REVIEW

The good: The objective for the Green Terror was finishing in the top four in the Centennial Conference and earn a spot in the conference tournament. Mission accomplished – even if the team failed to advance to the tournament final for the second year in a row. "I think that minimalistically, yes, it was a successful year because we did make it to the conference tournament," coach Matt Hatton said. "… We started off slow, but we got it rolling a little bit. We didn’t finish the way we would have liked to have finished, especially with losing our last three games. But whenever you can get to the conference tournament, that’s somewhat of a success." … Thirty-eight of the team’s 44 players return, and that bodes well for a very young team that took its lumps against the likes of Gettysburg, Haverford and Dickinson. "The good thing is, it’s good experience for the young guys, and we were as young as we’ve been since I’ve been here," Hatton said. "We started several freshmen, and we played a lot of sophomores for the first time. … It was battle-testing for the future." … An attack that featured the 1-2 punch of senior Gibbs Preston (23 goals and 26 assists) and sophomore D.J. Rickels (42, 10) paced the offense, but an underrated midfield supported the attack. The trio of junior Nicholas DiBernardo (17, 6), freshman William Clary (13, 3) and junior Jed Barnes (8, 8) could be tasked with doing more next season. "I think some of our offensive responsibilities are going to have to fall to our midfielders," Hatton said. "This past season, our midfield was very young, and everyone that we played at midfield is back. They’re hopefully a year wiser and a little bit stronger and a little bit more in-tune with what’s going on in the Centennial Conference and college lacrosse. Last year, they took a little bit of secondary role to our attack, and maybe this year, we can get some more output out of them."

The bad: The team struggled to find consistency in the cage, where sophomores Brad Motley (9.72 goals-against average and .500 save percentage) and Ty Wittelsberger (8.08 goals-against average and .529 save percentage) each made seven starts. Hatton was quick to note that new faces on defense contributed to the goalkeepers’ issues, but neither Motley nor Wittelsberger separated himself from the other. "I thought both of them played well at times, and I thought both of them didn’t play as well as times," Hatton said. "There’s going to be an open battle at that position, and it’s going to be between those two, and we also have two excellent goalies [Massachusetts native and Rivers School graduate Christian Dallmus and Catonsville graduate Nick Gallina, who suffered a broken collarbone and did not play this spring] coming in. So like every position in the fall, it’ll be an open battle, and the guy that we think gives us the best opportunity to win is going to be the guy standing at the end. Ideally, we’d like to be in the position where we’re just playing one guy." … The graduation of Preston will likely shift much of opponents’ attention to Rickels, an honorable mention All American. Can Rickels, a terrific finisher, get his teammates more involved? Hatton seems to think so. "D.J. Rickels, his role is going to have to expand a little bit," Hatton said. "He’s going to have to undertake the burden that Gibbs had taken for the last four years and then we’re going to have to find some people to complement his game." … As mentioned above, the defense featured some fresh faces. Senior Brad O’Brien, sophomore Nick Sicuranza and freshman Greg Mayer, who began the season on the field, were first-year starters. Sicuranza (19 groundballs and 15 caused turnovers) was eventually joined by junior Chris McLaughlin (18 groundballs and 10 caused turnovers) and freshman Greg Mayer on close defense, but the unit is still evolving. "Defensively, we had some different guys playing," Hatton said. "Defensively, we were very young, and I would say there’s certainly room for improvement there. But the guys also did a pretty good job at times."

PREVIEW

Personnel changes: Finding another option on attack to alleviate some of the pressure off of Rickels is a huge priority. Junior T.J. Willoughby (15, 8) switched from midfield to attack, but his versatility to play both offense and defense has Hatton thinking about switching Willoughby back to his natural position. Junior attackman Deane Mellor played in just three games because of injuries, sophomore J.S. Duke registered seven goals and four assists, and freshman Zach Woods has shown promise, according to Hatton. … Another pressing matter is the graduation of short-stick defensive midfielders Kyle Hadden (43 groundballs and 12 caused turnovers) and Anthony Falgares (20 groundballs and 10 caused turnovers). Hatton is high on freshman Mike Marks, but finding some more options might require some tinkering. "We might have to look at some guys who have a long-stick now and put a short stick in their hands and see if they can help us at that position, especially guys who aren’t getting that much run that they would like at close or long-stick middie," Hatton said.

Forecast for 2011: Clearing. Opposing defenses will make every effort to blanket Rickel and force his teammates to beat them, and the goalie situation needs to be resolved if the Green Terror harbors any hope of returning to the Centennial Conference Tournament and getting closer to a bid to the NCAA Tournament. But the midfield is young and could be much improved, and the defense could bail out the goalkeeper.