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MCLA: Much Talent in Minny
March 6, 2008
by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff The instant after I asked the question, I realized I had stepped in it. I fell into the age-old trap I take great pains to avoid. I had relapsed into my tired East Coast mindset about `new' lacrosse areas. So when I asked Rob Graff, the head coach of the Minnesota-Duluth men's lacrosse team, where he found most of his kids, I cringed when the question was met with an awkward pause. "Jac, let me give you a little background about Minnesota lacrosse..." He probably wanted to say, "Listen, moron, there are other parts of the country that play the sport," but Graff's an even keeled guy who is the product of teachers, so he kindly schooled me on the history of Minnesota lacrosse. In my defense, I assumed the sport must be in its infancy because the Minnesota State High School League just started sanctioning an official state tournament last year. In reality, Minnesota has had an organized non-sanctioned high school club league boasting over 50 teams for more than a decade. The hard work in the high schools during those early years is starting to bear some serious fruit for college programs. Ryan Hurley, from Eagan, Minn., is currently the leading goal-scorer for Cornell while Lehigh and Air Force also boast players from the North Star state. Next year, Minnesotans will join the programs at Dartmouth and Stony Brook. In addition, the active roster at Minnesota-Duluth, the premier MCLA program in the state and currently ranked No. 3 in the country, is made up of entirely Minnesota products. "It's not Colorado and it's not New York or Maryland or any of those places, but we are starting to have really good athletes come out of Minnesota," said Graff, who grew up on Long Island (Ward Melville H.S.) before playing collegiately at Harvard.
It may not have reached the level of the states we traditionally think of as hot spots, but Minnesota produces plenty of talent to bolster the 11 in-state MCLA programs - three of which are ranked in the Top 5 of either the Division I or II polls.
One of those in-state products is the best player on UMD and arguably the best player in the MCLA. Jake Launert, who was named the Lacrosse Magazine preseason player of the year, won an unofficial state title while at Bloomington Jefferson High School and has played a big role in the continuing improvement of the Bulldog program. At six-foot, 180 pounds, Launert is an average-sized goalie, but what separates him from a lot of keepers is his uncanny reflexes and sprinter's speed. In fact, Graff has seen Launert goofing around after practice with a long pole and believes if he wasn't the starting goalie for the Bulldogs, he'd be the starting long-stick middie. And when it comes to sprints, it's always the goalie finishing first. The ability to combine this athleticism with a newfound discipline has propelled Launert to the pinnacle of his position. "Jake's always been able to make the one `Oh-my-God-how-did-he-do-that' save and the last two years he started to realize he needed to make the pedestrian save, as well," said Graff. "And that's what he's done: make the saves he's expected to make and then also make the saves no one should be able to make." While he wouldn't be called an overly technical goalie, Launert has been able to pick up the finer points of the position through his work with UMD assistant coaches Frank Clark and Sam Litman. Launert has also emerged as a verbal presence on the backline, controlling the defense in front of him. "I'm the quarterback of our defense," he said. "I am also good at seeing shots well. I may have an unorthodox style, but it works for me." His emergence as a vocal leader developed over the course of his career, although Launert believes he guides his teammates more by example. Regardless, for the first time since Graff took over the program 15 years ago, a goalie was elected captain this spring. "Goalies are usually never elected captain because they are a de facto leader anyway, but the team felt so strongly about his leadership they elected him captain," said Graff. "When I have something to say I am not afraid to voice my opinion," added Launert. "I feel when I play well and lead by example, my teammates thrive off that. Launert is just one of the many talented cogs returning this spring for UMD. Three All-Americans and another three-year starter graduated from last year's team, but the top five attackmen, seven of 10 middies, and four of the top five poles resume their positions. These returners should help Graff achieve his goal of controlling the central part of the field. "I don't follow baseball well but I've been told baseball teams want to be strong up the middle - catcher, pitcher, shortstop, second base center field. We feel the same way in lacrosse," said Graff. "We want to be real strong at the face-off midfielder, the goalie, at the lead attackmen and at the lead defensemen spot. Of those four spots, we only lost our lead defenseman." They'll need to have a strong core considering the upcoming schedule facing the Bulldogs. While UMD has to be considered the prohibitive favorite to win the Upper Midwest Lacrosse League - the Bulldogs have won 10 of the last 14 crowns - three of their next four games come against national powers Michigan (on Saturday), Arizona and BYU. Whether you want to believe it or not (I certainly do), Graff has a group of Minnesotans who are up for the challenge.
Rebuilding a Minnesota Power It was disheartening for the former player to see what had happened. Even when Moosbrugger played the lacrosse team had a reputation as a "partying club," but when it was game time the guys were ready. That fine line had been blurred beyond recognition at St. Thomas, and to the point where the most mundane necessities were being ignored. "In the very first game I coached the guys wore t-shirts and we put numbers on with magic marker because we didn't have the uniforms ordered yet," said Moosbrugger of the 2003 season. "It was in real disarray when I walked into it. We were a rag-tag group. We got no respect at school, and the school would have rather seen us gone that be a club because there were a lot of problems." The makeshift uniforms were just the tip of the iceberg. The players were undisciplined and, frankly, not very good. "I was asking the refs to give us points for just moving it around the offense once," laughed Moosbrugger. The Tommies managed to win their last game of the 2003 season, a 2-1 overtime barnburner that will never be used as a fundamentals teaching video. There was little jubilation for Moosbrugger even with the season-closing triumph. Most people don't get into coaching collegiate club lacrosse for the money. And with Moosbrugger holding down a promising job and closing in on marrying his wife, he didn't need the hassle of running a college-aged daycare for pennies an hour. So he drew a line in the sand. "I sat down and made up strict guidelines and told the players this was how it was going to be. If you don't want to do it this way, I'm gone," said Moosbrugger. "You don't pay me enough to babysit you. "We wrote out a chart and I said if you are 100 percent committed to these points and what we have to do to get there, I'm in. If you aren't, and you just want to be a club team that kind of plays lacrosse, I'm not around. We had to cut kids; we had to let some kids go because they wanted to be part of a partying club that sometimes played lacrosse. That mentality changed when I came in. When I played it was a partying club, but if I was going to come back that had to change. The guys accepted the challenge, and it's been a long road to where we are now." St. Thomas is now coming off two-straight seasons of qualifying for the MCLA Division II championships and the Tommies are currently ranked No. 3 in the country. While this is a long way from where Moosbrugger started, the program is not where he wants it to be. He's has guys he raves about, like senior Joey Julius, a 6-foot-3 midfielder who quit the football team to play lacrosse. DeJulius is always in the weight room or taking extra shooting practice, providing a model for the other players. And then there are the Costello brothers - senior middie Pat and freshman middie Joe. The success of Pat and the Tommies convinced Joe to transfer from UMBC to St. Thomas, allowing the two brothers to compete for everything from loose balls to water bottles at practice, and in the process giving the team a fiery edge. "We need that varsity mentality where guys are in the weight room. I want to get where we have 100 percent of the players doing those things, totally embracing it," said Moosbrugger. "That's where I want to be." Despite what is left to do, Moosbrugger and the Tommies have been able to enjoy the ride. "It has been exciting to go from a team with t-shirts and written-on numbers to a fully-outfitted team traveling around the country and playing at a national level. In the past six years we've done an entire facelift."
Slides & Rides Have an idea for the MCLA Notebook? Email Jac Coyne.
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