Navy working on reducing workload on Wickham
Navy has several holes to fill at various positions, but one worry the team won’t have to deal with is in the net, where junior R.J. Wickham has cemented his status after ranking fifth in Division I in save percentage (.593) and 11th in goals-against average (8.55) last season.
Still, Wickham was one of the more tested goalies in the country, facing 317 shots on net and turning away 188 of those in the regular season. Only eight other goalkeepers saw more shots on cage and only five made more saves.
Richie Meade said Wickham is aware of his responsibility as the final stop in the defensive scheme, but the Midshipmen coach conceded that the defense must do a better job of relieving some of the workload on Wickham.
“We have a good goaltender. There are games where he can be a great goaltender, but what we’ve got to do is not put him in a situation where he’s got to be great,” Meade said during a conference call involving Patriot League coaches Wednesday morning. “I think it’s a slippery slope to rely on your goalie to win games. I think we’ve got to be better on the defensive end of the field, we’ve got to go all the little things better, we’ve got to be better at playing our scheme, I think we’ve got to be smarter at who we have to support in dodging situations. All those types of things are going to go into what kind of shots we give up, how many we give up, and where we give them up from.”
Other notes:
*With nine seniors on the 56-player roster, Meade said the current squad may be the youngest he’s coached in recent memory. While experience may be an issue, Meade said the enthusiasm is a quality last year’s team lacked, especially when it comes to diving into scrums for loose balls. “We’ve got a very interesting dynamic,” Meade said. “We have a great group of seniors, obviously very good leaders. We kind of felt that last year through a lot of different circumstances – some of it was injuries, sometimes the injuries create other situations – we just didn’t have the intangibles last year that we’ve had in past years. As evidenced by the fact that we were out-groundballed in a lot of games. So that’s been a point of emphasis. Our work ethic has been a point of emphasis, focus, attention to detail. … Young guys come into the situation, and they’ve got a lot on their plate, but they also have great enthusiasm and great excitement, and I think if you combine that dynamic with some ability and very good leadership, we feel like we’re pointed in the right direction.”
*Meade said he did not begrudge the league’s voters putting Army at No. 1 in the preseason poll and Navy at No. 2. Meade said the Midshipmen have to earn the right to upend the Black Knights for top billing. “Being in the role where you’ve got to go after somebody, that’s part of athletics,” he said. “You always hope that you’re going to be on top. We’ve been on top, but it’s always been very close. And now without question, West Point – at least over the last year or so – has really gained the momentum, and now we’ve got to go get them. That’s where we are.”
