AMHERST — It wasn’t a surprise that most of the UMass starting defense received first- or second-team men’s lacrosse honors from the Colonial Athletic Association on Wednesday.
The Minutemen rank second in the nation in scoring defense, allowing a paltry 8.43 goals per game and have not allowed more than 11 in regulation in a game this year. They lead the CAA in caused turnovers at 9.4 per game while boasting a league-best .619 save percentage. It is a unit filled with experienced players that has come together to help fuel nine wins in the last 10 games and the right to host the CAA Tournament at Garber Field.
The top-seeded Minutemen (10-4) will face No. 4 Drexel (6-7) in the semifinals, Thursday at 5 p.m., followed by second-seeded Towson (9-4) facing No. 3 Delaware (10-4).
Perhaps none have played better than senior goalie Sean Sconone, the CAA Defensive Player of the Year. The East Islip, New York, native leads the country with a .630 save percentage and ranks seventh with 13.5 saves per game. Over the last three games, he’s been even more on point and backstopped UMass’ wins over Towson and Delaware sandwiched around a 21-save performance against Fairfield.
Greg Cannella – the CAA Coach of the Year – said he is watching a more confident goalie on the field this season and that has made Sconone feel more at ease in bigger situations.
“Mostly confidence and his willingness to lead, to fire people up in front of him and to hang in there and be really coachable,” Cannella said. “Doc Schneider works with him on a daily basis and once the goalies that work with Doc understand he’s a demanding person and wants great intensity every day, once they understand that, they can learn a lot. Sean has learned a lot over his four years and he’s had his ups and downs, and now, he’s finally (thinking) ‘I’m just going to go for it’ kind of (mentality). It’s his confidence and the fact he feels comfortable.”
Sconone doesn’t want any of the credit, though, saying his job is easier because he has veteran defensemen in front of him that take the pressure off.
“It’s all about those guys, it’s not about me,” Sconone said. “Those guys do a great job about defense and I try to have their back as much as possible because I know if I mess up, I know they have my back in the long run.”
Experience is where the UMass defense has an upper hand on opponents this season, especially with the talent the Minutemen have on the back end. Senior Isaac Paparo – one of UMass’ three first-team all-conference selections along with Sconone and midfielder Jeff Trainor – is one of the undisputed leaders on that end of the field along with the veteran core of midfielders that play both ways. As a result, there isn’t need for much communication from Sconone to set up the defense and the focus is more on making sure everyone is on the same page about their assignments.
Paparo said the defensive communication structure is a credit to the trust that has been built between the midfielders, defenseman and the goalie over dozens of games and hundreds of practices together. He said he believes that’s a main reason why the defense has had so much success this season.
“You can feel (Sconone’s) presence in net, especially when you’re playing around him,” Paparo said. “We have a good dynamic with those older guys where he doesn’t have to tell us what defense we’re in. He can lean on a guy like Jackson Suboch or myself, where he can just make the saves and we can run the defense in front of him.”
Cannella gave a lot of credit for the success to assistant Craig McDonald, who is in charge of the defense for the Minutemen. He said McDonald has done a great job of keeping everything simple for the players and allowing them to play with more intensity on the field because they’re thinking less. Part of that are the details that Paparo said McDonald stresses on a daily basis, especially with such a veteran group.
Paparo said those little reminders can get lost in the overall defensive strategy, but the Minutemen wouldn’t nearly be as successful without executing on those smaller points of emphasis.
“Coach McDonald does a great job just hounding us about the little things – the discipline and communicating,” Paparo said. “That stuff can get overlooked sometimes in terms of schematics, but that’s ultimately what defense comes down to and trusting one another and just playing well with one another.”
ALL-CAA HONORS – In addition to the three first-team honorees, UMass placed four players on the second team and three on the all-rookie team. Sophomore attack Chris Connolly, sophomore defender Sam Eisenstadt, senior faceoff specialist Tom Meyers and sophomore midfielder Kevin Tobin were named to the second team. Freshmen Kevin Cutinella, Matthew Hill and Gabriel Procyk were part of the all-rookie squad.