John Greeley has been cleared to return and has been practicing with the rest of his Johns Hopkins teammates after suffering a knee injury in the offseason. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the junior is a lock to start in the midfield.
Greeley, who amassed 14 goals and 12 assists in 16 starts last year, was held out of fall workouts, allowing junior Lee Coppersmith to run on the first midfield with sophomore Rob Guida.
Coppersmith, who scored nine goals as a member of the second line, could join Guida and junior John Ranagan as starters, coach Dave Pietramala hinted.
"You will see Coppersmith with that first group some, and you'll see Greeley with that first group some," Pietramala said. "We're trying to work him back into it, and things need to be earned. You just don't show up and you're healthy after missing the fall and you get our job back. You still have to earn that, and John Greeley is obviously working diligently to do that."
In related news, Ranagan and senior Marshall Burkhart may take some faceoffs as the team tries to find a successor to Matt Dolente, who has since graduated. But Pietramala said he'd rather limit those reps for Ranagan and Burkhart due to their responsibilities as starters (Ranagan on offense and Burkhart as a short-stick defensive midfielder).
"The key is, we'd certainly prefer not to use Burkhart and Ranagan if we don't have to as they obviously are going to be doing other things," Pietramala said.