Tambroni Taps Depth from Cornell's Defense

by Brian Delaney | Special to Lacrosse Magazine Online

Senior defenseman Andrew MacDonald is the most experienced member of Cornell's deep contingent of long poles.

Cornell is down two of its best close defensemen, but it’s almost impossible to tell. In a year where head coach Jeff Tambroni and his staff is busy rebuilding the Big Red’s midfield lines, defense has been at the forefront of a shaky but confidence-building 4-0 start.

Despite all the attention drawn in 2009 by midfielders Max Seibald, John Glynn and Rocco Romero, and attackmen Rob Pannell and Ryan Hurley, it was defense that vaulted Cornell into the NCAA final four and national title game.

It was defense that beat Princeton 6-4, Virginia 15-6 and held Syracuse to six goals through three and a half quarters before the bottom fell out.

And it was defense that Tambroni knew Cornell would have to lean on while his youthful charges elsewhere cured themselves of their inexperienced shortcomings.

“Our defense has shown more of a development than our offense has to this point,” he said.

And that’s without senior Michael Howe and freshman Mike Bronzino. Howe is healing from shoulder surgery in the offseason and Bronzino broke his wrist in a scrimmage against Johns Hopkins — one he played so well in that he had likely wrapped up a starting job — in February. Neither’s return is guaranteed at this point.

Howe was one of, if not the, critical components of the 2009 defense. He cracked the rotation midway through the season and ended up being, in Tambroni’s words, as good as any defenseman the Big Red had.

“They’re not even on the radar screen,” he said of the players' retrun. “Not through March, I know that. If we get either of them back in April, I think it would be a real bonus. We’re basically going into this season saying, ‘Look. Neither one of those guys will come back.’ I think both of them have a chance to come back, but not anytime soon.”

Quality depth has helped in the short term. Bronzino was part of a freshmen class that, defensively, is arguably the strongest Tambroni’s brought in. Classmates Thomas Keith (LSM/close), Jason Noble (close) and A.J. Fiore (goalie) are impact players. Fiore beat out junior Mat Martinez for the starting job, and has more saves than goals allowed in each game.

Keith is currently backing up veteran Pierce Derkac at the pole, while Noble started alongside senior Andrew MacDonald and junior Max Feely in last Saturday’s 12-11 overtime win over Army. The group is uber-athletic — there’s not a prototypical bruiser in the unit — and lightning quick in slide packages and on the ground.

Noble has exceeded his high billing.

“I can’t tell you how many plays he made during the course of the game, after watching film, that were game-changing plays,” Tambroni said. “He was nothing short of spectacular. He was fantastic as a freshman to play with the poise he did and make the plays he did in that game. It was a huge boost to our defense.”

His play enabled associate head coach Ben DeLuca to slide junior Chris Livadas back to shortstick, next to returning starter Austin Boykin, and bring junior Shane O’Neill off the bench.

Last year, MacDonald lost his starting job to Howe. But a strong offseason has him back in the starting lineup and covering the opposing team’s top defenseman.

If anything, Tambroni’s grateful for the depth — especially with a freshman between the pipes and struggles elsewhere. It will be tested mightily Saturday when the No. 8-ranked Big Red host new No. 1 Virginia on Saturday.

“We’re just giving away too many opportunities out of our offensive end and putting too much pressure on our defense right now,” he said.

News & Notes

What a week for Yale. The Bulldogs are now 3-0 after a 13-12 upset of No. 12 Massachusetts last Friday, and ranked No. 17... Princeton freshman Jeff Froccaro has scored seven goals in his first two games. No other frosh in Tigers history has done that ... Losses in one-goal games killed Harvard in 2009. The Crimson dropped such games to Georgetown, Cornell and Princeton. In their first one-goal finish of 2010, the Crimson came out on the wrong side of a 13-12 result at Georgetown... In the Patriot League, Navy grabbed an important win, 8-7 in overtime, over Bucknell last Saturday. Navy led 6-2 after three quarters before the Bison scored five times in the fourth. Mids senior middie Patrick Moran stuck the game-winner in OT. The series has been fantastic over the past year-plus. Navy beat Bucknell in the 2009 Patriot League championship game, 9-8, avenging an 8-7 buzzer-beating win by the Bison during the regular season. The No. 18-ranked Mids meet No. 16-ranked upstart Lafayette on Friday.