Navy's Warner not worried about generating goals
One of the big question marks surrounding Navy this spring will be finding the right mix of players on the offense end who can consistently generate goals.
Graduation took three of the Midshipmen’s top four scorers, leaving Andy Warner as the only returner with more than 10 goals last year. The senior recorded 22 goals and 15 assists and will likely draw the opposition’s best defenseman.
As Navy prepares to open the season Saturday against the Virginia Military Institute at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Warner said he doesn’t feel like the burden of scoring falls solely on his shoulders.
“I don’t know if I really feel a burden,” he said. “I have to play well. That doesn’t mean I have to score five goals a game or have five assists a game. I just have to make sure that when I’m out there, our offense is running smoothly. We have some playmakers on offense. The freshmen, [junior midfielder] Nikk Davis, [senior midfielder] Brian Striffler, we can all get the job done offensively. So no, I don’t really feel a burden where I have to score all the points or I have to have all the assists.”
Coach Richie Meade said the pressure to score is on every player. Consequently, there’s been more of an emphasis on making passes to open up the defense and moving without the ball.
“You can’t just say one player has to score more,” Meade said. “I think Andy’s a very good player, and Andy’s in a leadership role now. But he’s just one guy. We need a lot from a lot of other guys. And that’s kind of something that we’ve stressed. And that’s kind of the way we’ve been. When we’ve had success, we’ve gotten it from a lot of different people.”
Changes are afoot, even for Warner, who is making the shift from attack to midfield. Warner, who played midfield at Corning East High School in Corning, N.Y., said he welcomes additional responsibilities as the quarterback of the offense.
“I love that role,” Warner said. “You feel like you’re in complete control of the offense. That’s the way I like to have it. Are we successful when we do that? I don’t really know. I feel like I have a pretty good sense of tempo and feel for the game.when we slow the ball down and play good, solid offense on nice, solid possessions.”
