Men's Lacrosse Preview: Expectations high for Greyhound's 2010 season

Just two weeks removed from the biggest snowfall in Maryland history, Loyola sports fans turn their attention to the lacrosse field, as the program turns over a new leaf in its history. The commencing of the 2010 will carry extra weight for the team, as it marks the opening of the brand new Ridley Athletic Complex. The field will serve as the home to the Loyola lacrosse program, as the team will practice there and provide the coaching staff with offices inside of the facility.

The 2010 version of the team hopes to build upon the success and accolades of the 2009 team, with the goal of an NCAA championship in place. The team looks poised to make a run deep into the tournament, and is the preseason favorite to win the ECAC conference. Loaded with depth on both sides of the field, look for the Hounds to be one of the fastest and most athletic teams in the country.

The schedule will provide the team with first-rate competition that will only benefit the squad as they look to be the last team standing in late May. Match-ups with Duke, Notre Dame, Georgetown, and Johns Hopkins highlight the team's out of conference schedule. The in-conference schedule will also provide challenges in its own way, as many of the teams that Loyola will face are new foes for the team.

Exposure certainly will not be an issue for this year's team, as they are slated to play in five nationally televised games (Air Force, Towson, Ohio State, Georgetown, and Hopkins). The team's early season match-up with the Fighting Irish will take place at M&T Bank Field, home of Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens. On May 2, the team will travel west to Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium, to play new conference rival Denver, led by former Princeton coach Bill Tiereny.

Position-by-position, the Hounds have the talent to compete with and beat anyone in the country. They will be looking for contributions from many returning players, as well as several freshmen that will be asked to step into major roles on the team.

Earlier this week, I had an opportunity to speak down with coach Charlie Toomey, who was optimistic and excited about the opening of the 2010 season.

How does the team deal with the high expectations that are set for the, (Inside Lacrosse and preseason polls have Loyola as the team to beat in conference)? What expectations has the team set for itself this season?

Well, earlier this season we had a company come in called The Program, which is a Marine Corps Special Forces group. They put the team through vigorous exercises and challenges, but they also had an agenda to help the team form goals and find out what their goals were. To a man, every player has the goal of not just getting to the tourney, but to compete for and win a national title. Yes, we want to win our conference, but at the end of the day it's about May and more specifically, late May, and we have enough talent to support that kind of talking. The challenge is that you have to break down the season game-to-game, and there are only 13 games, so each is a stepping-stone.

The team has 5 nationally televised games this season. Does this add anything extra for the team?

One thing that our guys recognize is that were on TV not because of who we are but because of what we have accomplished, specifically last season. We realize that we have earned the television game and the preseason rankings because of what we accomplished last season.

What did you take away from the fall season? Who/what units stood out?

Matt Langan played exceptionally well in the fall, and the guys at attack that I talked about stepped up their games. Another question of concern is, how do you replace PT Ricci? The answer is you don't replace him with one guy, but rather a few guys who can replace his stats at the very least.

What will this years captains bring to the team both on and off the field? Why do you think they were selected for the captainship?

One thing that we have changed this year is that we've asked a few other people to be involved in the selection of our captains, notably Joe Boylan (athletic director) and Fr. Brown. They worked closely with our players and found why guys wanted to be captain, and from that we selected a great combination of players. You have the fire and passion of Steve Layne, who speaks his mind in the huddle, holding guys accountable. Then you have the cool, level headed attitudes of Colin, Nick, and Taylor, who are character guys on and off the field who buckle up their chin strap and are big time players that the rest of our guys look up to.

Obviously last year's team had one of the toughest schedules in the nation, what challenges do this year's schedule present the team?

It starts with Navy. What we have tried to do is create more local rivalries, and the Naval Academy and Loyola presents a great rivalry game that we hope to build upon. Both schools are not more than 30 miles away, and the match-up poses a heck of a challenge. We finish the season with Johns Hopkins, and that is a game that the student body has rallied around, sandwich that in with Notre Dame, Georgetown, Duke, and Towson, and that is a great schedule. Our conference schedule pits us up against new teams and that poses a challenge in its own way, because we don't know what to expect from those teams. We also have to deal with an extended travel schedule, which can be a grind when considering that the players have to handle their academics and all of the little things that a college student deals with, and then get ready to travel and play on Saturdays.

POSITION BY POSITION

ATTACK

The Loyola offense started and ended with Shane Koppens in 2009, who was the team's uncontested offensive leader and playmaker. Without Koppens the team will look to several players to fill his very big shoes. Cooper MacDonnell, who started along side Koppens in 2009, will face each opponent's number one defender, a challenge that MacDonnell is ready for. MacDonnell is the preseason ECAC player of the year, and figures to be one of the premier goal scorers in the country. Cooper led the team with 30 goals in 2009, and figures to lead the team again in 2010. It will be key for Colin Finnerty and Matt Langan to help MacDonnell by winning their own match-ups. Look for D.J. Comer to contribute at the attack position, as well as senior captain Nick Federici, who is a contributor down low. Freshman Pat Fanshaw will be a major contributor, and he will be used on the extra-man unit. Fanshaw comes into Loyola as a heralded recruit, with Inside Lacrosse ranking him among the top 50 players in his class. It is clear that this unit will be key this season, as many observers will be curious to see how it plays without the reliable Koppens.