PHOTO COURTESY OF F&M ATHLETICS
Kevin Mollihan leads Franklin & Marshall with 22 goals through five games.
F&M’s special visit
When Franklin & Marshall travelled to New Rochelle, N.Y., last Saturday for a neutral-site game against Messiah, the focus naturally was on the task at hand.
And the Diplomats took care of business, winning 21-16 ahead of facing Amherst and Denison in this weekend’s annual Mustang Classic at Stevenson. But the trip, for a program from Lancaster, Pa., also afforded some valuable time away from the Xs and Os.
The Centennial Conference program visited the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in lower Manhattan. Coach Todd Cavallaro said it was a valuable experience, especially since most of the F&M players age 18 to 22 were toddlers on that tragic day.
“They've heard so many stories about that day and the aftermath of everything,” Cavallaro said. “To see it firsthand, it lets you have a better understanding and puts a lot in perspective. We talked about when life gets tough, you have to take a deep breath, look around and make the most of it. Be happy. Things could always be worse.”
F&M has recovered from a season-opening 11-8 loss to Lynchburg on Feb. 16. with four straight wins to crawl back up the national rankings.
“We wanted to dissect each quarter and play as well as we can for five minutes, reset, play as well as we can for another five minutes,” Cavallaro said. “If we do that three times each quarter, we'll be good.”
Leading that charge has been an attack trio of Luke Keating, Kevin Mollihan and Blake Target that’s combined for 71 points. Out of midfield, seniors George Briggs and Tucker McBride are both studs, while the defense is anchored by four-year starter Tommy O’Connor and Scott Hatch in goal.
Cavallaro said the Diplomats are a work in progress — most teams are this early in the season — but they’re starting to find their way.
“It’s OK for us to make one mistake, maybe two mistakes,” Cavallaro said. “Then you have to tighten your bootstraps and make sure you make those negatives into five or six positives from that point moving forward.”
PHOTO BY GEOFF BOLTE/CLARUS STUDIOS
All-American short-stick defensive midfielder Jimmy McAfee spearheads a deep and dangerous rope unit for Amherst, which has invested recruiting capital in the position.
Amherst’s true strength might be at SSDM
Much has been made about Amherst’s attack this year. It’s hard not to fawn over the experienced group led by Colin Minicus, Jon Coffey and Evan Wolf, the reigning NESCAC Player of the Year.
But the strength of the 3-0 Mammoths might be in midfield, namely at the short-stick spot. Just ask coach Jon Thompson, whose perspective on the position changed several years back while on the recruiting trail.
“All of a sudden I started looking at these multi-sport athletes in high school and everybody would say, all these high school coaches, that he's really good between the lines,” Thompson said. “I'd roll my eyes at them. Then we started getting some of them on campus who fit that profile and they started producing.”
“We actively tried to start recruiting more, quote on quote, between-the-lines guys,” Thompson added. “Man, they've panned out for us. Just in terms of projections from high school to college, those are the guys who really pan out.”
Amherst has an embarrassment of riches at SSDM this year, too.
It starts with junior Jimmy McAfee, an All-American in 2018. There’s also senior Andrew Ford, who’s returning from injury and was an All-American in 2017. In the freshman class, Amherst has Chase Yager, who Thompson said is going to be the “next one.”
“We have one in every class and in some cases two,” Thompson said of the SSDMs. “In terms of our recruiting capital, we spent quite a bit of time and resources on that position because we think it's the most important position on our team.”
Another era of focus has been the offensive midfielders.
Look no further than junior Matt Solberg, also an All-American. He had a ridiculous four goals and six assists in last weekend’s 22-9 NESCAC win over Bowdoin. There’s also sophomore Ethan Kazmierski, who has five goals on the year.
“Teams could go back and forth to see which one they want to pole,” Thompson said. “You have to focus on our attack, but all of a sudden these other two guys can make you pay if either don't slide to them, or you do slide and now all of a sudden some guys who are attackmen can finish.”
In other words, don’t just watch Amherst’s attack this year. Those middies are pretty darn good themselves.
PHOTO COURTESY OF RPI ATHLETICS
Attackman JT Kelly leads four RPI players in double-figure scoring with 13 goals and 12 assists through five games.
RPI a contender in Liberty League
RIT has won the Liberty League every year since joining the conference in 2012, when the Tigers came over from the Empire 8.
But don’t forget about RPI. At least early on, the Engineers are proving to be a legitimate threat to RIT’s reign. They’re off to a 5-0 to start under first-year coach Scott Hackett-Dalgliesh.
As put by Hackett-Dalgliesh, most recently an assistant at Division I Dartmouth, he wasn’t taking over a program in a tailspin. Longtime coach Jim Townsend left things in a good place this offseason.
“This program wasn't a hooptie,” he said. “It wasn't a beat-up old car going down the road. There’s a history of success here.”
But minor changes were also needed, Hackett-Dalgliesh said.
The new coaching staff has worked with the team on leadership, dividing the collective into four different squads with leaders underneath the captains. They’ve also worked with a program called Lacrosse Mindset and instilled simple systems that allow players to be creative on the field.
With his players, Hackett-Dalgliesh has drilled home focusing most on themselves and treating every opponent as if it’s a chief rival. So far, so good.
“We talk about stacking up plus-ones,” Hackett-Dalgliesh said. “We have to keep elevating our competitiveness, our level of play, our execution. There's no question about it. We can't be the same team in late April and hopefully into May that we are right now. Everyone is going to keep getting better, and we have to do the same.”
RPI is allowing just 7.6 goals per game and have four double-digit scorers.
“It's been really fun watching these guys come together, play together and feed off of each other,” Hackett-Dalgliesh said.