Navy Lacrosse (NAVYLAX)

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01/30/2010

First Scrimmage of 2010 - Navy Fetches a Victory over the Retrievers !!

It was white, it was orange, it was supposed to be green, and it was blue ... and gold.

To open the season, Navy was supposed to have a nice tune-up scrimmage against UMBC, who has looked very good the past couple of years - finishing in the top 10-15.

Last week was balmy.

If we were lucky, it could have been in the 60s.

Okay, Coach Meade may be Irish, but that kind of luck was not happening.

Well, we knew the weather was coming, so we moved the scrimmage up from 11 am to 10.

That only meant that we didn't play in 10 inches of snow. But, it was still brutally cold.

Fortunately for the Blue and Gold, the offense was HOT !! We scored 10, they had about 3.

The orange ball did it.

I remember our early season practices at good old South River High School, Mr. Carroll used to roll out the orange balls for the first month of practice (and we used to shovel the parking lot for practice). It was great. We used to wear the leathers on our sticks right through before the season even started.

I suppose now the kids don't even know where you would put leather on a stick. =:0

Back to reality, Navy 2010 showed up today.

Basil Daratsos '10 had two goals, including a wicked low-to-high that would have made Joe Bossi '04 proud.

Basil ran midfield with Brian Striffler '11 and Kevin Doyle '11 (who also scored a goal).

The other midfield line featured Patrick Moran '10, Joe Lennon '10 and Nikk Davis '12. (both Nikk and Joe Lennon '10 scored a goal apiece).

Robby Battle '10, Frankie Coppola '10, Logan West '12 and Will Fields '13 all took face-offs, with Zack Schroeder '10, Jaren Woeppel '10 and a platoon of short-stick midfielders on the wings.

Jordan Seivold '13 was one of the middies who had a chance to play today (yes, that is the son of Joey Seivold from Carolina's glory years). Jordan is real player. He played his HS lacrosse in Minnesota, but his Dad really taught him well. Look for good things from this young man.

This face-off group will really help Navy control a lot of draws this year. Coach Mark Goers returned to the sidelines this spring and his influence, plus the fact that Chris "Iceman" Pieczonka '05 is back in town on active duty has improved Navy's preparation for this season.

Today at the X, Navy won more than we lost. Somewhere between 60-70% would be fair. The ground balls in the middle of the field were very good.

On defense, Mike Hirsch '11, Matt Vernam '12 and Ian Crumley '12 were the starters. Jake Brosnan '10 also played a lot of minutes. Tommy Mansfield '11 did not play today, but will be playing in March.

Coach Meade also unleashed some rather tall defensemen. It might have been Jay Darling '12, Kevin Farley '13 or Peter Rogers '13. These guys are over 6'3" - and they can move.

RJ Wickham '12 played the first half in goal today, while Mike Haas '11 played the second half. RJ had a half dozen saves, including a point blank that should have been a goal. I think Mike stopped almost every shot he faced. UMBC might have scored one goal in the last 3 quarters (they played 5).

Alex Samaniego '11 is also looking good, and will still compete for playing time. Ward Odenwald '10 and Nolan Hickey '13 are also very good goaltenders.

The defense was pretty "shut down" today. For the most part, UMBC was not getting anything in transition and Navy forced them to play 6-on-6. That definitely worked in our favor.

On offense, it was a different story.

We definitely forced the action and played a lot of transition.

Andy Warner '11, Brendan Connors '10 and Ryan O'Leary '12 started on attack, with Kyle Kapron '10 (remember our Arizona connection) playing quite a bit.

Picking up where they started last season on Extra Man Offense, Navy scored a number of time, with Evan Sullivan '10 scoring twice.

Brendan Connors '10 also scored twice (a good day for Irish kids - they outscored UMBC all by themselves). =:-)

Tim Paul '10 did not play, but he was not expected to play. Tim finished last season with some injuries and he wants to make sure that he is 100% before he fully engages. These early season scrimmages help see what people can do in live situations, and we already know what Tim Paul '10 can do.

Some of the other people that we were looking for today:
Jay Mann '13 (another Dulaney HS alum - like Nikk Davis '12) played and handled the ball well.

Taylor Reynolds '12 (Babylon, NY) played well and scored a goal.

Bucky Smith '13 played and had a ground ball.

Not sure if Brye French '13 (Linebacker type from Alabama - this kid can play) or Bryce Dabbs '13 played (Good Counsel HS - same school as Bruce Nechanicky '09 and Shane Durkin '09)

Not sure about Joe Johnson '13 (son of Joe '83) or Darren Pastrana '12 (St Mary's HS). We'll keep a closer watch next week.

Great start to a great season - next up, UVA next Saturday in Charlottesville.

Go Navy !!

Buddy Garland '84