May 24, 2007

by Jac Coyne, Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff

What do you tell a kid while he is sitting on the ground, clutching a right knee swollen from a torn anterior cruciate ligament? What do you say when it's the same player you had to peel off the practice field a year before after his left knee blew up? How do you console a player who traveled 3,000 miles only to have his lacrosse career almost assuredly terminated?

"I walked out, patted him on the back of the head and smiled," said Mercyhurst coach Chris Ryan about the grim task of ushering his junior attackman, Scott Janssen, off the field last spring.

Janssen had been on a two-on-one break and about to receive a pass when the opposing goalie stepped out to deliver a blow. Janssen's toe stuck in the grass, providing an unwanted anchor for the torque that would overwhelm his joint.

"I didn't want to think the worst had happened, but I think we all knew he had probably blown out his other knee," said Ryan. "I asked, `Did you hear a pop?' and he said, `Yup.'"

The matter-of-fact reply almost startled Ryan. He was expecting devastation. Or self-pity. Maybe even tears. Janssen had worked so hard to return to the team after the first injury, the realization that another long road lay ahead would surely break his will. Instead of a fatalistic resignation, Ryan saw something much different.

Defiance.

"I remember him sitting on the bench with his knee iced and he had a big smile on his face," said Ryan, still somewhat in awe. "I think he understood at that moment what he was dealing with and what he needed to do to get back this year. He assumed that he had a season-ending injury and shifted gears."

"At the time I was more mad than anything," said Janssen. "I just love lacrosse and I've been playing forever. I always knew I'd get back some way or another."

"He went home over the summer and worked on the bike, rehabbed, and came back here," said Ryan. "He came back in the best shape of his career. He walked into the office and I said, `Whoa.'"

It might be due to his love of the sport. It might be because they grow `em a little tougher in British Columbia. Or it might be due to Janssen's unwillingness to disavow a lacrosse career with sand still showing in the hourglass.

Janssen arrived up on the Mercyhurst campus, located in Erie, Pa., during the fall of 2002 after Ryan was tipped off to the Western Canadian's skills by the father of a former player. After a solid rookie campaign, Janssen decided to take a year off to concentrate on his curriculum. "He just wanted to collect himself academically and get his feet on the ground," said Ryan.

With the academics under control, Janssen was recharged for the 2005 season. On a harmless dodge to the goal during practice his left ACL proved uncooperative, snapping as clean as the antiseptic training room he would cohabitate for the 11 months during his rehab. It was all systems go in 2006 until the eighth game of the season when the right knee suffered the same fate.

The second rehab stint robbed Janssen of some mobility and the cutting ability that helped him earn a spot on the U-19 Team Canada squad and a selection to the International Lacrosse Federation All-World team after the U-19 championships in 2003.

It did not, however, affect his toughness and sniping ability.

"When he got here he was a pretty good bull-dodger with his right hand and now we like to keep him quarantined to the crease, so he's had to make some changes," said Ryan. "I know he gets a little frustrated at times. I know he'd like to be on the outside dodging to the cage, but he has turned into that prototypical Canadian finisher."

"I pretty much just stay in front of the crease and work as hard as I can to get open," said Janssen. "Just work my ass off in front of the crease."

Janssen heads into Sunday's national championship game against Le Moyne as the second leading scorer with 28 goals and fourth in points with 39. The rematch with the defending national champs is a perfect way for Janssen to end his collegiate days. Just as this season provided a perfect coda to his career, playing the Dolphins in the title game will provide Janssen an opportunity to make amends for Mercyhurst's only loss of the season.

In the regular season game with Le Moyne, Mercyhurst won the draw in overtime and the ball was swung to Janssen at the point on the breakaway.

"I was standing directly behind him and for the first time in my college coaching career I held my breath," said Ryan. "I was like, `Uggrh.' He shot it with everything he could possibly muster and pulled it just wide. There was no other guy on my team who at that point in time I would want the ball in his stick than Scott.

"As soon Le Moyne scored the game-winner Scott kind of grabbed his hat and I knew what he was thinking. After the game I told him, `Scott, next time shoot it harder.' I told him that the next time he got the opportunity it would be in a bigger situation and in a bigger stadium."

Fate will determine whether Janssen earns a chance to prove his coach prophetic. He'll be there on Sunday, setting up shop in front of the crease and doing everything he can to help the Lakers win. Most players -- even his coach -- would probably have been content to coast through the last two seasons and watch the game from a comfy seat.

"A lot of people after a second knee injury would have packed it in," said Ryan. "If it was me, I probably would have thought about saying maybe it's time to hang up the ax and start watching a little bit of lacrosse. But he has that passion for the game and that allowed him to come back."

"It definitely tops it off," said Janssen. "What better way to finish than to play in the championship game instead of watching or not even being here."

Men's Division II Championship
Le Moyne (14-2) vs. Mercyhurst (13-1) - Sunday, 4:30 p.m.
When talking about Sunday's opponent, Mercyhurst head coach Chris Ryan echoes many of the comments heard about Le Moyne this season. "Quite simply, very talented." At every position, the Dolphins have All-American-caliber players capable of impacting a game. Despite the daunting task of taking down the defending champs, the Lakers have to be confident heading into this contest. Yes, they lost the regular season game, but Ryan's troops rallied from a late deficit to send the game into overtime, and had a great chance to win it in extra time. "The game is going to be two evenly matched teams fighting for a national championship and I don't think either team would want it any different at this point," said Ryan. That's true. I don't think Ryan will want to change a thing when this is over.

LMO Predicts: Mercyhurst 10, Le Moyne 8.

Men's Division III Championship
Cortland (15-5) vs. Salisbury (21-0) - Sunday, 1:30 p.m.
Cortland's return to the national championship is a dream come true for Salisbury. The Sea Gulls have been steaming since last year's overtime loss to the Red Dragons and now they get a rare chance at redemption. Because the team will be so geeked up to run out on the field, it will Jim Berkman's job to calm his team's agita. "If we're worried about anything, it's about calming them down," said Berkman, who is looking for title No. 7. "When you're playing in a national championship game in front of 25,000 people it's not going to be a question of being excited or fired up, it's going to be a question of playing level-headed in those conditions." When Cortland coach Steve Beville is asked about Salisbury, he is certainly level-headed, if not somber. "Fast, skilled, athletic," said Beville. "They have some great chemistry going. They have prolific scorers. Solid players, no weaknesses." I agree.

LMO Predicts: Salisbury 16, Cortland 10.