Breakout VMI Off to Best Start Since the Millennium

James Purpura had a vision of a thriving lacrosse program when he assumed a head coaching position in the middle of the pandemic.

It just happened to be at VMI, which, to put it mildly, did not possess a robust track record in lacrosse.

Yet here the Keydets are in Purpura’s fourth season, sitting at 4-2 entering Saturday’s Metro Atlantic conference opener against LIU. VMI has won three in a row for the first time since 2008. It is off to its best start since 2000.

And a program that last finished at .500 in 2005 is enjoying a potential breakout season — one that could be sustainable with a team featuring only a smattering of seniors.

“I had lot of people question why I would want to come here, and I knew there was more potential,” Purpura said. “I’ve always been attracted to teams that need to be rebuilt or are younger and toward their infancy. We had a plan, and we implemented that plan, and we’re starting to see the rewards of the work and effort that’s been put in over the last three-and-a-half years.”

The numbers illustrate both growth and just how far VMI needed to go to reach this point. The Keydets progressed from 1-10 in his debut season to 4-11 in 2022, enough to land the program’s first conference tournament trip since 2008. Last year, after moving from the Southern Conference to the MAAC, the Keydets were 6-9.

All the while, VMI invested heavily in a youth movement. Purpura’s first full recruiting class — the group that arrived in the fall of 2021 — was recruited based on film and phone calls. The Keydets added what they could, then sent several players into sink-or-swim territory.

That group includes current junior James Boynewicz, who emerged as VMI’s top defenseman as a freshman. Also in that class was attackman Luke Rusterucci, who enters the weekend tied for 10th in the country in points per game (5.5) with Duke star Brennan O'Neill and has started every game since joining the program.

Rusterucci (16 goals, 17 assists) is already 10th on VMI’s career points list and has progressed into the team’s top offensive threat after the graduation of Hartley Jordan (who is playing a grad year, which VMI does not offer, at North Carolina).

“It maybe wasn’t super-pretty his first year, but last year I thought he took a step forward,” Purpura said. “To put up 50 points in Division I lacrosse when you’re getting a top-two matchup every game is pretty critical. … Being a junior, he’s been through a lot of different scenarios. He’s learned and constantly evolved, and I think he’s taking his game to another great level.”

Two major pieces of the turnaround are part of the sophomore class. After winning less than 40 percent of its faceoffs in Purpura’s first two seasons, VMI improved to 49.3 percent largely because of the arrival of Jack Rogers. He’s won 60.6 percent of his draws in six games this season, giving the Keydets ample offensive opportunities.

The arrival of well-regarded goalie Adam Norris solidified that position. He’s stopped 54.5 percent of the shots on goal and also provided proof VMI could successfully aim higher than it historically has in its recruiting efforts.

“I think we’re showing the world you can come to a place where you can get an elite academic [experience], you have a choice to serve like if you went to West Point or the Naval Academy, you can play competitive Division I lacrosse on a team that’s one of the most improved in the country over the last couple years and still wants to be a team that competes for a trophy every year,” Purpura said.

It’s possible that happens this season. VMI went 3-6 in its first season back in the MAAC, and its non-conference results suggest improvement over last season.

The Keydets also face the interesting question of whether there can be any appreciation of what they’ve done just yet. They’re not even at the midpoint of the regular season, so there’s plenty still in front of them. But there is also a growing list of first-in-a-long-time accomplishments that are difficult to ignore.

“A big reason why we recruited the guys we brought in here is because we want to be the best team VMI’s had in their 41-year history,” Purpura said. “That was always the intent. That was always the plan. Now, the fruits of their labor are starting to be seen. … To have our best start since the millennium, it’s where we want to be.”