Weekend Watch: Roanoke’s Risky Makeover
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
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| The implementation of a new defensive scheme was a
risky move for Roanoke coming off a 17-2 season in '09. Sam Love
(above) and the rest of the backline have handled it well so
far, but the real test of the makeover will be on Saturday against
No. 2 Stevenson. © Pete Emerson |
It was an uncomfortable realization, but there was no way for
Bill Pilat to avoid it.
Despite being the highest scoring team in any division of lacrosse,
the No. 1 team in Division III for the bulk of the season, and an
NCAA participant, Roanoke was in need of a change on the defensive
end of the field.
It was initially difficult for Pilat, Roanoke's head coach, to
embrace the reshaping of his entire defensive scheme because it
seemed counterintuitive. With a strong unit returning, led by the
likes of close defender Sam Love and LSM Stephen Simmons, why would
you start tinkering?
Why mess with something that just produced a 17-2 season?
“It’s hard to say you’re going to do that with
two All-Americans returning,” admitted Pilat.
“You’d think, ‘Hey, things are pretty
good.’ But we took a hard look at it and decided we needed to
play better defense.”
The Maroons gave up just over 10 goals per game in 2009, which is a
tad high for an elite program, but still. 17-2?
Surely there were a couple of minor tweaks that could be introduced
to get the desired results.
Maybe, but the Roanoke staff decided over the summer they were
beyond that. Even with a stable of poles capable of spiking the top
attackmen in the country, the choice was made to move away from the
match-up intensive schemes of the past and more towards a team
concept.
“We had the kind of athletes that want that one-on-one
match-up. Love wants the best guy and [Alex] Burkhead wants a good
attackman, but the focus has shifted to where we don’t care
what guy you’re covering as long as a unit we’re
holding the other team down,” said Pilat. “It has
shifted from the individual to team.”
Pilat and his defensive coordinator, Jim Mitchell, spent the bulk
of the summer trying to best blend this team paradigm with the
players they had. They came up with what they thought was the
perfect package, but there were two potential pitfalls.
The first was the players could have trouble adapting to – if
not completely balking at – a brand new defensive blueprint
with such a promising group returning from a proven system.
“There were definitely growing pains,” said Pilat.
“Coach Mitchell and I both thought we’d have some guys
that would fight it a little bit. We have good kids, so they
didn’t fight too much, plus they want to win and are all
about the team. I told him the guys who it was going to be tough on
were the juniors and seniors because they only know one thing and
that’s go out and cover your man and pressure. Guys like
Love, Burkhead, [Chase] Phelps, [Luke] Nichols and Simmons all had
a tough go of it, but they’ve matured nicely. I think
we’ve gotten better and better.”
The second danger was in how the alteration would impact
‘Noke’s high-octane offense. Over his 22 years at the
helm of the Maroons, Pilat has developed his coaching philosophy
based off the acronym CHAOS – Constantly Harass And create
Opportunities to Score. By keeping the opposition's offense off
balance with overwhelming pressure, it would ignite the Roanoke
offense. Now with a more passive defense, the possibility was there
that the whole system would be thrown out of whack.
“The ‘constantly harass’ was our defense,”
said Pilat. “We were Salisbury-style on the gloves and
cutting off adjacents. Now we’ve gone to more of a team
harass. We’re going to have that one slide or two slides and
we’re going to go when we need to, more of a Division I-type
philosophy. It was a philosophical change, yes, but it was still
dictating to an offense what we want to do so it takes them out of
their game.”
It sounds good in theory, and so far it has applied to the field,
as well. The Maroons have chopped nearly four markers off their
goals against average while still humming along at nearly 20 goals
a game. Both times Roanoke has allowed 10 goals this season, it has
still won the game by an average of 10.
Despite the positive early returns, Saturday’s game at No. 2
Stevenson is where the experiment will truly be put to the test.
Roanoke is 7-1 so far, but the only victory over a ranked opponent
was a 21-7 win over No. 14 Cabrini.
With the type of players the Mustangs have on attack, including
Steve Kazimer, the reigning Attackman of the Year, the
Maroons’ defense will be under significant pressure for much
of the game. But for Pilat, it doesn’t matter how his
backline performs as long as Roanoke has one more goal on the board
than Stevenson at the end of the game.
“It’s funny, that’s always what I’ve
preached on offense – we don’t care who scores or who
gets the assist, as long as everyone is on the same page,” he
said. “We’ve taken that philosophy on the defensive end
and I think that has helped quite a bit.”
We’ll know for sure on Saturday.
Pressure Zone
Players who must make an impact for their team this
weekend.
Max Bielby, Middie, Grand Valley State
If you want to have success against defending champion St.
Thomas and No. 9 St. John’s a team must control the midfield.
The Tommies and Johnnies keep up the pressure in the middle of the
field until their opponents wilt, eventually just conceding the
game. Bielby needs to ensure this does not happen. The junior
captain must do it with brains more than brawn. If you try to
muscle your way to success, you’re playing into the Minnesota
team’s hands. Bielby needs to recognize what is going on and
keep the Lakers’ confidence high when they do mess up.
Alex Burkhead, Defenseman, Roanoke
The junior has All-American talent and he’ll have his
chance to prove it against Stevenson. Roanoke has a new defensive
system (see above), but that doesn’t mean Burkhead
won’t find himself from time to time out an island with one
of the best attackmen in the country. Can he handle it?
Abby Fink, Goalie, Colorado College
The Tigers are 4-0 to start the season and they can thank
the rookie out of Minneapolis for that. Fink has picked up every
win, and was the difference in back-to-back one-goal victories over
Skidmore and D-II Regis. The barometer will be rising significantly
this weekend when CC takes on Roanoke and No. 14 Catholic in D.C.
on Saturday and Sunday, respectively. A sweep would probably be a
tad ambitious, but a split would be a great weekend for the Tigers
and Fink would be the reason.
John LeClerc, Goalie, Gettysburg
In his first year as the full-time goalie, the sophomore has
been living a relatively charmed life. Despite posting a 9-0
record, including wins against four ranked opponents, LeClerc has
had to make 10 or more saves just twice – 10 stops against
Muhlenberg and 15 against Cabrini. That means his defense has been
awfully good to him, but the Bullet backline might not be able to
keep the Gulls at bay with the kind of consistency they’ve
had up to this point. So it’s a good bet that Gettysburg will
need a double-digit kind of day out of their keeper.
Michelle Lubrano, Midfield, Rowan
The Profs are going to get a Pool B berth this year; you can
pretty much lock that up right now. But they could breathe easier
in March if they knock of Stevens on Saturday. To do that,
they’ll need to create havoc in the Ducks’ midfield,
and that’s where Lubrano comes in. Although only 5-foot-3,
Lubrano is a force on draw controls and is always a threat to cause
a turnover. The sophomore will do those things, as well as act as a
one-woman clear at times, if Rowan has aspirations of beating
Stevens.
Alec Paul, Middie, Loyola
Marymount
The Lions are ‘tweeners’ right now in the
at-large landscape for the national tournament, but a sweep in the
Lone Star State against Texas and Texas State will not only knock
off a pair of potential at-large competitors but push LMU to the
10-win mark. If he continues to play the way he has – 18
goals and 13 assists so far – Paul should make that happen.
There’s a perpetual undercurrent about the weakness of the
LSA, but if Paul and the Lions bye into that, they’ll get
beat and they won’t be in Denver in May.
Dan Pitzl, Midfield, Minnesota-Duluth
When you’re the best player on your team, expectations
– and pressure – run high. That will be the case when
the Bulldogs play top-ranked Michigan at Marquette. The senior has
delivered in every game this year; even in Duluth’s lone loss
against No. 4 Arizona State, Pitzl had three goals and a dime.
Against the Wolverines, he’ll need to play the game of his
career. Michigan knows about Pitzl and will certainly have two sets
of eyes on him at all times, so this is a game that could turn an
All-American into a Player of the Year. That’s
pressure.
CaldwellRohrbach, Attack, St. Lawrence
As the sophomore goes, so go the Saints. Rohrbach gets a
couple of goals – like he did against Haverford and Oswego
– and SLU picks up the victory. When he gets shut out, like
he did against Drew, the Saints are defrocked. There’s no
doubt it’s tough being the focus of a defense, but I know
Mike Mahoney believes Rohrbach can be a dominant player.
He’ll need to prove it on Saturday if St. Lawrence wants a
shot at knocking off Nazareth.
Rachel Romanowsky, Middie, Trinity
Trinity has 48 goals in its three games. Of those, only 13
were set up by an assist. To further illustrate this issue, do you
know how many assists Kristen Phelps (11 goals) and Megan Leonard
(10) – the Bantams two leading scorers – have dished
out so far? It rhymes with ‘hero.’ If Trinity tries the
one-on-one game with Colby on Saturday, the Chickens will get
slaughtered. Enter Romanowsky, who is the leading playmaker on the
team with five helpers. The junior must be the catalyst for a
pinpoint passing game that can take advantage of the aggressive
White Mule tendencies.
Slides & Rides
- Roanoke coach Bill Pilat said the 9-5 win over Williams
on Wednesday went a long way in taking away the bad taste left over
from the Dickinson loss. “Our defense really played fantastic
for 55 minutes, but they let down for five minutes and that’s
the ball game,” said Pilat of the Dickinson debacle.
“We usually don’t care if we give up seven goals, but
when your offense isn’t scoring it’s a big deal. We
took a lot away from that and it helped us against Williams. They
were basically identical games and that’s what I don’t
the guys at halftime. ‘Fellas, this is another Dickinson
game.’ They’re a good, solid team that possesses the
ball and wins face-offs so we had to be a little bit better, and
that’s what we were able to do.”
- The Leanos dinner table might be a little uncomfortable once the
summer break begins. Tom Leanos, the long-time head coach at Drew,
brought his Rangers up to Hamilton on Wednesday only to lose, 7-6,
on a goal with 2:15 remaining in the game. The player firing off
the game-winning shot? That would be Jon Leanos, the Drew
coach’s son and a sophomore with the Continentals. For Tom
Leanos, that has to be the working definition of
“bittersweet.”
- The Stevenson women’s win over Wellesley earlier this week
was quite a game for two Mustangs. Senior Lauren Zegwotiz broke the
school’s all-time points record by recording her
187th, snapping an 11-year record. Junior Lisa Baker
scored four goals to join the 100-goal club in the same contest,
becoming just the seventh player in school history to accomplish
the feat. More importantly, Stevenson is now 8-2 with a huge
conference game with Mary Washington on Saturday. You figure the
CAC is going to get one Pool C, so the winner of this one will have
the inside track.
- This has been a watershed season for Muhlenberg. The 3-3 record
may not get your blood flowing, but the two wins for the Mules have
come against Washington College and Haverford – two teams
Muhlenberg had never defeated before in Centennial play. In a press release on their website, the overtime victory
over No. 14 Haverford on Wednesday was dubbed “the biggest
win Muhlenberg men’s lacrosse history to date.” Also,
something to chew about that record: two of the losses came by one
goal.
On the flip side of Muhlenberg’s win was Haverford’s
loss. The Black Squirrels’ four losses have come by a grand
total of six goals, but at 4-4 they have one foot dangling off the
Pool C cliff. I won’t write them off completely because if
they run the table before losing in the Centennial championship
game to Gettysburg, they’ll be 11-5 with a pretty stiff
schedule. One more loss, however, and it’s AQ or bust.
- I thought Lindenwood was going to get some competition in the
GRLC this year from Wisconsin-Madison. While the jury is still way
out on the Badgers, Illinois has emerged as a possible thorn in the
Lions’ paw. The Fighting Illini improved to 5-1 on Wednesday
when they traveled to Gainesville and clipped No. 10 Florida, 16-13
on the Gators’ field. Even with a win over No. 7 Michigan
State on April 3, Illinois probably won’t have the resume to
earn an at-large bid to the tourney, but you can bet they’ll
have Lindenwood’s attention when the two teams meet in the
regular season finale on April 24.
- The Tufts women’s 20-13 victory over Buffalo State was
about what I thought it would be. The Bengals still don’t
have the defensive stubbornness to deal with a high-end NESCAC team
at this point. Running-and-gunning is like a day off for Tufts, so
they’d gladly give up 13 to score 20. It’s a lot
different than having to grind out every possession like the Jumbos
did against Colby in an 11-9 loss. This doesn’t bode well for
Buff State against Middlebury, as the Panthers are disciplined
enough to score their 20, but only give the opposition five. On the
bright side, these games will only make the Bengals better.
- You can talk about the usual suspects like the NESCAC, ODAC and
the Empire 8, but right now I think the most compelling men’s
conference chase will happen in the MAC. After just the first round
of conference games, three of the teams I would have put at the top
of the heap are all 0-1. Widener, Messiah and defending
championship FDU-Florham lost to Eastern, Elizabethtown and
Manhattanville, respectively. If you pressed me about who I see
coming out of the haze right now, I’d pick Lycoming and Etown
in the finals with Lyco taking it. We’ll see.
MD3 Snipes:
Congratulations to Bowdoin’s Tom McCabe for notching his
200th career victory versus Keene State. I worked with
Tom for five years in Brunswick and he’s a quality
guy…the Endicott men’s season has come completely
unraveled. The Gulls lost to Gordon on Wednesday – the first
time in 11 tries the Fighting Scotts beat Endicott…Statement
game: Cortland is still the top dog in N.Y., and they showed it
against Naz…I wrote a story on Conor Malangone and the relationship with his two
brothers who also went to Wesleyan, which was posted earlier
this week. Also, my picks contest with Dave Zazzaro was also
posted.
WD3 Snipes: Good
start for Washington & Jefferson. The Presidents are 5-1, but
we’ll see what they’ve got against Adrian on
Saturday…Union picked up a key Pool C win against Washington
& Lee and now face Salisbury this weekend…Centenary are
4-0 for the first time in school history…Lycoming celebrated
the 100th victory in the program’s history, which
started in 1997…Elizabethtown proved itself the team to beat
in the MAC (for now) by defeating Messiah in a thriller on
Wednesday, 16-15…ladies and gentlemen, we have our first tie
of the season. Husson and St. Joseph’s, both of Maine, played
to a 15-15 draw on Wednesday. Because of darkness, they played a
three-minute overtime to decide a winner, but both teams scored,
ending the game in deadlock…big afternoon for Ferrum on
Tuesday with two school records tied and one broken. Brooke
Hewartson tied the mark for both goals and points in a game with
her 10 goals while Cara Jacobs broke the single game record for
assists with five.
MCLA Snipes:
Top-ranked St. Thomas and No. 2 Grand Valley State will meet on
Saturday in Ames, Iowa. I think the Lakers will be able to hang for
a half, but the Tommies are too deep…count me among the
curious to know the score of the No. 19 New Hampshire vs. No. 16
Boston College scored on Sunday at Harvard Stadium. I still need to
be sold on the Wildcats…No. 9 Oregon has 10 days to lick its
wounds before it has a consecutive three-game stretch against No. 2
Chapman, No. 4 Arizona State and No. 23 Simon Fraser that will
determine whether the Ducks are a viable at-large
candidate…my weekly picks contest with Nick Schooler has
also been posted.
