Providence Not Mistaking Progress for Arrival

Bobby Benson’s first two seasons at Providence have marked it as a program on the rise, especially after it created headaches for Denver last April and nearly upended Georgetown in the Big East tournament.

Just don’t mistake progress for arrival. The Friars sure don’t.

“I definitely think we’re breaking through,” attackman Ryan Bell said. “Last year was a good year, but like Coach Benson says, it’s still a failure. Our goal is Big East and national championships, and that’s what we go into the locker room every day striving to do.”

Benson’s third Providence team debuts at home Saturday against Holy Cross, and even if the Friars aren’t the most known program nationally, their trajectory could be one of the most intriguing.

Much of that is tied to Benson, the former Johns Hopkins attackman who was the Blue Jays’ offensive coordinator for 14 seasons under Dave Pietramala. After two years of serving as the architect of Maryland’s offense in 2021 and 2022 — the latter team averaging 17.7 goals and shooting 39.1 percent on the way to an undefeated season — Providence swooped in to hire him as its head coach.

Benson admitted he and his staff did not know what they were walking into when they first got to Rhode Island. They found a roster filled with good people who practiced hard, and in his first season, he nudged his new players to spend even more time around the Friars’ facility.

As Providence went 7-8 last season, Benson talked about setting higher expectations, something that continued even as the Friars struggled a little early. Ultimately, Providence went 3-2 in the Big East, its first winning record in league play since 2019.

“I think we’re still just trying to keep that standard high and keep working at it, being intentional in what we do,” Benson said. “We keep trying to get better. I think we’re still trying to figure out who we are a little bit with so many freshmen in our first full recruiting class. I think there’s a lot of moving pieces there that we’re trying to navigate.”

Bell said a pivot point last season came when the Friars were throttled 21-6 at Duke in mid-March ahead of a 10-day stretch between games. Although they were 4-4 at the time, they hadn’t played especially well, and their captains said that could effectively mark the end of the season … or the beginning of it. The key, they believed, was just not worrying about the past.

The next time out, they lost in overtime to eventual Atlantic 10 champion Saint Joseph’s. Then they played three strong quarters in a loss to Georgetown, won back-to-back games and then hung around with Denver — playing the Pioneers’ style — before falling 7-4. They also held a three-goal lead late in the third quarter of an overtime loss to Georgetown in the Big East semifinals.

“We didn’t get over the hump as much as we wanted, but we were right there where games could have gone either way, which was a good step,” Benson said. “It meant we were playing good lacrosse. The last couple years we’ve started slow. We’d love to find ways to start a little bit faster, but at the end of the day, how you finish is more important.”

There’s enough in place, especially on attack. Jack Horrigan (26G, 6A) is a left-handed shooter from the Baltimore area with extensive high-level prep experience from his time at McDonogh. Bell says junior Richie Joseph, who shared the conference lead in goals with 41, has transformed his body in the offseason and is the best player in the Big East.

It’s notable praise because the league’s coaches voted Bell the league’s offensive player of the year when he had 21 goals and 45 assists for the Friars last season as a junior.

Bell was a midfielder his freshman season, but it didn’t take long for the new Providence staff to consider giving him a look on attack. Bell is a deft player with and without the ball in his stick, and the most striking thing about watching Providence the last couple years is how well he can play off anyone and his ability to find people within the offense.

“He can feed, he can shoot, he’s super quick, he’s a really hard cover,” Benson said. “He’s a really complete player. He gets every single piece of ability out of being 5-foot-8, but I can’t say enough good things in terms of what he’s done for us and what he’s done for our offense the past couple years. We’re super excited we have him. He came in as a midfielder, and we kind of moved him down and gave him the keys and said, ‘This thing’s yours, run with it,’ and he’s done a great job.”

That Benson would immediately maximize his personnel in unexpected ways isn’t a surprise. The abbreviated 2020 season aside, Johns Hopkins consistently fielded strong offenses during his tenure. And while the pieces were largely in place at Maryland, Benson’s creativity also helped turn the Terps into a buzzsaw after getting hired just before the 2021 season.

Bell is a perfect example. He already owns the school record for career assists (119) and is 19 points away from breaking Ken Leahy’s mark for career points (188).

“I wouldn’t be the player right now without him,” Bell said. “If he didn’t come in after my freshman year, I think I would be doing OK, but he’s done a lot for me that I’m very grateful for, and I think many of the guys on the team are very grateful for him. He’s pushed especially the offensive guys to levels they didn’t think they’d get to.”

Now the question is: What level can Providence reach as a program?

The Friars made three NCAA tournaments in a four-year span during their days in the Metro Atlantic, last reaching the postseason in 2007. Last year marked only the third time Providence finished above .500 in the Big East since the league began sponsoring the sport in 2010, never beating Denver in that span while only once picking off Georgetown (in 2017).

But that’s the past, and the Friars have already had some success shoving that aside.

“If you look at our other sports, hockey’s won a national championship, soccer has been in the final four, basketball obviously does awesome,” Benson said. “The other sports here are competing at a national level, and I think the expectation is we get there and people are excited for it.”

The first priority, though, is to keep improving. That’s the only way to move closer to a standard Benson isn’t interested in yielding on.

“Just being consistent,” Bell said. “That’s one thing we’re really working on right now. I think if we do all those things, we have a really good chance. We have a great group of guys, and I think we can all put it together this year. I’m really excited for the season to start.”