It's back, baby. After an abrupt ending to the 2020 season with COVID-19, B1G MLAX (and women's lax) 2021 season is about to get underway. When last year's season got canceled, all spring sports players were granted an extra year of eligibility. We had several players opt-out of that extra year: Kevin Hill (M), Tommy Wright (D), TJ Connellan (D), and - most notably - Grant Ament (A). I really don't know much about the B1G rosters' churn (or other conferences, for that matter) because we never entered B1G play and didn't know too much about their rosters. The only headlines I saw were Conor Kirst transferring to RU (big get for them) and this horseshit from Dox Atkins, who transferred from UVA to Nova to play football in the fall, then transfers back to UVA for the spring to play lacrosse.
How the season will work with COVID is the conference is just inner-league play, no non-conference, and we play each team twice. They have released the first five games and will release the second half at an undisclosed time.
We wrapped up 2020 with a 5-2 record, losing by a combined three goals to #3 Yale and #6 Cornell. Our high-powered 2019 offense seemed not to miss a beat averaging 17 goals per game, where really struggled was with TOs and clears. We clean up that and improve our wing play on FOs, and we likely win both the Yale and Cornell game - at least the Cornell game.
So whose back? We still have Colby Kneese (G), who really started to improve his save percentage throughout the season - sans the Cornell game where each keeper posted ~30% save percentages. Staying with the defense, we have Brett Funk and Nick Cardile (Avon Grove) returning; both are solid defenders who can handle the 1 and 2 attackmen for most teams. Jack Posey rounds out an experienced defense looking to be physical and attack the ball. Sam Sweeny will be our go-to at LSM.
Gerard Arceri (FO) really had an off 2020 campaign. Granted, he went up against the Yale and Penn FOGOs, both dominant, but he struggled mightily against a Cornell unit that wasn't great. I hope his case of the yips is over, and he can get off on the right foot against another mediocre RU unit that only won a third of draws last year. This year, there are new FO rules: no moto grip (both hands overhand, as if one were to be riding a motorcycle) and no more knee-down stances. (There are also new COVID rules based on the FO, i.e., Refs will be far away from the dot - this likely will cause some issues with choking up on the plastic and leaning). I frankly don't know how to judge how much this will help or hurt Arceri; we have a solid kid as a backup - Jake Glaz - who is known to come in cold and win some draws.
Offensively, we got a lot. With Ament leaving, there are many different ways the offense can plug and play, so to speak. We can start with the definites; Okeefe and Dylan Flouds will likely be Attack's starters. Jack Kelly will be our crazy Canadian at Middie, and after that, we really don't know who will be where. TJ Malone (Haverford) played Attack in high school but has played most of his career at PSU as Middie. Does he move down or stay at Middie? Same story with Jack Traynor (Malvern Prep), Seamus Glenn (Malvern Prep), Joe White, and Jackson Reynelds. Will Coach Haus' younger brother, Grant, stay at Defensive Middie or move to offensive middie? These are not bad problems to have; it's just more interesting to try and figure out how these pieces will come together. We likely have Attack be Okeefe, Flouds, and Traynor, with the first-line middie being Malone, Cole Willard, and Kelly. I heard we have a good dodger in Luke Mercer and a lot of depth at Attack with Reynolds, Caynon Birch, and Jeb Brenfleck (ANC).
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