US Lacrosse Magazine welcomes ESPN play-by-play announcer Anish Shroff as a contributor for the 2020 college season. Shroff’s columns will run every Tuesday on USLaxMagazine.com, including “Deleted Scenes” from ESPN broadcasts and weekly top-10 rankings.

ESPN College Lacrosse Schedule | TV/Live Stream Listings

Do a quick Google image search for “Man in a Beret.”

I’ll wait.

It’s one of Pablo Picasso’s earliest works, and it looks nothing like “a Picasso.”

Picasso evolved, experimented, tinkered and changed. First a Blue Period. Then a Rose Period. Then Cubism — the genre that still defines him today.

February lacrosse represents little more than a first rendering. It’s a rough draft. A pencil sketch. A lightly shaded outline. February is about finding an identity and having the perspective to see the big picture.

Last year, Loyola thrashed eventual national champion Virginia by EIGHT goals in the season opener.

“It felt overwhelming,” Cavaliers coach Lars Tiffany said. “We wondered what we were doing for the past five months.”

It didn’t get better. Nine days later, Virginia fell to High Point. Three consecutive overtime wins followed. It was far from dominance.

“We didn’t play well against a banged-up Lehigh team and could’ve been 0-6 to start the season,” Tiffany said.

But Virginia’s artwork evolved. Petey LaSalla emerged as an elite faceoff man, Cade Saustad morphed into a lockdown defender, Matt Moore blossomed into a superstar and goalie Alex Rode saved his best for last. So did Virginia. 

High Point, on the other hand, banked February wins against half the championship weekend field last year. Still, Panthers coach Jon Torpey knew his team wasn’t a finished product.

“For a team like ours to beat Duke and Virginia, it created a lot of distraction. A lot of people all of a sudden wanted to be a part of the program,” Torpey said. “We had to manage our guys. They see the highlights of their best plays. We broke down game film filled with flaws. We had to humble them a bit.”

High Point opened this season with an 11-goal loss to Maryland, a game that went sideways quickly in the second half. But Torpey is keeping the big picture in mind. February is about forging an identity. 

“We have to find our personality,” he said. “Are we an offense that wants to play fast or take it to the end of the shot clock? Who are our guys? Our lineup will look significantly different against Duke than it did against Maryland.”

More tinkering could be ahead for High Point after losing by nine to Duke. But the point remains — it’s still February. Zoom out. Just look at High Point’s first two opponents.

The sky fell on Duke after an opening week loss to Air Force coupled with a season-ending injury to Joe Robertson. But Duke has already found some answers. Freshman attackman Dyson Williams netted a hat trick to go along with two assists against High Point. Freshman long-stick midfielder Tyler Carpenter looks like an All-American in the wings.

The buzz surrounding Maryland’s 23-goal opening act was muted after a fortunate escape against SoCon favorite Richmond. The Terps trailed by five early in the fourth quarter before prevailing in double overtime. It’s still early.

This isn’t to say February results have zero juice. The selection committee has made it clear that a win in February counts as much as a win in April. But these games are as much about mettle as they are about metrics.

Speaking of metrics …

• In 2010, Duke started 3-3.

• In 2013, Duke got off to a 2-4 start. That included home losses by eight goals to Notre Dame and by nine goals to Maryland (plus a five-goal loss at Penn).

• In 2016, North Carolina was 3-3.

• In 2019, Virginia started 1-2.

Every one of those teams ended the season in a dog pile on Memorial Day.

DELETED SCENES

VIRGINIA BOOK CLUB: Lars Tiffany has rebuilt his program on the scaffold of culture. The team reads a book each season and spends every Thursday discussing a portion of it.

Two years ago, the team read “Gates of Fire,” the story of the 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae.

Last year, it was “Boys on the Boat,” the story of the University of Washington crew team that shocked the world at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

This year, it’s “I Hope You Will Be Very Happy,” written by none other than Tiffany’s predecessor Dom Starsia. The book weaves together a series of letters written to parents and players while offering lessons in lacrosse and life. Each week, a different player picks a chapter for Thursday’s discussion.

HAKUNA MATATA: At championship weekend last year, Penn State coach Jeff Tambroni told our crew that the only clips he showed his team after its NCAA quarterfinal win against Loyola were post-goal celebrations. The staff wanted to highlight team chemistry and togetherness. There were many clips to choose from. There will be many more this year.

LACROSSE: THE MOVIE: In an offseason text thread, Quint, Carc and I attempted to cast “Lacrosse: The Movie.” We started with coaches. Here’s what we have so far. Reader suggestions are encouraged.

• James Gandolfini as Dave Pietramala.

• Michael Rappaport as John Desko.

• “Scarface” Al Pacino as Jeff Tambroni.

• Jeff Bridges as Scott Marr.

• Ed Helms as John Tillman.

• Seann William Scott as Shawn Nadelen.

• Donald Sutherland as John Danowski.

Your move, Sheila Jaffe. 

ANISH’S TOP 10

(as of Monday, Feb. 10)

1. Penn State (2-0)

Tell “Alexa” or “Siri” to play some soothing classical music. Then watch Penn State run offense.

Grant Ament is the maestro for the State College Symphony and the best passing attackman in Division I. He became Penn State’s all-time leading scorer in Saturday’s win against Villanova.

Mac O’Keefe is the best finisher in the sport.

It’s lacrosse’s version of Stockton to Malone. But both are so much more than “passer” and “scorer.” Make Ament a scorer, and he’ll torch a defense. O’Keefe’s all-around talents are vastly underappreciated.

Half of O’Keefe’s goals have been assisted by Ament. Almost half of Ament’s assists this season have led to O’Keefe goals. These two are phenomenal players on their own. Together, they make each other better.

2. Virginia (1-0)

Virginia decided to redshirt the nation’s top incoming recruit, Connor Shellenberger. Most teams would show off a diamond this large, but Virginia already has all the infinity stones.

The season-opening win against Loyola reaffirmed Virginia’s knowns (Moore, Aitken, Laviano, Kraus) and introduced us to the Cavaliers’ envious depth. Canadian Payton Cormier delivered a hat trick and will draw plenty of Chris Cloutier comparisons for his shot making. Regan Quinn looked healthy after an injury shortened 2019 season. Freshmen Peter Garno and Michael Bienkowski flashed playmaking ability.

Goalie Alex Rode made a career-high 19 saves. He’s been a giant exclamation mark since championship weekend. When Cade Saustad returns, the defense only gets better.

3. Syracuse (1-0)

In assessing the Orange last year, one coach told me, “They have a roster full of honorable-mention All-Americans. There’s no 22.” Enter Chase Scanlan.

The Loyola transfer (and one-time Cuse commit) donned the most storied jersey in the sport’s history and didn’t feel an ounce of pressure. Scanlan wowed the Carrier Dome crowd with seven goals, the most in a debut by any player in Syracuse history.

Yes, it was against Colgate, but Scanlan proved himself last year as the highest-scoring midfielder in the country. The No. 22 jersey looked loose and baggy on Scanlan, but it was a perfect fit. The number didn’t carry extra weight.

Syracuse has its star and one of the best ensemble casts in Division I. The expectation is championship weekend.

4. Yale (0-0)

The late Ivy League start means Yale doesn’t open the season until the coming weekend. Yale faces a Villanova team that’s beaten the Elis in each of the last two seasons.

Brandau, Morrill and Gaudet make up one of the best attack units in the game. Can Yale replace its entire first midfield from last year? That unit provided both production and leadership.

Andy Shay has stockpiled considerable talent. We’ll get to see it unleashed on Saturday.

5. Maryland (2-0)

Maryland should’ve lost to Richmond. The Spiders squandered a five-goal fourth-quarter lead and then mismanaged some late-game situations. Still, it’s no reason to sell the Terps. Richmond is a quality opponent and the SoCon favorite.

Jared Bernhardt will deservedly draw the headlines for Maryland, but Logan Wisnauskas has already tallied nine goals and five assists through two games. He dominated on the scout team in his redshirt season at Syracuse and has improved every year at Maryland.

By Memorial Day, you’ll get tired of us saying how underrated Wisnauskas is.

6. Penn (0-0)

After coming within a whisker of championship weekend, Penn reloads for another run behind sophomore sledgehammer Sam Handley. Considerable talent and leadership depart from the senior class, including Simon Mathias, Tyler Dunn and goalie Reed Junkin.

Mike Murphy loves to load up his schedule with heavyweights. The gauntlet begins at Maryland this weekend. Duke and Penn State follow. Penn plays Princeton, Cornell and Yale — all before April. No team will be more battle-tested for the stretch run.

7. North Carolina (2-0)

UNC has missed the NCAA tournament in each of the last two years. The Tar Heels haven’t won an NCAA tournament game since winning the title in 2016. Boston U. import Chris Gray (49-62-111 in 2019) makes everyone better.

The Heels have scored on 33 of their 53 shots on goal so far. But that was against Colgate and Mercer. UNC gets Lafayette this weekend in its final tune-up before the season’s first big test — a Feb. 22 road tilt at Johns Hopkins.

8. Ohio State (2-0)

Twenty-eight of Ohio State’s 34 goals this season have been assisted. The Buckeyes assisted on just 50 percent of their goals last year.

Tre Leclaire has strung together 13 straight multi-goal games, and Jack Myers appears poised to make a huge leap in his sophomore season. Ryan Terefenko gives Ohio State the best shortie in D-I, and the Buckeyes continue to clear well (42-for-44). 

9. Notre Dame (0-0)

The Golden Domers open the season Saturday against Cleveland State. The real tests follow — Richmond, Maryland, Denver and Ohio State. The Irish lost to Richmond and Ohio State last season.

Reigning ACC Offensive Player of the Year Bryan Costabile anchors a potent offense with plenty of returning firepower.

Kevin Corrigan’s staff gets a new look. Longtime defensive coordinator Gerry Byrne traded in clover for crimson when he took the Harvard head coaching job. Former Harvard head coach Chris Wojcik trades in crimson for clover. He’ll take over as Notre Dame’s offensive coordinator. Ryan Wellner is the new defensive coordinator.

Pat Kavanagh, the younger brother of Irish legend Matt Kavanagh and a U.S. U19 team attackman, brings considerable anticipation. 

10. Denver (1-0)

The Pioneers missed the NCAA tournament last year for the first time in the Bill Tierney era. But Denver is poised to return to the big stage behind a promising freshmen class.

Denver dumped “Duke slayer” Air Force 13-7 this past weekend.

Freshmen from nontraditional areas had their fingerprints all over the win. JJ Sillstrop (California) canned five goals in his Pios debut. Alec Stathakis (Michigan) won 16 of 21 faceoffs. He dominated the dot at an 85-percent clip in high school. Long-stick midfielder AJ Mercurio (Nevada) also found the back of the net.

Denver welcomes Duke to Peter Barton Stadium on Saturday. The two winningest coaches in Division I history — John Danowski and Bill Tierney — were club lacrosse teammates growing up on Long Island. Danowski once served Tierney and his future wife while bartending at Yesterday’s News.