All of the alums from the
"grass era" of Middlebury lacrosse can feel for Tufts as they spent
all day Tuesday shoveling a couple inches of snow off their field for the
priveledge of trying to keep up with our middies for 4 Quarters. At the same time, we did have a mid-week 4
1/2 hour bus trip for the priveledge of playing on a sloppy field, so I guess
these external things even out! The
shoveling reminded us of a mid-90's April snowstorm which dropped 8-9 inches on
Alumni Stadium on Friday, the day before our Bowdoin game. We ppd Bowdoin until Sunday, shoveled all day
Saturday, beat Bowdoin Sunday and
Tufts battled us well, they
are an improving team. They handled the
ball well early, eating some time off the clock and generating some good shots.
I noted to Assistant Coach Steve Monninger before the game, that they are a
good offensive team with a good goalie that was probably going to play a lot of
zone, combining all of this with a sloppy field my prediction before the game
was that it would take a while to get untracked. I was a little too accurate. I think our guys came ready to play but there
are good, solid teams top to bottom in the league that will play smart and hard
against us and be carried by some emotion early. It probably could have been a slightly
different first half if we had stuck a few shots that were good
opportunities. Some the goalie made good
saves, others were simply poor shots. The
poor shooting may be attributed to being a little tight, could also be trying
to get solid footing for your shot on a sloppy field. In any event, the score
was Middlebury 3 Tufts 4 at the half. I
have to give this team credit for staying confident in these situations. This was the third league game with a tight
first half that we were able to hang in there and pull away in the second
half. Our spark on offense came
primarily from freshman attackman Jon Sisto.
He was 3G's/2 A's on the day and rode hard as well. I love the way the attack on this team
rides. It is one of the best riding
attack units we have had and it has
bought this younger team some valuable possessions and unsettled goals. The other spark on offense came from
defensive midfielder Dave Leach. Dave is
one of those Middlebury d-middies who is so tough and athletic on the defensive
end of the field that we feel we can't "waste" him on offense. He
also gets us several offensive opportunities each game as he did against Tufts
by outrunning the opponent in the second half.
He may have to get some more offensive time, however, as we are rotating
Murray, Frissora, Leach, and Bob Wannop on defense, so they all have plenty of
legs and Leach is one of our better offensive midfielders.
Other bright spots were
Brian Phinney in his second game after hockey making an enormous contribution
with his on-ball skill at close D or Long Stick Middie, ground balls and
overall toughness and hustle. John West and
Caleb Holmes did a great job on two very good attackmen and cleared the ball
well also. Finally, Eric Krieger was
outstanding in the goal. He is a difference-maker in the cage this year,
consistently coming up with huge saves and getting the ball out to our middies
and long sticks to start our breaks.
We have a big weekend coming
up with Bowdoin at home Saturday and Amherst (site and time yet to be
determined, waiting on Amherst field conditions.)
Best,
Erin