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MCLA: Bay State Chronicles
Jan. 17, 2008
by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff Tim Gray just needed a break from lacrosse. Like most youngsters growing up on Long Island he had a stick in his hand shortly after his first, tentative steps, but when Gray finally arrived in high school at Chaminade High School he was lacrosse fried. In the sport's stead he pursued other interests, preparing himself to attend Northeastern University, one of the four largest academic institutions in Boston along with Harvard, Boston College and Boston University. When he stepped foot in the Fens lacrosse was nearly cleansed from his blood stream after his high school hiatus, but Gray quickly received an infusion. Drawn back to the sport in this new environment, he decided to give the Huskies' club team a try. It had the right vibe to bring a lapsed laxer back to the altar; competitive enough to satisfy Gray's jones but not overwhelming to cause a chronic flare-up of burnout. By itself, Gray's return to the field in the mid-90s is heartening story of a player returning to his roots, but this story continues. Gray's reconnection to the sport as a student sparked an evolution - from player, to assistant, to head coach - that has led directly to Northeastern's emergence as a contender in MCLA Division I. A bit player in the D-1 level of the Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League, an eight-team conference comprised of New England schools, when Gray was tabbed head coach (4-7 in 2003 and 9-6 in 2004), Northeastern has transformed itself into a tournament staple. It started in 2005 when the Huskies upended traditional PCLL powers Boston College and New Hampshire to earn their first bid and continued a year later with another AQ berth in 2006. Gray's squad entered both tournaments as No. 15 seeds (out of 16) and twice made a hasty exit, but national prominence often requires baby steps.
Arriving at that point was a slow process requiring patience. When Gray arrived the program was dependent on the whims of teenager's college decisions and the occasional NCAA D-3 transfer. Now that NU is on the MCLA map, the roster boasts players from high-powered prep programs such as Ward Melville (N.Y.), Duxbury (Mass.), the Hill School (Pa.) and Torrey Pines (Calif.).
"For the first few years it was just the luck of kids coming to Northeastern for whatever reasons," said Gray, whose Huskies are ranked No. 9 in the Lacrosse magazine preseason poll. "Now that we're having success on the national scale I've found that a lot of kids are contacting me who want to play. Other than that, I'll shoot emails or letters to coaches of well-known programs and let them know how Northeastern is different from other schools." Last spring featured another big step for NU when the Huskies were tabbed as an at-large selection after losing just twice, both to B.C., heading into the tourney. It also marked the first year that a PCLL team advanced past the first round as Northeastern stunned Michigan with a convincing 15-4 triumph (B.C. also beat Arizona). "I think part of it is the teams that made it for the first time didn't know the level of play that was there," said Gray, who is a physical therapist while not guiding the Huskies. "Last year was both B.C.'s and Northeastern's third time in the tournament, so you can drive your team to perform at that level once you realize how high that level it is as opposed to just competing with teams in your league." The importance of inter-conference play is self-evident in the MCLA since the association mandates its members have a minimum of three out-of-conference games to be considered for an at-large bid. Northeastern has always been traveling to test itself in non-league games, whether it's on trips to California, Florida or St. Louis, but last year's venture gave the Huskies a good indicator they were ready for bigger things. "Our California trip really set the tone for our season," said Gray of his 4-0 West Coast swing. "Beating those San Diego teams and Arizona was big. We know that a lot of our [conference] teams aren't ranked and until they start traveling and winning games they aren't going to get ranked, so the only way to get that high ranking is to play the high competition and hopefully win." Northeastern will once again head to the Left Coast in early March to play Stanford, Santa Barbara, Chapman and Cal-Poly. The task of returning home perfect again will be difficult with eight seniors graduating off last year's squad, but Gray is optimistic of his team's chances. As long as Gray doesn't suffer from another lacrosse burnout the Huskies should be in good shape this year, and in the future.
Wrestling with Success He had his mind on other things. He had his mind on, well, practice. At the conclusion of the lacrosse workout that went from 3 to 6 p.m., it was time for practice again, this time from 7 to 9:30 p.m. And this time it was in a small, sweaty room in the bowels of the UA athletic complex. In addition to being the coach of the lacrosse team, Rovinelli is also the head coach of the Arizona wrestling team. The Wildcat grapplers are, like the lacrosse team, a club program and compete in the National Collegiate Wrestling Association - a loose coalition of 147 programs, most of them trimmed from the varsity ranks due to federal proportionality stipulations. Arizona's program was cut in 1981, and the club team reemerged in 2006. Rovinelli is uniquely qualified to handle this rare double-dip. In addition to being an All-New England wrestler for Springfield (Mass.) College, Rovinelli was a four-year letterwinner for the lacrosse team on both defense and in goal. Working the two gigs concurrently is mentally taxing, but the Framingham, Mass., native has the gray matter to pull it off, confirmed by his Academic All-American awards in both sports, Springfield Scholar Athlete of the Year trophy, and a Magna Cum Laude degree in business management. There were other offers on the table when Rovinelli finally made the plunge into full-time coaching, but Arizona, ranked No. 12 in the Lacrosse magazine preseason poll, seemed to have almost everything he was hoping for. "I was just looking to get into coaching, but I made my decision a little later and a lot of the NCAA programs already had their staffs set," he said. "Arizona was a better opportunity and one that I could afford. It also fit me climate-wise. I like the city, I like the school, and I had a good experience on the phone with Ken Broschart. The responsibility that Kenny was giving me was kind of a true defensive coordinator position, a better position in terms of jump-starting a coaching career than any program I would have started with." When Rovinelli first took the gig in the desert he wasn't expecting to be the head coach of both programs. He was to be the wrestling coach from the start, but Rovinelli initially signed on to become the defensive coordinator for head coach Ken Broschart. Soon after Rovinelli arrived, Broschart took an assistant position at Michigan. The new guy suddenly became the head guy. When asked to take over his second program, Rovinelli didn't hesitate. "I built a good relationship with the players and I did learn a lot from Kenny, so I feel like I'm more than prepared," said Rovinelli. "I came from a good background of coaches and I was at a strong program at Springfield. We run our program very similar to the way it was run at Springfield. With my playing experience and the experience I received from Kenny and Mickey(-Miles Felton, UA's administrator) I was definitely ready to take on the job." The wrestling program is still in its infancy and in need of development, but Rovinelli has the luxury of taking over a lacrosse team still powerful from Broschart's four-year reign, which included a trip to the nationals each season. Of course, this could be a blessing and a curse as the expectations are sure to be sky-high in Tucson this spring. Judging by Rovinelli's past accomplishments, meeting, or exceeding, goals should not be a problem.
Slides & Rides If you have any story ideas about players, teams or coaches in the MCLA, drop an email to Jac Coyne. | ||||||
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