Danes seek to keep momentum
Marr hopes weather doesn’t slow offense vs. winless Bearcats
University at Albany men’s lacrosse coach Scott Marr had more than one reason to be in a fine mood after Wednesday’s practice.
First of all, a season that’s provided mostly miserable weather on game days had yielded temperatures in the 50s and sunny conditions for the workout.
Although as Marr pointed out, the worst is yet to come when the Great Danes play at Binghamton at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“Too bad it’s going to be 30 (degrees) maybe Saturday, and windy,’’ he said. “The only day the wind is coming is Saturday.”
However, the long-term forecast for his own team is a lot brighter after an impressive 17-11 victory over Umass Lowell in the America East opener last Saturday. The victory snapped a three-game losing streak.
“You can see them coming together,” Marr said. “I thought we looked like any other Albany team that’s been on the field for the last how many years. And they felt that, too, so that’s a good thing.”
The Great Danes (2-4 overall, 1-0 league) will try to keep their momentum going against the Bearcats (0-6, 0-0).
Ualbany has won eight straight meetings with Binghamton and leads the all-time series 17-3.
“I think just share the ball,’’ Great Danes junior attack Mitch Laffin said. “The more we share the ball, the more we move our feet, I think we’re going to have a good day. That’s all it is.”
Laffin, who had seven goals against Umass Lowell, said he felt that game reflected the team’s potential. The Great Danes scored their most goals of the season.
“I think it was just another stepping stone in the
process,’’ he said. “It kind of us let us know what we can do and what we can accomplish when we move the ball and play as a team.”
The team’s success has hinged on a decision by Marr to cut down on using two-way midfielders. Instead, he’s making substitutions depending on whether a player’s strength is offense or defense.
“As practice and games kept going on, you start to see some guys are just more dominant at one end of the field than they are at the other,’’ Marr said. “You have to play to the strengths of your team and I think that’s what we’re trying to do.”
Binghamton is led by senior midfielder Joe Licata (12 goals).