Do you remember what you were doing on March 2, 2002?  I remember that day and what I did; I realize most of you probably don't.
 
On March 2, 2002, a young Kyle Harrison played his first game for the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team at Homewood Field.  While they may not have realized it at the time, the 4,631 fans in attendance on that gray, chilly day were there at the start of something special – I remember it well.
 
Fast forward and Kyle will play his last-ever game on Homewood Field on June 26, 2021 when his Redwoods team takes on Chaos in the opening game of a PLL-doubleheader that night.  It will have been 7,057 days since he first suited up and led the Blue Jays to an 8-5 win against heavily-favored Princeton on that March day 19 years ago.
 
From my seat in the front row of the press box, I remember watching Kyle score the first of his 81 career goals just 82 seconds into the game against the top-ranked, defending national champion Tigers to get the Blue Jays off to a quick start.  I remember him sealing the win with 34 ticks left in regulation with his second goal of the day as Hopkins pulled off the 8-5 upset.
 
I remember Kyle was one of four freshmen in the starting lineup that day for the upstart Jays (Kyle Barrie, Peter LeSueur and Chris Watson were the others).  I remember the headline for my story on HopkinsSports.com was perhaps the shortest I've ever used:  Prin-Stun.  That was the first of so many things I remember about Kyle's four-year journey at Hopkins.
 
I remember Kyle winning the opening faceoff against UMass in the NCAA Quarterfinals three months after that win over Princeton to help set up Adam Doneger's game-winning goal that propelled Harrison and his class to the first of four straight trips to the final four.
 
I remember the knee to the head that temporarily knocked Kyle from the NCAA Semifinal against Princeton a week after the win against UMass.  The Blue Jays lost to the Tigers, 11-9, that day; Kyle and his classmates would never lose to Princeton again.
 
I remember an 11-10 win in overtime at North Carolina in 2003, when the Tar Heels inexplicably decided a defender could cover Harry by himself in OT - big mistake.  The Jays trailed 10-8 with two minutes left in regulation that day before Adam Doneger and LeSueur set the stage for Kyle's game-winner with goals just 19 seconds apart late in regulation.
 
I remember the two-goal, 8-of-11 on faceoffs, seven-ground-ball effort in a 19-8 win over Syracuse in the 2003 NCAA Semifinals that lifted JHU to the NCAA Championship game for the first time since 1989.
 
I remember a disappointing press conference two days later after dropping the title-game to Virginia and a devastating press conference a year later when the Blue Jays fell to the Orange in the NCAA Semifinals – both of those losses just four miles from Homewood Field. 
 
In each instance, I remember how hard it was to go into the locker room and ask Kyle (and others) to speak to the media.  On a team full of stars and great players, I remember the perception that this was, to some degree, Kyle's team and I remember that he never backed away from the responsibility that carried.  He answered every question lobbed his way, even under the most trying of circumstances.
 
I remember how many autographs Kyle would sign after games at Homewood, especially after the top-ranked Blue Jays bested third-ranked Maryland, 14-10, in the 100^th edition of lacrosse's greatest rivalry on April 17, 2004.  More than 10,500 fans packed into Homewood that night – the Kyle Harrison line of autograph seekers was something to behold.
 
I remember preparing for the 2005 season and thinking about the two streaks hanging over the program; the Blue Jays hadn't won a national championship in 18 years and Kyle and his classmates had yet to lose a game at Homewood Field.  Three months after that season began, one of those streaks was snapped, the other remained in-tact.
 
I remember the '05 season got started the same way the '02 season had, with a goal from Kyle against Princeton, this one just 39 seconds in on a chilly day at PU.
 
On the subject of game-opening goals … did you know that Kyle scored Johns Hopkins' first goal of the game 15 times in 61 career games?  You know what I remember about that stat? The Blue Jays never lost a game when Kyle scored the first Hopkins goal in a game … 15 first-goals, 15 wins.  Of course, JHU was 55-6 during Kyle's career so it didn't really matter who scored the first goal, but 15-of-15 is pretty remarkable – and did you really think I wouldn't find a way to get that stat in here?
 
Remember the 11-10 double-overtime classic against second-ranked Duke in 2005 that was won by then freshman Kevin Huntley before more than 7,000 fans on a Friday night in April at Homewood.  Overtime was forced when the Blue Jays scored a late fourth-quarter goal.  Care to guess who scored that one?
 
I remember Kyle won the Tewaaraton in April of 2005.  Officially, they didn't award it to him until three days after the national championship game, but a career-high five-goal effort in a 9-8 overtime win at Homewood against fifth-ranked Navy all but sealed the award for him.  Come on, you remember that game, right?  His effort included the game-tying goal on a great individual effort with 23 seconds left in regulation and the physics-defying game-winner less than two minutes into OT.  To this day, I still don't know how he scored that last one.
 
I remember the game against the Mids capped a seven-game run that saw JHU play Syracuse, Virginia, North Carolina, Albany, Duke, Maryland and Navy in just 36 days, including the last three of those in a seven-day span.  The Blue Jays looked tired against Navy.  If ever someone willed a team to victory, it was Kyle that day.  I remember that was the last time Kyle's class came close to losing a home game; 32 games, 32 wins for the class of '05 at Homewood.
 
I remember the NCAA Semifinal in '05 was slipping away.  A once four-goal lead (5-1) that seemed so much larger was gone and the Jays trailed Virginia, 7-6, when the mother of all storms blew over Lincoln Financial Field and caused a 50-minute delay. 
 
Old 'mo was clearly dressed in orange when play was halted.  It took just 20 seconds for Kyle to pull the Blue Jays even after the break.  Most people remember the chaotic game-tying goal with 1.4 seconds on the clock to force overtime (I remember you too, Greg Peyser and Jake Byrne) and the game-winner from Kyle's long-time best friend, Benson Erwin, with 50 seconds on the overtime clock.  Nobody remembers those goals better than me, but I remember the equalizer that halted the Cavalier run just as well.
 
I remember being able to go to Kyle in the locker room after the 2005 national championship game victory over Duke two days later to do a press conference that would include joy instead of sorrow.  As I think back, it didn't matter what the circumstances were, Kyle always represented himself, his family, our program and Johns Hopkins University exactly the right way.  That said, I remember the smiles that he, Jesse Schwartzman and Dave Pietramala had as they answered questions from the media. 
 
You know what I don't remember is much of what Kyle, Jesse or Dave said at that presser.  At some points, even I have taken a chance to soak in a moment - I remember that being one of them.
 
I plan on being at the game on Saturday to watch Kyle play for the final time at Homewood.  Save for Dr. and Mrs. Harrison, I imagine there will be very few of us there who were also in attendance for that first game back in '02.  It's hard to believe it's been more than 19 years since that day.
 
I remember it well.
   
Ernie Larossa is in his 24th year as the Director of Athletic Communications at Johns Hopkins.  In short, he has the greatest job in the world; he gets paid to watch Johns Hopkins athletes compete and chronicle their achievements.  In September, 2017, he decided it was time to periodically pen a column about something related to Blue Jay athletics.