Men's lacrosse campaign in review
Cody Lahl
Issue date: 5/7/09 Section: Sports
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"I think the increase in production comes mostly from the change in attitude and atmosphere surrounding the team," junior Matt Teichmann said. "Everybody was a lot more excited and happy to be playing this year. This was the hardest we've worked as a team since I've been here."
Among MAAC teams, Marist finished in the top four in 14 statistical categories. Most notably, Marist topped the conference in saves per game (12) and faceoff percentage (.573) - both categories due in large part to the contributions made by senior Ryan Penner in goal and junior Matt Francis on face-offs.
For all Division I schools, Penner finished eighth in save percentage (.598) and Francis finished fifth in ground balls per game (6.46). In addition, the Red Foxes finished fourth in the nation in face-off win percentage, winning 141 of 246 face-offs - led by Francis' 136 wins in 236 attempts.
On offense, one Red Fox, Corey Zindel, broke into the top-10 national ranking as the sophomore attackman finished his season ranked eighth in assists per game (1.85). In 13 games, Zindel recorded 14 goals and 24 assists - good for second and first among Red Foxes.
Evan Guarini, another underclassman, contributed significantly to Marist's increased production. The freshman connected for 21 goals and assisted on three others. After a slow start in his first five collegiate games - recording four goals and one assist - Guarini provided 17 goals and two assists over the final eight matches.
"On offense, we worked on cutting down on our turnovers," Nelson said. "I believe Zindel and Guarini both cut down on their turnovers and played cleaner lacrosse. It's positive for the future, with those two and [Ryan] Sharkey returning we can stop worrying about the little things and work more on advanced offensive material."
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