April 11, 2008

By Joe Meloni Massachusetts Daily Collegian

April 11, 2008

Amherst, MA (UWIRE) -- Two weeks ago, Massachusetts men's lacrosse coach Greg Cannella wasn't pleased with the direction of his 2008 Minutemen.

An ultimatum, 14 days and 20 goals later, the Minutemen are back in the race for an ECAC Championship.

Following the 15-1 loss to No. 19 Loyola on March 22, Cannella stood in front of his players at practice and questioned their desire. The Minutemen responded, winning games over Penn State, 7-5, and Saint John's, 13-8.

"It's funny because we want to encourage them to continue to do the same thing, but we can do that at the end of the year," Cannella said. "We didn't sign up for nine games, we signed up for 14. That's when we'll evaluate our season.

"I'm proud of them, but we want to push forward."

Now at 2-1 in the ECAC, 4-5 overall, the Minutemen take on Hobart (5-4, 2-2 ECAC) Saturday on Garber Field; opening faceoff is scheduled for 1 p.m.

A win for the Minutemen would set up a matchup with No. 4 Georgetown a week from Saturday in Washington, D.C., with first place in the ECAC on the line if the Hoyas defeat Loyola on Saturday. Cannella isn't looking ahead, at all, but positioning within the conference enters the discussion at this point in the season.

Getting past Hobart, however, is no easy task. The Statesmen boast one of the best goal scorers in the nation, Daryl Veltman, along with a host of gifted playmakers and finishers around him. Despite missing three games this season, Veltman leads Hobart with 18 goals, but its biggest offensive strength is its depth. Eight Statesmen have at least five goals on the season, and five have contributed 10 or more points.

"Veltman is a great, great finisher," Cannella said. "So you have to plan for him, but you have to worry about the other guys that they have. They have some strong midfielders, and contributions from a lot of guys.

"So you have to concentrate on everyone, but you really have to worry about Veltman in transition," he continued. "He's very, very good in transition; he's a sniper."

UMass's depth isn't to the extent of the Statesmen, but the emergence of freshmen Peter McNichols and Zach Rodgers augmented a once weak UMass offense. In the last two games, the pair has combined for 10 points.

"They were sort of thrust into their roles, and we hoped they would be more consistent than inconsistent throughout the year," Cannella said. "Typically when you have young guys out there, there are some inconsistencies. They're not used to playing at the intensity level. In high school, there are games they'll score four or five goals in without even showing up.

"They've done a good job, but we need them to do a better job."

The two bring such different skills sets to the field that they don't get in each other's way. Rogers is one of the best passers on the Minutemen, and works very well in the tight space around the goal - he leads the team with 12 assists. Cannella mentioned earlier in the season that he hoped Rogers would find his scoring touch as the season progressed. It seems to have happened for the rookie; he has three goals in the last two games.

McNichols projected as a potential first-line attack even before the suspension of 2007 leading scorer Jim Connolly. His 11 goals are second on the Minutemen behind Tim Balise's 21.

Games notes

UMass leads the all-time series, 6-2, but did not play the Statesmen from 1985-2005 ... Hobart is 0-3 in Amherst since 1972, and hasn't defeated UMass since 1985 ... Balise was named the ECAC Offensive Player of the Week for his six-goal performance against St. John's on Saturday.

(C) 2008 Massachusetts Daily Collegian via UWIRE