By Chris Vaccaro
The importance of conference play cannot be stressed enough for any team in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). Since the CAA has some powerful men’s lacrosse programs, earning a win in any contest can be a challenge.
This was evident Friday night at James M. Shuart Stadium when the Pride hosted the Villanova University Wildcats and lost, 11-5, its first conference battle of the season.
In front of 1,167 fans the Pride (3-6, 0-1) set out to increase its national ranking and get ahead in its conference games early in the season.
The No. 11 Pride had a problem with staffing from the very beginning as junior starting goaltender Matt Southard was suspended from the team for violation of university policy. Southard will be banned from team activities for the next two weeks, forcing him to miss the next two games and all practices.
Freshman goalie James Tuohy was left with a large task, starting in his first collegiate game. With his emotions running high, he played calmly and held the Wildcats (6-3, 2-0) to just one goal in the first half.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats found open areas for improvement in their scoring attack and lit Tuohy up with 10 goals in the second half.
When asked how the Wildcats capitalized on their opportunities Tuohy said, “It seemed like they took a lot of different types of shots in the second half.” Obviously he’ll grow with experience and feel more comfortable with a wide variety of shots faced throughout the rest of the season.
“He met and exceeded all expectations that the team placed on him,” assistant coach Joe Amplo said. “His save percentage was right where an average division one goaltender should be.”
The Wildcats went into the second half determined, scoring three goals in as many minutes to start the third quarter. Their 17 shots in the third alone resulted in seven scores.
Eric Webber, Chris MacDonald and Matt Starker all scored unanswered goals for the Wildcats, allowing them to take a one-goal lead in the second half. Pride junior midfielder Rob Bonaguro netted his seventh goal of the season with 3:36 remaining in the third to equalize the game at 4 on his shot from 12 yards away.
The Wildcats took over from this point and went on a 7-0 run to put the game away. Starker scored three more goals and Eric Heidenberger scored two to put the Pride out of reach.
Although it didn’t make much of a difference, junior attackman Chris Unterstein scored his second of the game to finish off the Pride’s scoring with 1:13 remaining in the contest.
Sophomore Athan Ianucci scored his tenth goal of the season earlier in the game and added an assist while junior John Keysor scored his team leading 12th also within the first quarter.
Although a majority of the goals can be seen as problems from inexperienced goaltending, Tuohy did make 12 saves and should have had a better supporting cast in front of him.
The Pride didn’t play fundamentally sound lacrosse and this relates to the small things that must be done in order to be successful.
Chris Colliniates won 15 of 19 face-offs for the Wildcats, 13 coming in their high-powered second half assault. Because of these possession gains from the face-offs, the Wildcats were able to work extremely fast down field to score twice in a 10-second span during the third quarter, and another two goals within the final 49 seconds of the third.
A noticeable problem for the Pride in its last few games is the inability to post a good shooting percentage, meaning it isn’t scoring enough goals for the amount of shots it’s taking. The Pride is scoring on 21 percent of its shots, 30 goals on 148 attempts.
“We’ve been working in practice on shooting, and feel good about our shots so far,” Amplo said. “It’s just a matter of finishing the shots.”
The team will not have scheduled practices this week, which could be a positive momentum change. A little rest and refocusing on fundamentals should help the team’s core players get on the same mental level.
The Pride will play its next game on the road at CAA opponent Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut Wednesday at 3 p.m.