March 2, 2007
Mike Tyson is a punch line right now, but when he was in his prime during the late `80s, there was no one as fearsome on the planet with his fists. He won a lot of matches just by stepping into the ring and took others on the very first punch. Twelve of his first 16 professional bouts didn't make it to the second round.
The Salisbury men's lacrosse teams shares a similar ability for early game uppercuts (figurative, of course), and Roanoke head coach Bill Pilat knows this better than most. His Maroons have played the Gulls twice in each of the last two years -- once during the regular season and another in the national semifinals.
Despite the regular season results, Roanoke has twice made Salisbury sweat out a narrow victory in the NCAAs. Pilat believes it comes down to the Maroons' ability to absorb a punch, and land a couple of their own.
"It's like boxing, you come out of the corner and they want to hit you in the mouth right off the bat and a lot of teams can't take that," said Pilat. "I think the reason we've been so close to them the last four times is we can take that and dish it out.
"A lot of teams come out and they get walloped, and the game is over. The first quarter is key for us, and that's what we tell our guys. We need to match their intensity and then it'll be a heckuva game."
Pilat and his third-ranked Roanoke squad will get another chance to measure themselves against Salisbury, currently atop the USILA poll, on Sunday at 1 p.m.
Roanoke will need every drop of intensity to hang with the Gulls as this Maroons team will not have the same weapons it boasted last year, especially in the midfield and on the defensive end. In their stead are 15 freshmen who are still acclimating to the collegiate game. Many don't understand what the Salisbury game really means.
"We lost some great guys, so it's a totally different character to this team and it's a young team," said Pilat. "It's pretty exciting going up there. Half the team knows what it's like and half the team has never been there. We're kind of taking the approach that it's a brand new experience."
For the upperclassmen, Sunday's game marks another chance -- potentially the last one for some -- to slay the dragon during their careers (`Noke seniors are 0-5 against Salisbury). This week has been about the older players indoctrinating the youngsters about expectations.
"The coaches are just trying to tell the guys what to expect and what type of intensity we need to bring, and the older guys just nod their heads because they understand and the younger guys are just learning," said Pilat. "The older guys have been good at teaching the freshman and getting them focused on the fact that this isn't a typical game. I think it'll hit them once the first whistle blows, but we're just trying to get them ready basically for playoff-intensity lacrosse."
While the rookies will be pivotal in determining how successful Sunday is for the Maroons, there are still some veteran horses in the Roanoke stable.
Pilat lauded the play of Jon Mason, who has buried eight goals in three games despite constant slides. Zach Thomas has been a nice complement to Mason and Chaz Carlson is leading the team in scoring from the midfield. Someone to watch out for on Sunday is Bill Cameron, who has matured into a steady face-off man.
If there is one positive of playing Salisbury, it is the Roanoke coach's pregame routine becomes a little smoother.
"I know I won't need to get anyone fired up to play," said Pilat. "I know they are very excited about playing the No. 1 team so that makes my job easy. I can focus on Xs and Os and the things we want to do differently, and what they're going to do. That's kind of fun."
It's not fun taking the kind of punches Salisbury dishes out, but the Maroons have taken them before and are hoping to land a Buster Douglas-type haymaker on Sunday.
Contact Jac Coyne at jcoyne@uslacrosse.org.
