JULIA TIERNAN/YH After a tie with No. 9 Hofstra, the men's lacrosse team feels confident that they'll be a force to be reckoned with this year.

Despite inexperience, lacrosse looks to attack

With the season fast approaching, the men's lacrosse team is full of high hopes but lacking in experience. With a roster composed mostly of underclassmen, the Elis will depend on the few seniors that remain to guide this young but talented team. The younger players expect to gain the needed experience quickly and stampede to an NCAA berth in May. After a few preseason scrimmages, the team now knows where it stands and where it needs to improve when the season commences on Sat., Mar. 4 against Drexel.

Coach Mike Waldvogel pointed to three individuals whose leadership will be crucial: Chris McIntyre, SY '00, who led the team in scoring last year; Ryan Morris, BK '00, the sole senior at midfield; and captain Don Gerne, BR '00, a four-year starter who leads the Bulldog defense. Surrounded by players with less experience, the seniors play more than just an athletic role. "Don has really taught me a lot," Will McClelland, DC '02, who will be joining Gerne on defense this year, explained. "He's like a coach to us."

Because they make up the bulk of the team, the sophomores and freshmen will have to play better than they ever have. McClelland explained that the team will have success if the younger players step it up. "We have to play with experience beyond our years," he said. Talented young players such as Brian Hunt, TD '02, who was second on the team in scoring last year, will have to crank it up another notch.

It appears as if the team's offense, which possesses both skill and depth, will be its strength this season. Besides McIntyre and Hunt, Mike Morris, TD '01, returns to the attack, where he made a solid contribution with five goals and 10 assists last year. They are joined by talented newcomers such as Ryan Floyd, BK '03, who is expected to make an immediate impact. Yale's midfield consists mostly of sophomores plus junior Nicholas Milone, SY '01, who has proven to be an offensive threat. The all-sophomore line of Tucker Foote, TC '02, Marko Lujic, TC '02, and Blake Beachler, BK '02, combined for 16 goals as freshmen last season and represent the potential of the team's youth.

The defense, led by the All-American Gerne, will have to replace two graduated seniors. In particular, the loss of goalie Joe Pilch, SM '99, who captured Ivy League Player of the Year honors last year, has left some questions in the defense. It will be up to Adam Oppenheimer, SM '02, and Eric Wenzel, JE '03, to fill the void left by Pilch's graduation. Waldvogel played down the loss of Pilch, however. "We have one lefty and one righty, which gives us different looks," he commented.

The team has had a chance to test out its novice legs in a series of exhibition scrimmages. While the results have been encouraging, other areas have shown the need for improvement. "It's been a mixed bag," Waldvogel explained. "There have been some good things—I like our intensity and our spirit—and there were some things that we have to work on." Against No. 9 Hofstra, the team managed a 16-16 tie. While the offense was clearly effective with its goal production, the defense could have been stronger. Despite this, McClelland believes that the results proved that the Elis can compete with the best. "Now we just have to play it throughout the season," he said.

Waldvogel believes that his players need to develop their on-field dynamic to continue their prodigious offensive output. "We have to get chemistry," he said. "The key to success is playing like a team, because we are going to have problems if we go one-on-one with the big guys." In particular, Waldvogel is concerned about the perennial powerhouses Princeton and Syracuse.

With the regular season only a week away, the chemistry will have to develop quickly. The competition within the league is as tough as ever, and with a new system that guarantees an NCAA tournament berth for the league champion, each team will be gunning for the No. 1 spot. Despite the Bulldogs' low preseason ranking, everyone feels that this goal is within the team's grasp. "We're an underrated team. We are going to surprise a lot of people," McClelland predicted. After several solid preseason performances, this may just be the case. However, with teams such as Princeton and Syracuse on the Bulldogs' schedule, it will certainly take both youthful talent and senior leadership.

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