Florida jaunt helps Le Moyne bond as a team
Friday, March 02, 2007
By Dave Rahme
Staff writer, Syracuse
Post-Standard
Direct Link to Story: http://www.syracuse.com/articles/sports/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/1172830332326020.xml&coll=1
The bonding is over. It is time for the games to begin.
The Le Moyne men's lacrosse team, riding an 18-game victory streak capped by the 2006 Division II national championship, is back from a week in Florida. There, head coach Dan Sheehan said, the Dolphins enjoyed a dozen practices on a full grass field and, more importantly, had a chance to develop the chemistry he believes they will need to repeat as national champs. The quest begins at 4 p.m. Saturday in the Carrier Dome vs. No. 6 Adelphi.
"It has been awful nice being outside," Sheehan said earlier in the week, before the team returned to town Thursday. "Just as important, a trip like this helps with some locker room issues . . . the bonding experience, so to speak. When you have the opportunity to put 44 players together for six or seven days, your leaders begin to emerge."
Among them were senior All-American goaltender Jared Corcoran, senior short-stick defensive midfielder Kevin Kohl (Liverpool) and senior close defender Matt Juriga. Fall ball and preseason scrimmages, in which Le Moyne at least held its own with the likes of Division I powers Syracuse and Cornell, gave the trio and their teammates confidence heading into the opener.
"The scrimmages gave us the optimism that we could play with just about anybody," Sheehan said. "It's been a matter of getting them hungry again, which they are. Now, it's all about sharing the ball on offense and covering our backs on defense. Offensively, we move the ball just as well as any team in the country."
Sheehan's assessment comes despite the knowledge that the team will open the season minus All-American defenders Travis Tarr and Chris Doran, two of the team's top four scorers from last season, faceoff master Chris Moore, dependable middie and team leader Craig Rosecrans and outstanding defensive middie Nate Evans.
"Those three (Corcoran, Kohl and Juriga) feel we're just as talented this year as we were last year," Sheehan said. "We just need experience."
They will get it in a hurry against Adelphi, which opened its season last week with a 6-5 victory at No. 9 Bryant and has been bolstered by a strong infusion of Herkimer Community College transfers. One of them, junior attack Jason Fietta (Jordan-Elbridge), scored three goals in the opener; another one, junior middie Tyler Burton (J-E), added another. The team also features junior middie Brady O'Malley (CBA).
"It is a much different roster than last year," Sheehan said. "They graduated player of the year Wes Green. He had the ball in his stick an awful lot. I think you're going to see a lot more guys getting a lot more touches this year."
Getting enough guys touches will be a challenge for Le Moyne this season, as the team appears to have six quality attackmen vying for three starting spots and a load of middies ready to attack foes in waves.
Up front, junior Mike McDonald (team-leading 61 points on 41 goals and 20 assists), is back along with junior Brian Cost (West Genesee; 30-16) and senior Ed Street (CBA; 17-8). Joining them are junior college player of the year Nick Gatto (Henninger), Albany transfer Tim Spillett (West Genny) and true freshman Keith Vetter (Jamesville-DeWitt).
Matt Cassalia (West Genny; 29-5), the D-II midfielder of the year returns along with preseason first-team All-American Alex Bily (West Genny; 14-8) and veterans Tom Donahue (West Genny; 9-10), Andrew Carducci (Henninger; 5-4) and Brad Wolken (Baldwinsville; 5-3).
The loss of Evans, Tarr and Doran on defense is countered by the return of preseason All-Americans Corcoran and Juriga, the experienced Kohl, talented longstick middie Marc Cizenski (West Genny), junior Mike Malone (West Genny) and Juriga. The other opening at close defense is being contested by sophomore Matt Foster (Auburn) and sophomore Tim MacLean.
"We're fortunate because we were able to replace a good portion of what we lost with some pretty talented kids," Sheehan said. "We've been fortunate to replace missing parts with more than adequate parts."
Parts that bonded during a week in the Florida sun. Let the games begin.
