The following article originally appeared in the March print edition of US Lacrosse Magazine. Join US Lacrosse today, help support the sport, and have the magazine delivered right to your mailbox.

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Few coaches were better prepared for the start of college lacrosse’s shot clock (and clearing clock) era than Ohio State’s Nick Myers.

After all, the Buckeyes have a pair of short-stick defensive midfielders in Logan Maccani and Ryan Terefenko who can segue smoothly from defense to offense and a simple-but-effective strategy to amplify their strengths with the new rules package.

“The quick clear,” Myers said. “Throw it to your guy who’s really fast.”

Maccani and Terefenko could be in for big seasons, but it’s a phenomenon unlikely to be contained merely in Columbus. The question isn’t whether the two-way midfielders who were already dangerous will be significant. They will be. Instead, it’s worth wondering if more of them will crop up as major factors this season.

On that point, there’s less certainty.

“I do agree that the meter is going to move on the level of their value,” Virginia coach Lars Tiffany said. “I’m not going to go out and make a statement that there’s going to be a dramatic shift in the importance of developing two-way midfielders. The professional league has a 60-second shot clock and has little two-way midfielder utilization, while we have another 20 seconds. There’s ample time to sub and still have 45-60 seconds to commence 6v6 half-field sets.”

The rules changes also include shortening the size of the substitution box, which should lead to more two-way shifts this spring. Because it will be more difficult to get three offensive players off the field, there will be a premium on guys who can ably handle themselves at both ends.

“What I think people are going to try is to take advantage of matchups and trap some people on the field,” Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said. “I think you’re going to see more of that. I don’t think it’s going to become a transition game just because you have to clear in 20 or shoot in 80. But there’s always been value in two-way middies in my book.”

By no means is this an exhaustive list — new two-way options are bound to emerge as the year unfolds — but the following five midfielders have a chance to make a serious impact on both offense and defense in 2019.

RYAN CONRAD
VIRGINIA

Tiffany finally discovered in the fall something lacrosse-related Ryan Conrad wasn’t good at: Staying on the sideline.

At the time, he likened it to a dog being stuck on a leash. By the time the preseason arrived? “He’s a dog that’s escaped, and we need to put him back on the leash,” Tiffany said.

Conrad played in only five games last season before suffering multiple torn knee ligaments, but he still had four goals, three assists and 23 ground balls. The year before, his first in Tiffany’s fast-paced system, he collected 17 goals, 11 assists and 63 ground balls.

Fully rehabbed, Conrad is a good bet to be the most impactful two-way midfielder at the offensive end this season.

“He holds himself to the highest of standards,” Tiffany said. “He holds his teammates to the highest standard. He’s getting some rust off. He’s not content with where his play is at, and I’m not sure he’s ever content.”

DANNY LOGAN
DENVER

As the last two seasons unfolded, Denver felt it had a choice to make: Continue deploying Danny Logan on offense, or use him to fortify the Pioneers’ defense.

Coach Bill Tierney doesn’t see that as a one-or-the-other option in 2019.

“The guy that gets forgotten about is Danny Logan,” Tierney said. “He spent half the season on the first midfield, but we felt we needed him on defense. With the new rules, he’s going to be on the field all the time.”

He’s already done a bit of everything in the first half of his career. The junior owns 10 goals and six assists in 34 career games, as well as 71 ground balls and 11 caused turnovers. Rather intriguingly, he also took nine faceoffs as a freshman.

It’s an all-around game Tierney compared favorably to one of the college game’s most complete players in recent years.

“He’s the closest thing as there is to the kid [Zach] Currier,” said Tierney, referencing the former Princeton star. “Nobody knows who Danny Logan is.”

They very well may before the spring is done.

ZACH GOODRICH
TOWSON

It’s difficult to envision Zach Goodrich becoming an even more important piece of Towson’s puzzle.

He is, after all, a three-time captain whose lockdown presence at short stick was a vital element of the Tigers’ upset of Denver in the 2016 NCAA tournament and their run to the semifinals the following year. He’s a mainstay on faceoff wings, and was an occasional threat on offense in his first three seasons, managing 13 goals on 57 shots in 51 career games.

Maybe the altered rules, along with some good health after injuries limited him last spring, could lead to a greater offensive impact?

“Zach being, in all sense of the word, a throwback middie where he can play great defense and he can be serviceable on the offense, those traits fit very well into a shorter possession time and the ability to create transition,” Towson coach Shawn Nadelen said. “We’re just excited to have him back on the field.”

DREW SCHANTZ
NOTRE DAME

Tweaked rules or no tweaked rules, Drew Schantz was always going to be a vital part of Notre Dame defense and clearing game this season.

A three-year mainstay for the Fighting Irish, Schantz has 10 goals and nine assists in his career. Perhaps just as impressive is the modest turnover total (16 in 43 career games) for a guy Notre Dame has leaned on heavily during his time in South Bend.

“He’s just a guy you trust with the ball in terms of what he can do,” Notre Dame coach Kevin Corrigan said. “He doesn’t get us in trouble. What he does is help us turn stops into possessions.”

Schantz is already one of the most heralded active short-stick defensive midfielders in the college game. He was a third-team All-American as a sophomore, and earned an All-ACC nod last season. His well-established reliability sets him up for a stellar final season with the Irish.

“He’s done a great job over the course of his career of becoming more reliable at both ends,” Corrigan said. “Coaches and teammates have great faith in the plays he can make.”

RYAN TEREFENKO
OHIO STATE

It won’t take long to find Ryan Terefenko on the field during an Ohio State game.

He’s one of the Buckeyes’ defensive anchors. He’ll pop up on the first midfield. Coach Nick Myers added him to the extra-man unit this year.

As a concession to the reality he doesn’t have a bionic man on his roster, Myers did take man-down duties off Terefenko’s plate this year.

“If we had it our way, he’d never come off the field,” Myers said.

There’s no faulting Myers for that sentiment. Terefenko emerged as a force as a freshman, helping set up the Buckeyes for a deep postseason push before an injury cost him the Buckeyes’ last three games. Over two seasons, he’s piled up nine goals, 11 assists and 73 ground balls, and last year earned a third-team All-American nod.

The new rules package could mean Terefenko is on the doorstep of even bigger things.

“We’re using him as much as we can,” Myers said. “He’s a captain as a junior, and his compete level is through the roof. I love that about him. That really does bring out the best in some other guys.” USL