Review & preview: McDaniel
Here is the first installment of a new series that checks in with the seven Division III programs in the state to evaluate the past and offer a glimpse into the future. The series will unfold with teams appearing according to the chronological order in which their seasons ended. Thursday begins with a visit with McDaniel.
REVIEW
The good: A tough 2011 campaign yielded few bright spots, but the Green Terror (6-8 overall and 3-5 in the Centennial Conference) may have found its goalkeeper of the future in freshman Christian Dallmus. After beginning the season with juniors Ty Wittelsberger and Brad Motley through the first four contests of the season, the team made the switch to Dallmus, who finished with a 6.46 goals-against average and a .572 save percentage. “I think he has the potential to be excellent for us, and I think things came together defensively for us when he was in there,” coach Matt Hatton said. “I thought he did a really good job being a freshman with several seniors and upperclassmen in front of him.” … McDaniel graduates just eight seniors and returns all 10 starters, including a pair of fifth-year players in midfielder Nicholas DiBernardo (16 goals and 6 assists) and defenseman Nelson Hannahs (24 ground balls and 6 caused turnovers). “I certainly think bringing back guys who have played three or four years is a bonus,” Hatton said. “But it’s tough to really tell what that means until we get out there in February and March. We’ve got a lot of things that are going to transpire between now and then.” … Despite a down year, the Green Terror finished one game out of the top four places in the Centennial Conference tournament, which the team had qualified before in each of the previous two seasons. Hatton is optimistic that the players will use this experience as a foundation to build on. “If we can figure out a couple positions, I think we might find ourselves back in the hunt, and that’s where we would like to be,” he said. “We’ve got a great group coming back. Certainly, there’s some potential there, but it’s just a matter of if we come together.”
The bad: McDaniel’s start was less than desired with three losses in the first four contests, but the team really hurt itself with a pair of conference-opening setbacks to Washington College (9-7 on March 19) and eventual Centennial champion Dickinson (7-6 in double overtime on March 23). Those losses kept the Green Terror out of the conference tournament. “We put ourselves in a tough situation at the end of the season, where we had to win [against Gettysburg] to get into the conference tournament, which would have been nice to have done that three years in a row,” Hatton said. “But at the end of the day, we really didn’t take care of business when we should have early on. I think we let a couple games get away from us, and I think when you play in the Centennial Conference, you have to show up.” … The graduation of attackman Gibbs Preston turned out to have more of an impact than initially thought. Preston (23, 26 in 2010) was the offensive quarterback who coordinated the offense from behind the net. His absence contributed to the offense averaging almost two fewer goals than last season. “Offensively, we had been scoring at a pretty good pace the last couple of years, and then this past year, there were times when we could get it done and times when we really struggled,” Hatton said. “We needed somebody to get out there and be able to distribute the ball a little bit better than we had this past year.” … Another component missing from the offense was the lack of depth in the midfield. After DiBernardo, junior Michael Young (8, 2) and sophomores William Clary (9, 2), Michael Woglom (5, 4) and Andrew Mummert (2, 4), no other midfielder finished with more than three points. “We need to be deeper at the midfield,” Hatton said. “We had a limited number of guys through the box offensively, and that hindered our play.”
PREVIEW
Personnel changes: Returning all 10 starters eliminates questions about that aspect, but there’s still the matter of finding an offensive quarterback. Hatton thinks junior attackman J.S. Duke (7, 4) has the tools to play that role. “We need to find someone who can play from the X and distribute,” Hatton said. “I think if we can do that, we’re going to be in good shape.” … There will, however, be a few holes to fill. Faceoff specialist Matt Dean led the team in ground balls (57) and won 57.7 percent (128-of-222) of his draws. Hatton said sophomores Mike Marks and Skippy Clary and freshman Trey Hunt III will probably vie for the honors in fall and preseason workouts. “There’s definitely going to be a steep learning curve associated with that position,” Hatton said. … Long stick midfielder Matt Mummert led McDaniel in caused turnovers (17) and finished second in ground balls (51). Losing Mummert will hurt, but Hannahs played the position in his freshman and sophomores years, and junior defenseman Preston Ketchum (10 ground balls) could play up top against stronger midfielders. “I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of having some flexibility at that position,” Hatton said.
Forecast for 2011: Stormy. Retaining all 10 starters is a positive, but this group finished behind last year’s squad that went 7-8 overall and 4-4 in the Centennial Conference. Junior attackman D.J. Rickels is a bona fide finisher (31 goals), but his team-high nine assists prove that the team needs a distributor. And it would help Rickels and the rest of the attack if the midfield could be more productive and alleviate some of the defensive focus off of the attack. The biggest strength appears to be a defense that surrendered just 7.9 goals per game. That unit might need to be the foundation for a Green Terror team that is currently looking up at Dickinson, Gettysburg and Haverford in the conference.
