Feb. 8, 2015
By Maria Canales, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Nittany Lion men's lacrosse team used four early goals as motivation in its season opener against Vermont. Capitalizing on Vermont's defense, the Lions got on the board out of the gate and never looked back.
Junior TJ Sanders attributed the momentum of the first half to the team's ability to communicate and work together. The team had been working to improve their on-field communication during the week leading up to the game.
"There were times we were moving the ball well, and that worked out well," Sanders said. "I think we moved the ball pretty well in transition."
Not only did the offense start strong, but the defense made an early impact as well. In his first game starting in net, redshirt sophomore Connor Darcey settled in as the quarters went by. With several shots in the first half dangerously close to the net, Darcey made sure his defensemen were in constant communication to prevent possible goals. With a sore throat, Darcey relied heavily on the veteran defense to help with communication in the backfield.
"Having them be able to command especially on days like today where I can't even talk was huge," Darcey said.
Head coach Jeff Tambroni emphasized that although the team started strong, it is important to keep the momentum consistent throughout all 60 minutes of play. Tambroni attributed the win to strong individual performances in all positions as well as slight improvements in overall teamwork.
"We did play as a team at times and did get away from it at times and Vermont took advantage of it," said Tambroni. "I thought there was a stretch in that game where we weren't playing really well offensively and I didn't think we were playing very well defensively and had Connor not stepped up and played the way he did, that game probably would've been a lot closer."
Coach Tambroni had defined the goals of the season opener as going in with a positive attitude and to just play the game the team grew up loving; no complications. Tambroni didn't want the team getting too distracted by going overboard on what was expected of them.
"We stressed simplicity today, play like a team offensively and defensively and try to play with the basics," said Tambroni. "I feel like we got away from it a little bit, we tried to do a little too much after building the first quarter lead and I thought the game got away from us a little bit."
Once the team got back to playing as a unit, the final pieces fell into place for them to pull away and win. Although a win is the ideal start to the season, no matter the final score there is always room for improvement.
"I think we need to be a little more aggressive in our attack," said Tambroni. I thought we were looking a little bit passive, a little bit timid at the attack with TJ [Sanders] and Michael [Sutton]. Those guys are going to have to be more aggressive in the future if we're going to have a sound starting three at the attack."
Small improvements to the Lions' game plan could mean the difference between wins and losses later in the season as their schedule increases in difficulty. For now, Tambroni and his team focus one game at a time.
"It was nice to get off with a win and just kind of move on," said Tambroni. "So hopefully we'll have a chance to reflect on what we did here and give our guys a chance to celebrate for a day and then start to make some changes and adjustments as we head into Loyola."