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Thursday, February 6, 2014
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IN THIS ISSUE Minutewomen raise the bar
After its best season in nearly 20 years, UMass women’s lacrosse seeks greater success in 2014 A2
Constructing his role Ryan Izzo looks to make UMass men’s lacrosse contenders as co-captain
A4
Back to form Kelsey McGovern returns from ACL surgery to help lead the Minutewomen
A5 PHOTO BY CADE BELISLE/COLLEGIAN
Minutemen start 2014 Oliveri looks to improve
as rare underdogs UM went 7-8 in 2013 campaign By Andrew Cyr
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Collegian Staff
t’s been a while since the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team has been an afterthought in the Colonial Athletic Conference and the NCAA. But coming off their first losing season since 2008, the Minutemen enter 2014 unranked in the NCAA national rankings, and predicted to finished fourth in the CAA preseason coaches poll. The departures of Kyle Smith and Will Manny, the team’s top two scorers from a season ago, don’t help the cause either. “This is the first time in a long time we’re going to be the underdog in almost every game we play,” said UMass coach Greg Cannella, who is returning for his 20th season in Amherst. “But sometimes the underdog role is a good place to be in.” In fact, the underdog role is something the Minutemen embrace. And with their sights set on bouncing back from a disappointing season, preseason polls are the least of their concerns. “We don’t really care where the media puts us,” face-off specialist and midfielder Joe Calvello said. “All that matters is what we do on the field.
Whether it’s in practice or in games, what’s going to matter is how we play this season.” Calvello is one of three Minutemen selected to the preseason all-conference team. Although the midfielder only accounted for three points all of last season, it was his impressive 58 percent success rate in faceoffs that has opened eyes around the conference. Also returning back for UMass are attackmen Grant Whiteway and Connor Mooney. Both players reached the 20-goal mark last season – Whiteway netted 26 goals and six assists, while Mooney scored 22 to go along with his seven assists. Mooney and redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Zach Oliveri joined Calvello on the CAA preseason allconference team. Oliveri recorded 157 saves last season, posting a .559 save percentage and allowing just 8.63 goals per game. “Joe’s awesome in the face-off game; Connor’s an excellent player – he can really play anywhere for us, attack, midfield – he’s done a good job defensively as well,” Cannella said. “It’s Zach’s third year now, and you hope that with all his time and effort he continues to be more consistent.” The Minutemen welcome in 15 freshmen this season. Grant Consoletti and Nick Mariano are two attackers that have caught the attention of both coach-
es and other players and are expected to play a big role in the offensive game. But with only five seniors and 26 underclassmen, the returning veterans know just how hard it is to make the jump to Division I lacrosse. “We are a really tight knit group,” Mooney said. “We do a lot of stuff as a team and the younger guys have done an excellent job of buying into what the older guys have been preaching to them. We want everyone on the team to feel like they have their own role in our success.” Returning back to the midfield are Ryan Izzo and Matt Whippen. After tearing his ACL earlier in his career, Izzo has emerged as one of the top short stick defensive midfielders in the CAA. “(The upperclassmen) have done an excellent job of making sure everyone else is involved, making sure everyone’s together,” Cannella said. “When someone falls out you have to have someone right there to bring them back in and these guys have done an excellent job of that.” At the beginning of each season the team sets goals about where they envision themselves in May. While the Minutemen always set the bar high for themselves, they are more interested in the work it’s going to take to get there. Andrew Cyr can be reached at arcyr@umass.edu.
from solid rookie season
Sophomore goalie expected to start By Peter CAPPiello Collegian Staff
It was an accidental epiphany. Zach Oliveri, redshirt sophomore for the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team, was looking through the DVR in his Ronkonkoma, N.Y., home in June, when he found last year’s game against Hofstra, a 9-8 win on April 20. The goalkeeper is academically a junior, but has two more seasons of eligibility after this year’s campaign due to redshirting his true freshman year. Still, he became introspective watching the old matchup, hyper-aware that his college lacrosse days are numbered. Oliveri, entering his second season as a starter, turned that sense of urgency into newfound maturity and composure. Both traits periodically gave way to inexperience and high emotion last year, leading to early exits in five games. “Once I realized the real world’s coming – you can’t let anything slip away,” Oliveri said. “You don’t want any regrets and you’ve got to learn how to be consistent.” The 5-foot-9, 200-pounder’s new modus operandi is that proper preparation will
bring success. He’s also weaned himself off longstanding rituals and superstitions in an effort to focus his mind before taking the field. UMass coach Greg Cannella thinks dropping superstitious tendencies is “healthy,” but said the key for Oliveri is confidence in his play and leadership abilities. Cannella said the “conversations” all his players have within their own heads have to be positive, but added that the stakes are amplified for goalies. “He realizes if he wants to make his own mark, he has to push his own limits,” Cannella said. “Two of the best proponents for that are (assistant coach Doc Schneider) and Reed Goodhue, who’s been pushing him every day.” Schneider (UMass Class of 2009), a former four-year starting goalie for Cannella, is charged with coaching the defense, including the goaltenders. As a college freshman, he coached Oliveri on the North Shore Rage, a travel team based out of Long Island, N.Y. Although the pair’s f amiliarity doesn’t change Schneider’s expectations or intensity in a mentoring role, he admitted it’s special to coach a player for so long. “To see the young
goalie, who used to wear Rec Specs under his helmet, to what he is now, it’s a pretty cool development,” he said with a smile. “When we’d have early morning games in the summer, they’d sometimes fog up from that change in temperature. That’s our joke together.” Schneider noticed a difference in Oliveri this year when he reported to fall and winter training sessions in game-ready physical shape. The goalie had improved the most in cardio – a strength Schneider said is valuable in net, despite popular belief. Oliveri has also sharpened up his poise. He works to not allow himself to “dig a hole” and compact problems when he surrenders goals. “This year, even our scrimmages – against St. John’s, he didn’t start off great, but then he came back and played really well,” Schneider said. “He knows that’s the player he has been the last three weeks.” Goodhue, a senior goalie, said Oliveri’s confidence spreads throughout the field when he performs well in net. The two are friendly competitors in practice, but Goodhue makes sure to pass down lessons he learned from former UMass All-American see
OLIVERI on page a3