All eyes will be on Loyola attacker Collin Finnerty while he?s playing against second-ranked Duke at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field this afternoon at 2 in front of a national television audience.
But Loyola coach Charley Toomey predicts it will be for his performance, not his past that will forever link the sophomore and the Blue Devils.
“Eventually, this thing is going to go away for Collin,” Toomey said. “When it’s 6-6 [today] and we are hanging in there, I don?t think anyone is going to think about Collin Finnerty not being at Duke and being at Loyola, and when he gets his hands free from 10 yards out and gives us a shot, that’s what it’s going to be about.”
But until then, there will be plenty of discussion about Finnerty?s past.
Finnerty, along with teammates Reade Seligmann and David Evans were indicted in the spring of 2006 on charges of rape, kidnapping and sexual offense after a woman told police she was attacked by them at a team party where she was hired to perform as an exotic dancer. The trio, along with their teammates, had the remainder of their schedule canceled by school officials, who launched an investigation. The charges were dropped on April 12, 2007 ? 395 days after the ordeal began.
But the fallout continues from what North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper dubbed a “tragic rush to accuse.”
Mike Nifong, former district attorney and chief prosecutor for Durham County, N.C., was disbarred for his handling of the case and was held in jail for a night for lying to a judge. Attorneys for Seligmann, Finnerty and Evans sued Nifong, the city of Durham, N.C., police investigators and others for damages resulting from the bungled investigation, seeking around $30 million and reforms in the legal process.
On June 18, 2007, the school reached an undisclosed settlement with the three players.
Duke (3-0), which lost to Johns Hopkins in the national championship game last spring, extended an offer for the players to return. But Evans graduated, Seligmann transferred to Brown and Finnerty settled on Loyola after coaching lacrosse at his alma mater, Chaminade High School in Garden City, N.Y. during the spring of 2007. Duke is a vastly different squad since Finnerty?s days, as Coach MIke Pressler was replaced by John Danowski, who held the same position at Hofstra.
Toomey says the 13th-ranked Greyhounds (2-1) and the 6-foot-3, 210-pounder were a match from the start.
“We invited him to come take a look at the campus and visit the coaches like any recruit,” he said. “Walking away from his visit, we realized we had not only a talented player, but a talented human being.”
Finnerty, who has scored two goals this season, declined to talk to the media about the upcoming game against his former school. His teammates, however, had plenty to say about someone who they not only call a teammate, but also their friend.
“He?s always there,” Loyola senior captain Shane Koppens said. “If I do something wrong or made a mistake he?s there to say ?Shane, you got it.? We go out to dinner, hang out at his place, we made the warm-up tape together and on the weekends we always hang out.”
“His locker is next to mine,” Loyola sophomore attacker Cooper MacDonnell said. “He?s a great kid and teammate, and on the field a great leader.”
Loyola will look for that team camaraderie to translate to on-field chemistry today against one of the best teams in the country. Duke enters the game allowing just six goals per game, and averaging 16.6. But the Greyhounds don?t have to look far to draw inspiration. Last year in San Diego, Loyola upset then-top-ranked Duke, 8-7, for its biggest win since defeating Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2001.
But in order to upset the Blue Devils again, the Greyhounds will have to block out distractions.
“[Collin?s past] is a question that?s going to be asked,” Koppens said. “But we are focused on Duke and what their defense has and we are focused on those three defensemen and what we can do to take them out of the game.”
His coach agrees.
“We try to not make this week about Collin, but make it about our program,” Toomey said. “Collin?s another player in the green and gray and his best lax is ahead of him. I?m just happy he’s wearing our jersey.”
