Winter Done with Seasons of Discontent
by Jac Coyne |
Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive
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| Mike Winter will likely take another beating on the
crease in Sunday's title game against Tufts. All the soreness will
be worth it if the Gulls come out on top. © Kevin P. Tucker |
Playing crease attackman for Salisbury means handling the
proverbial double-edged sword.
On one side of the blade, the individual who fills the role for the
Sea Gulls is going to score 50 goals. From Joe High (Class of 2000)
to Dan Boyer (’06) to Greg Titus (‘08), the Salisbury
player willing to sit on the crease does plenty of celebrating.
The other side of the sword?
That same player is going to catch a whoopin’.
Any defense with postseason aspirations is going to make sure a
crease guy pays a price for the dunk. Whether it’s a body
check, poke check, stick check or cross check, a defender will
almost always leave a black and blue calling card with an opponent
who labors in front of the cage.
The latest member of the pleasure-pain fraternity is senior Mike
Winter, who is second on the Sea Gulls with 52 goals after netting
a team-high four markers in Salisbury’s semifinal overtime
victory against Stevenson on Sunday, including the game-winner.
“I’ve got red marks all over my arms and bruises
everywhere,” said Winter after a couple of hours in the
training room on Monday. “My neck hurts from getting hit in
the back because I didn’t realize that I got a little
whiplash. I definitely feel it the next day.”
“He’s a tough kid,” confirmed Salisbury coach Jim
Berkman. “Those guys get abused in the middle and he can take
the punishment. In practice, you’ll just say, ‘Mike,
why are you doing that?’ But he can take the punishment, he
takes the extra checks, and he can hold onto the ball.”
It hurts so good for Winter because the contusions mean he has
fulfilled a promise he made to himself while watching the 2007
national championship games from the stands of M&T Bank
Stadium.
“I didn’t dress my freshman year for the national
championship and it was something that made me realize I never
wanted to be in that situation ever again,” said Winter.
“I spent the time and worked real hard.”
When he arrived at Salisbury after a solid career at Schreiber High
School in Port Washington, N.Y., Winter had plenty of potential,
but potential doesn’t get you on the field at the Eastern
Shore lacrosse factory. When the dress list came out for the title
game, there wasn’t much debate whether Winter would be on the
sideline.
“He was way down the totem pole as a freshman,
believe me,” laughed Berkman, who will have Winter as one of
his graduate assistant coaches next year, meaning Winter
will hit the road for his first recruiting trip on the
Wednesday after the title game.
Taking the same route that turned former Gull standout attackman
Matt Hickman from a bit player to vital cog on a national
championship team, Winter stopped resting on talent and put his
fate in the hands of hard work.
“I was hitting the wall all the time and this year I got
heavy into the lifting, basically all summer,” he said.
“That really kind of took me to another level where I was
stronger and wasn’t getting as tired as quickly. I’m a
little quicker – I’m not a quick guy – but
I’m at the point where if another team wants to put somebody
on me I can get by them.”
“Mike was a good player, but not quite good enough, and there
were some good players in front of him,” said Berkman.
“He kept banging the wall and his stick got better and
finally he started buying into the weight room a little more.
He’s filled that void.”
It started during his junior season when Winter was finally given
the shot at the crease role and he seized it immediately. After
notching 12 goals and two assists in his first two years, Winter
buried 48 markers – including three game winners –
along with six dimes. It was a testament to his toughness and work
ethic, but the achievement still rang hollow.
Instead of finishing the season with a national title as he had in
his first two seasons, Winter had a handful of personal stats and a
ringless finger after Salisbury uncharacteristically exited in the
quarterfinal round at the hands of Capital Athletic Conference
rival Stevenson.
It is something that has driven Winter, and the rest of the Sea
Gulls, all season.
“The background on my phone is a picture from the Stevenson
game that ended our season,” said Winter. “Their stud
long pole [Evan] Douglass is holding his hand up celebrating while
Matt Cannone has his head down. It has been on my background the
entire season. It was about getting past that team, getting past
that season, and back to Baltimore. It’s been something that
our entire team wanted so badly, and we worked hard to make it
happen.”
“Mike Winter is one of the classic reasons we’ve been
able to keep it going for a while,” said Berkman, who is
going for his ninth national title on Sunday. “They stay the
journey, they work hard, and they get better at practice going
against really good players.”
Winter and the rest of the Salisbury squad will be going against
very good players on Sunday when they finally take the field
against Tufts – a formidable team despite the Jumbos’
status as Memorial Day neophytes.
The opponent really doesn’t matter. Toiling in the trenches,
Winter is going to take a beating regardless of who is wielding the
cudgel.
It’s all about the end result.
“By the time I get hit, hopefully the ball is in the back of
the goal and I’m celebrating anyway.”
