2018 Men’s Lacrosse Year in Review: #71 Hampton Pirates

With the 2018 college lacrosse season complete, it’s time to start looking back at how all 71 teams did during the season, as well as what to expect from each squad for 2019.

We already started looking ahead to 2019 with what to expect from St. Bonaventure and Utah, the two new teams coming into the Division I Men’s Lacrosse world. So with that, let’s dig in to the other 71 teams!

#71 Hampton Pirates

Conference: Independent
2018 Record: 5-8
Head coach: Lloyd Carter (3rd Year)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: Pierce Johnson (26)
Assists: Derian Williams-Stur (10)
Points: Pierce Johnson (35)
Faceoffs: Aaron Brown (97-of-214; 45.3%)
Ground balls: Malcolm Flynn (71)
Caused turnovers: Darren Almodiel (27)
Goals against average: Kevin Mondy Jr. (12.99 GAA)
Save percentage: Kevin Mondy Jr. (49.5%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: M Kier Johnson (5Gs, 2As)
Senior scoring departing: 7 of 179 points (3.9%)
Senior starts lost: 6 of 130 (4.6%)

Season Summary

The Pirates continued to improve in their third year as a program, going 5-8 overall in another mixed, yet full, schedule. However, Hampton has still not recorded a win against a Division I team, falling to Wagner, VMI, Cleveland State, and NJIT this year. But going 5-4 against non-D1 teams is a big step forward for the program and head coach Lloyd Carter.

Hampton continued to make progress as a team, defeating the majority of the Division III schools on their schedule and earning a win over a Division II school. The Pirates did finish winning three of their last four games, including an 11-7 decision over St. Thomas Aquinas, the aforementioned Division II institution.

Pierce Johnson led the way for Hampton in a huge way with 29 goals on the season, easily a school record. Johnson’s only a freshman, and could be the face of the program should he stay for the remaining three seasons. Sophomore Kevin Mondy Jr. started the majority of the games in goal and will look to improve come the fall.

27 players out of the 28 players on the roster are expected to return from this year’s team, with Kier Johnson being the only exception due to graduation. Last year’s roster had 29 players on it. More than half of this year’s team are freshmen and sophomores, which should mean a good thing. Let’s hope there’s some consistency with the roster next year like we see with most Division I teams.

Looking Ahead

Last year, I thought the roster would’ve been at 35 players. This year’s roster actually decreased by a player. Might we see that again next year? Less than 30 players is very small for a lacrosse team, so if Carter can get around 35 players this year, that would be ideal for now.

Hampton played in 13 games in 2018, but with only four Division I teams. 2019 will mark Year 4 of the program, and it should take another step forward. My guess is we’ll see only Division I and II programs on the slate next season, with maybe a Division III team thrown in the mix. The Pirates did a solid job against their Division III foes and put up some battles against their Division II opponents. My guess is Cleveland State, NJIT, VMI, and Wagner will play the Pirates once again, and they should add at least one or two more Division I teams to get them set up for playing a full Division I schedule coming up. It’s going to happen very soon.

Here’s who the Pirates will be adding to their roster for next year.*

*Compiled from Inside Lacrosse’s recruiting database. Schools usually officially announce their recruiting class during the fall semester.