M. Scoop: Lyco Hoping to End the Nightmare
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive
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| Brian Anken, here with the Warriors' leading scorer
Edward Williams, is pointing Lycoming toward a potential NCAA berth
in 2010. © Dick Hostrander |
When Lycoming head coach Brian Anken has nightmares, the bad
dream plays out the same way every time.
His Warriors are the second seed in the MAC tournament after a
strong regular season, only to draw Widener in the conference
semifinals. Each time, the Pride races out to a huge lead against
Lycoming, forcing Anken to pull his standout goalie, and then a
spirited comeback bid falls flat. The night terrors end with
Lycoming's chance at its first-ever NCAA bid consumed in a Widener
celebration.
Wait a minute. That wasn't a nightmare. That's exactly how
things have played out over the past two years.
"It's funny; It's like déjà vu in back-to-back
seasons," said Anken, his tone making it clear it really isn't that
humorous.
In Anken's second year in 2008, the Warriors managed to post the
first-ever victory over Widener during the regular season, an 11-10
triumph, but when it got to the MAC semifinals, the Pride managed
to pull out an entertaining, 19-17 victory to halt the Lyco season.
Last year, the Warriors again handled Widener in the regular
season, 8-4, but only 11 days later the Pride jumped on Lycoming
for a 15-9 win.
Consecutive upsets to inferior teams would typically cause a coach
to have some reservations about the future, but Anken has high
hopes that the nightmare will end in 2010.
"I'm always one of those guys who kind of sandbags it," admitted
Anken, "but as long as I don't screw anything up we should be very
good. I like the pieces and the chemistry that is put together this
year even better than last year. The younger guys had a year to
mature and that process accelerated even faster than I
expected."
The top four scorers return, led by senior attackmen Edward
Williams (33g, 13a) and Nathan Walter (30g, 17a), while the defense
and midfield has key cogs coming back, including fellow seniors
Kevin Devenney (16 CTs) and Michael Doherty (64% on faceoffs). With
the graduation of an experienced senior keeper the goalie position
would normally be an issue, but Alan Antinarelli has been biding
his time and saw action during crunch time.
"In each of those tournament games [against Widener], Al came in
and kind of saved the day for us," said Anken.
As much as the semifinal losses to Widener hurt, the Warriors are
hoping it's just part of the process of making the big dance.
Widener was responsible for putting the MAC on the map with its
strong performances in the NCAA tournament. With FDU-Florham taking
Washington & Lee to overtime in the first round last spring,
the reputation of the conference is increasing - a trend Anken
hopes to continue.
"You roll the ball out for 60 minutes and we're playing our best
against their best and I think we match up very, very well against
anybody," he said. "I think FDU showed that last year and I think
they'll be good again this year. What they did against W&L
showed that the three or so teams at the top that are battling for
the MAC championship can really play with anybody."
And if it's Lycoming getting their shot this spring? Well, that
would just be a dream.
Following the Leader
Prior to taking over at Lycoming in 2007, Anken had stops
at several places - including a three-year stint as head coach at
Division II Mars Hill - but perhaps his most important job was as
an assistant at RIT. It was there he worked under Gene Peluso, who
is now the head man at Stevens.
It was Peluso who put Lyco on the map, and who helped bring Anken
to his current position.
"Coach Peluso has become one of my best friends and has been a real
mentor to me," said Anken. "He was one of the reasons I wanted to
take this job. I wanted to pick up where he left off here. When he
left, Lycoming was in the Top 25 and in the conference championship
game a couple of years in a row, and then we tailed off. We're
trying to get back to that level.
"If I can have the kind of career that [Peluso] has put together,
I'd be very honored to follow in his footsteps."
When Peluso was consulted about who would be a good fit for the
Warriors back in '07, he gave a quick answer.
"He was hand-picked to coach Lycoming because of what he brings to
the table," said Peluso. "The hiring AD at the time, Frank Girardi,
and I had conversations about who would be the best person for the
job and Brian was a ‘no-brainer.' Brian is a winner, a great
recruiter and a great person who builds his program with a family
approach."
Checking In: The White Mules
Jon Thompson's first season with Colby was unquestionably
a success. For the first time in five years, the White Mules (8-7)
posted a winning record, and the season consisted of victories over
the defending conference champion Williams in the season opener as
well as impressive victories over Endicott (18-4) and Bowdoin
(10-6).
Despite establishing an impressive benchmark, Thompson is keeping
his goals for this season pretty broad.
"We don't really have any expectations of ourselves for 2010, we
just want to be better," said Thompson. "We want to be more
fundamentally sound this year on both the offensive and defensive
side of the ball."
It will be tough to be better on the offensive end with the
graduation of Caddy Brooks, who finished fifth on the school's
career scoring list, but the return of senior Whit McCarthy - who
paced the White Mules in scoring in '09 - will help.
"We have four attackmen right now who are vying for two spots, with
a few more nibbling at their heels," said Thompson, saying rookies
John Jennings and Greg McKillop will join senior Pat Briody and
sophomore Scott Margolis as possible candidates to accompany
McCarthy up front.
The midfield will be bolstered by the return of senior Mark
Squiccharino, who missed much of the conference slate with a bum
shoulder, and All-American face-off man Craig Bunker. The top poles
- Chris Healy and James Brady - are also back, but all eyes will be
on how the goalie situation plays out.
"In goal is where our most interesting battle in the preseason will
be," admitted Thompson. "We have three goalies who are vying for
time right now."
Senior Tommy Gianakos would appear to have the inside track in the
cage, but sophomore Tyler Cash and Patrick Gilligan are expected to
press for time. According to Thompson, Gilligan is a beast in the
weight room.
Things get under way for the White Mules on March 13, when they
travel to Williams - a team Colby has defeated the last two
seasons.
Checking In: The Green Terror
Think you like Centennial lacrosse? Pfffft. Rookie. The
Hatton household - home to McDaniel men's coach Matt and Dickinson
women's coach Carol - has the market cornered.
"There is going to be a whole lot of Centennial Lacrosse this
spring in our house," said Matt. "I cannot wait to get started here
on Feb. 1."
While Matt's younger brother, Mike, who was an All-American for the
Green Terror last spring, has graduated, there's still plenty left
in the cupboard, led by attackman Gibbs Preston, the leading scorer
in the Centennial in '09 (4.12 ppg).
"He can score in bunches and should be a leader on offense for us
all season," said Hatton of Preston. "We also bring back
All-Centennial LSM Matt Mummert, who I believe can be the best LSM
in our conference as a junior this year."
Mummert will certainly have big shoes to fill after Tom Kehoe was
named the most outstanding player in the country not only at LSM,
but overall. That's just how competitive the Centennial is, making
it tough for Hatton to predict the Terror's outcome.
"It is tough to say where we will be at the end of the season as
our conference is just so tough," said Hatton. "The difference
between being in the top four and making the playoffs and being the
last place team in our conference can literally be decided by a
handful of goals all season.
"However, we hope to be vying for one of those top four spots and
hope to compete for the Centennial Conference championship and a
birth into the NCAAs."
The Green Terror will kick off the 2009 season on Feb. 27 when they
travel to Moravian.
Slides & Rides
- You can call it cheesy, useless or whatever. But I love
the countdown clock on the Lycoming men's lacrosse
homepage. As far as I'm concerned, there should be a countdown
clock on every website.
- Congratulations to Peluso for his induction into the USL Greater
Rochester (N.Y.) Hall of Fame. Stevens kicks off the season on Feb.
20 at Muhlenberg.
- One of the interesting subplots that will play out during the
season is which conference will be able to be brag about being the
deepest in the country at the end of the spring. Heading into the
season, it's a race between the NESCAC and the Empire 8. Which top
five is deadlier: Middlebury, Tufts, Bowdoin, Wesleyan and Williams
or Nazareth, Ithaca, St. John Fisher, RIT and Stevens?
- LMO usually conducts a staff pick ‘em contest every Friday,
which typically consists of nine Division I games and a token small
college game. We'll be doing that again, however, in order to
demonstrate my unmatched grasp of MD3, I'll be having a separate
head-to-head match-up with a coach who has 17 years of head
coaching experience at the men's Division III level, as well as
tenure on the MD3 selection committee. There will be five games
picked every week, with a breakdown of each contest by both me and
The Coach. We'll unveil the competition on Friday, Feb. 26. Stay
tuned.
