Dave Baker's come a long way since Robert Morris.
He's come a long way since he made that long walk off the Holuba Hall turf back in February, when he had a disastrous debut.
And even though the Penn State men's lacrosse team is still winless heading into its showdown with No. 8 Duke, Penn State coach Glenn Thiel made it clear at practice Tuesday: Baker is the starting goaltender.
"He's gotten a lot better," Thiel said. "Still has some lapses of concentration, doesn't realize some shots are coming on occasion. But he's certainly played very well in practice and played better than John [Nichols] has."
Thiel was quick to point out Nichols has improved as well, especially since the team moved outside. He also said third-string goaltender Conor Baucum has played well.
But Thiel said there was no question Baker was the starter. He's proved as much, considering Baker played every minute of the last three games, and Nichols hasn't seen the field since the Notre Dame game Feb. 28.
The freshman has responded as well, averaging more than 10 saves a game in the last three contests. Baker also brought his goal totals down, allowing 11 goals or fewer in each of the last four games.
Baker said, however, it hasn't been much different for him since becoming the starter.
"Nicks is very, very good, and any time I'm sure he could go in and play very well," Baker said. "You're always on your toes, we're always pushing each other. And at practice we're trying to make each other better because we want the team to do better. But at the same time, it's kind of like a friendly rivalry."
Nichols is waiting for another opportunity to get back in net, and in the meantime, he's become an objective observer of Baker. While Nichols said each looks to individually improve during practice, Baker said Nichols will be the first one to offer critiques during the game to help him improve.
Nichols said bouncing things off each other to help improve was something he did last year with Drew Adams.
"I think I can look at what he does with a true eye as opposed to everybody else," Nichols said. "Kind of make critiques in the same way with him. Some players don't see the stuff that we see, and they just think, 'Oh, he should've saved that.' But they don't know why."
Baker's gotten a lot of critique lately, whether it's Nichols or the coaching staff. There was even his high school coach, who Baker said called him before the last game.
Despite all that, Baker and Nichols continue to push each other, and Baker continues to get acclimated to being a Division I starting goalie.
"I'm still trying to figure out how I want to play," Baker said. "So it's been nice to bounce it off of a lot of people who know what they're talking about."
