While the Division I schools grab most of the attention in the area, head coach Paul Cantabene has been quietly building up Villa Julie. In his fourth season, Cantabene has the Mustangs at 12-4 and ranked No. 10 in Division III.

You kind of figured the Mustangs would have success. Cantabene has been as assistant at Hopkins, Maryland and Towson before taking the job at Villa Julie. Cantabene has a lot of energy and it will be interesting to see how long he stays at Villa Julie, because a number of larger schools will try to sign him.

Overcoaching to blame for slowdown?

A lot of fans talk about it, but apparently the head coaches aren't listening. The game of lacrosse has slowed down over the years, and we're seeing fewer fast breaks.

Why?

One of the reasons is the overcoaching. The days of the two-way midfielders are over. Instead of flying down field for fast breaks, the midfielders are running to the box to get replaced. We've got long-pole middies, defensive middies, offensive middies. Shoot, some of these guys are only getting on the field for 18 seconds and then they're off. There's no continuity.

The sad thing is that it's not just the college game -- it's in high school lacrosse and recreation leagues as well.

More on concussions

I saw that Steve Stenersen, president of US Lacrosse, wanted me to contact him about a column I did recently on concussions, and how the "lords of lacrosse" keep ignoring it. In Stenersen's letter in The Sun Sunday, he mentioned all the things that the governing body is doing and blah, blah, blah ...

All I know is that kids are dropping like flies, and the designs of the helmets haven't kept pace with the speed of the game, and the increased physical violence. And I'm not a doctor, or a scientist, or on some board or focus group collecting a check and doing nothing.

Anytime you criticize U.S. lacrosse, Stenersen has to reply. He reminds me of a former Baltimore mayor who went on to become the governor of Maryland.