in 1983 — Edell’s final season — as Army put forth the first of two successive 11-3 marks.

THE EMMER ERA

Jack Emmer, who had been a highly successful coach during stints at Cortland State and Washington & Lee, replaced Edell in the spring of 1984. Emmer’s inaugural season along the banks of the Hudson was a resounding success as the team became just the second Army squad to reach the final four, edging Pennsylvania, 8-7 at Franklin Field in the NCAA Quarterfinals. That would be the first of eight postseason bids earned by Emmer’s Black Knights. When Army defeated Cornell in the 1996 season opener, Emmer joined Touchstone as the only coaches in Army history to reach 100 wins at the Academy. One of Emmer’s most successful seasons came in 1993 when a senior-dominated Army team — paced by Steve Heller, who would graduate as the Academy’s career scoring leader with 204 points — finished the regular season with an 11-3 record before beating Maryland 15-11 in the opening round of the NCAA tourney. In 1997 and 1998, Ross Yastrzemsky and Chad Hadlock eclipsed the century mark for career points. Yastrzemsky graduated as the program’s highest scoring midfielder, compiling 121 points. He added an honorable mention All-America certificate to his accolades after the 1997 season. Emmer coached 27 All-Americans in his 22 years at the Academy, including Jim Wagner (USMA ’05) and John Walker (USMA ’06). Tim Pearson (USMA ’02), a threetime honorable mention All-American, concluded his exceptional career as the Academy’s all-time leading scorer. He smashed Heller’s previous mark, finishing with 238 points. Emmer led Army into league play when the Patriot League was formed in 1991. The Black Knights did not lose a game to a conference foe in their first 25 contests, reeling off one of the nation’s longest conference winning streaks. That string still stands as the longest in Patriot League history. Army’s peerless leader guided the Black Knights back into the NCAA Tournament in 2005 for the eighth time and the 15th time overall for the storied program. It also marked the third straight season that the Black Knights were invited to the NCAA Tournament. Despite finishing runner-up at the Patriot League Tournament, Army was one of 10 at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. Emmer led his charges south of the Mason-Dixon line for a match-up with No. 8 Georgetown. The Black Knights dropped that NCAA First Round contest, 16-6 to the Hoyas. Emmer carried on the Academy’s long line of coaching success among a lineage of legendary lacrosse mentors at West Point. However, that long run came to a close in May 2005 when Emmer announced his retirement from coaching after 36 years. He left the game as the all-time winningest lacrosse coach in NCAA history.

**THE ALBERICI ERA**
The 2006 season brought a change of guard over the Army lacrosse program as one-time assistant coach, Joe Alberici, returned to succeed his former mentor Jack Emmer. Alberici became just the 10th head coach in 88 years of the Academy’s program, following an impressive list of four Hall of Fame coaches. In his first campaign as head coach, Alberici paced the Black Knights to an 8-7 finish and a No. 20 USILA/USA Today ranking. Army fell just short of the NCAA tournament after a runner-up finish at the Patriot League Championship.

In 2008, Alberici led the Black Knights to a 9-6 record and the regular season Patriot League Championship with a 5-1 conference mark. For his efforts, he was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year, marking the first time an Army skipper won the award since Emmer nabbed his second honor in 1998. In 2010, Alberici guided Army to an 11-6 overall record, a perfect 6-0 Patriot League mark, two wins over Navy and its first-ever Patriot League tournament title. The Black Knights went on to knock off two-time defending national champion Syracuse in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The monumental win was lauded by many as one of the biggest upsets in collegiate lacrosse history. Alberici led his Black Knights to a Patriot League Tournament berth in 13 of his 14 seasons at the helm, and was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2014. Army has made the Patriot League Championship in four of the last five seasons, including the 2015 and 2019 when the Black Knights were the first team to make the title game as a sixth seed. In 2017, the Black Knights became the first team since 1993 to reach 12 wins in a season and Alberici led his team to 10 or more wins for the third-straight year and the fourth time in his career. Highlighting the season was Army’s last-second 14-13 victory at then No. 6 Syracuse and the Black Knights finished their campaign with a thrilling overtime win at Michie Stadium against No. 4 Notre Dame. Junior David Symmes was the hero in both games, scoring the gamewinners.

In 2018, the Black Knights earned a victory over #10/11 Rutgers and forced three overtime periods with #14/16 Syracuse. Johnny Surdick, Jon LaMonica and David Symmes earned first team All-Patriot League honors.

2019 was one for the books as the Cadets won three games in six days en route to the program's 12th Patriot League Championship title. The squad also broke a program record with 13 wins in a season. Army beat out Holy Cross at Michie Stadium (145) before taking down top-seeded and #6/7 Loyola on its home turf (7-5). On Sunday, the Black Knights took down Lehigh 11-7 to win the crown. AJ Barretto was named the Tournament MVP after posting a .698 save percentage and 5.40 goals against average throughout the week. Another highlight on the year was an overtime thrilling 9-8 victory over Navy in the rivalry's 100th installment.

Despite the 2020 season getting cut short due to the pandemic, the Cadets made a splash nationally. Army finished 14th overall in the final Inside Lacrosse Poll, had Nichtern and Schupler land of the final Tewaaraton Award Watch List, Rigney selected fourth overall in the Premier Lacrosse League, had George and Manown recognized as USILA Scholar All-Americans and were ranked 16th nationally in the US Lacrosse Early 2021 Rankings.

Over a century of the Army Lacrosse tradition