Friday, March 28, 1997
Laxers need jumpstart in offense
By MATT BELLUCCICollegian Sports Writer
Penn State men's lacrosse coach Glenn Thiel has grown tired of waiting for a proven goal scorer in his midfield to step to the forefront. He also is tired of waiting for tri-captain Greg Jackson to get going offensively.
The laxers' Greg Jackson attempts to get past a UMBC defender. Laxers coach Glenn Thiel said the key for his team to win is for Jackson and the midfielders to step up their performances. (Collegian Photo / David S. Spence - click for full size image)
"Jackson has to do more for us as far producing on the shots
he gets," Thiel said.
A byproduct of Jackson's move to the midfield will be Don Mayerhofer's
seeing more time on attack. With limited playing time, the freshman
has been able to produce on the chances he's been given, scoring
seven points in four games. Not capitalizing on chances is what
bothers Thiel the most.
"I'm not disappointed with the shots we're getting; I'm disappointed
with our ability to put the shots away," Thiel said. "We
have to do a better job there."
The last two games against UMBC have been real barn burners, with
Penn State taking both, 18-14 and 15-14, respectively. This year's
game doesn't look as if it will be that high scoring.
"I don't think it will be a shoot-out like it has been in
other years," Thiel said. "We haven't scored many goals,
and I certainly don't want to give up that many."
UMBC is led offensively by sophomore Chris Turner and freshman
Dan Marohl. The Retrievers are a very young team, as 22 of the
26 regulars are in their first two years of school. However, they
are extremely talented.
"There's a big transition between college and high school
lacrosse, and I think our young guys have done a pretty nice job
of making that transition," UMBC coach Don Zimmerman said.
"We're still young and we're still making a lot of young
mistakes, but we can start to eliminate them as the season goes
on."
The game will be played under the lights and possibly could give
the Lions a little extra incentive to play well. With the huge
lacrosse following in the Baltimore area, there should be a good
fan turnout to watch these two teams battle it out.
"That might help motivate us a little bit," Thiel said.
"It will make it a little bit more of a premier game."
Note:
n Senior middie Josh Peters
will miss the game with a broken bone in his hand. It is hoped
the presence of Jackson in the midfield will make up for some
of the scoring lost as a result of Peters' injury.
