May 7, 2007
by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff
When Mike Pressler meets with his players on Monday afternoon at 3:15 p.m., the Bryant men's lacrosse coach will let them know both how proud he is of them, and how disappointed he is for them.
As the players walk out of the room undoubtedly still stinging from Sunday's announcement that the Bulldogs were not selected for the four-team NCAA Division II tournament, Pressler will tell them to hold their heads high as they face an unjust reality.
"We're not crying about it, we're not going to whine about it," said Pressler on Monday afternoon. "We'll take the disappointment and congratulate the other four teams, and move on to next year."
Anyone who follows lacrosse is not surprised by the response. Displaying dignity and devotion in the face of adversity is becoming a defining trait for Pressler.
While the Bryant coach shows no anger about the decision made by the NCAA committee to select Le Moyne over his team for the North's bid to the tourney, there is confusion.
"I'm just sitting here wondering why we didn't get in," said Pressler. "It's my first year in Division II, and I thought I had a handle on what we needed to go as a regional representative. Obviously, I don't.
"We had the understanding that everything is based on your region and if you look back on our region we were 10-1 and Le Moyne was 9-2. We split [head-to-head], we beat Merrimack twice and they lost to Merrimack. We were under the impression in Division II there were three regional bids. Evidently, that's not the case and there are other criteria that are just as equal as the regional rankings."
In addition to losing out on the regional bid to Le Moyne, Bryant's body of work was not good enough to garner the wild card bid, either, as New York Tech earned that slot.
During his years as the Duke head coach, Pressler was a frequent member of the Division I selection committee, so he knows there is no conspiracy or bad intentions directed at his program. He is just supremely disappointed for his team and can't understand the decision at this point, although he may down the road.
"When you do your due diligence and squint at it, and look at all the different scenarios, it starts to come into place," said Pressler about the selection process. "That's why I think the general public sometimes has a knee-jerk reaction like `That team got screwed,' or `Why did that team get in ahead of that team.'
"But if you look at what the NCAA gives you to base your judgment on, more times than not it is clear cut. All of the people on those committees are of high integrity and are unbiased, doing things rightly and fairly."
During Monday's meeting, Pressler will encourage his team to dwell on all the successes they achieved this season.
"It was very exciting and enjoyable for us to win the conference in our first year outright and beat Le Moyne during the regular season to upset that 72-game Division II win streak," said Pressler. "We're excited about that. We were 11-4 in our first season. If you told me that back in September when we got going here, I'm not sure I would have believed you."
Perhaps the most important advice the coach will give his players before they leave for the summer is to keep everything in perspective.
"There are more important things in life, and I've learned that first hand."
For another take on the Division II & III selections, check out Coyne's Afterthoughts.
