School has started, or is about to start, for all the colleges and universities fielding Division I lacrosse teams and the anticipation is growing for the 2016 season already. It is an exuberant time to be on campus, with new faces joining the crop of seasoned veterans. There are some points of emphasis for teams coming into the fall season with hopes of reaching Memorial Day.
Coaching Philosophy
As a coach, are you pushing to be ready for your team’s first game or do you just want progress from the first day to the last? It’s an interesting choice for each coach in the college landscape. We can see the results that Duke has displayed over the years. The Blue Devils grow as the season goes, hitting their stride entering into the ACC Tournament and NCAA Playoff.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are the teams going into the fall with the designation that February 15 (or so), when the season begins, they need all wheels of the machine to be working together. Notre Dame is a program that has taken that approach the last few seasons to say the least. They have trounced teams early and kept the pressure high to getting deep into the May tournament.
So what approach do you think your favorite team should take to the Fall practice schedule?
Turnover
A lot of holes need to be filled on projected lineups coming into the offseason practice schedule. Denver needs to fill a wealth of gaps in their graduated, championship squad. In the Final Four, the starting attack had two seniors in Wes Berg and Sean Cannizzaro. The midfield lost Erik Adamson and defensively Mike Riis, who had a memorable goal in the Notre Dame game. The defense lost Ryan LaPlante and Carson Cannon. Can they be in contention to defend their title successfully?
Syracuse midfield might be the most heavily damaged group in the nation. The Orange graduated three fifth-year seniors in Nicky Galasso, Hakeem Lecky, and Henry Schoonmaker. In addition, they lost Randy Staats and Tewaaraton Finalist Kevin Rice. Rice’s value was shown this summer in Major League Lacrosse in helping his Rochester team to the title game. Where will the Orange turn to find the offensive replacements to get them back to Memorial Day?
Maryland lost in the title game again and then was hit by graduation of some long time starters in College Park. Joe LoCascio, Jay Carlson, Casey Ikeda, and Bryan Cole logged a lot of miles for the Terrapins. With Greg Danseglio in the lineup after his transfer from Virginia, could this lessen the blow of losing that much to graduation?
Virginia was injury riddled in 2016—even the players left standing at the end were injured in some capacity. Tanner Scales will be back, which will be a boost for the defensive backline. Is there enough depth and talent to get Virginia past two consecutive first round exits to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Tournament?
Hopkins needs to replace a key component on the offense with the graduation of Wells Stanwick, but the offense still should be very good. The defense needs to come around to meet the offensive capacity on Homewood. Only Nick Fields, Joe Carlini (short stick), and Nikon Shuler return. Gone are Eric Schneider, Rob Enright, and John Kelly. Who will step up to replace them?
Lastly, the preseason favorite has to be Notre Dame. They have maybe the best defenseman, midfielder, and attackman in the nation suiting up this fall for them. What is the attitude heading into fall practice? Anger from losing to Denver can only take one so far before the emotional tank is on empty. Does Notre Dame come into the season with the mindset that it is national championship or bust? All eyes will be on South Bend to see how the Irish attack the fall competition schedule.
Get excited, the door to the 2016 season is about to open and college lacrosse should have another exciting season ahead. The wild Spring days are almost here.
