Off the field work translates to on-field excellence for Manny

Division I athletic talent can be God-given and handed to a person at birth as it is with so few, but for some athletes, the work doesn’t stop there. Just ask Will Manny, the explosive attackman of the No. 13 Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team after his seven-goal, two-assist performance in UMass’ season opening win over Army.

“I watched my shots on Sunday, [on] Monday I watched [the] defensemen who I believe will be guarding me, seeing how he moves his feet, what his weak angles are, what kind of move will work on him,” said Manny on the film work he does going into a game. “Just the little things that will make up a big part of the game and I think that was a big part in the Army game.”

This practice is a routine occurrence for Manny, the Preseason Co-Player of the Year in the Colonial Athletic Association and junior attackman for the Minutemen squad.

UMass coach Greg Cannella called the lefty a tremendous athlete with great quickness and skill, but according to him, lots of athletes have that across college sports. What separates Manny is the work he does off the field.

“Willy’s got the inner desire that it takes,” said Cannella. “He wants to do the extra, he wants to do the extra work, put the extra time in away from the coaches.”

In his two-plus seasons with the Minutemen (1-0), Manny has seized his opportunities from day one up until now, quickly emerging as one of the premier scoring threats on the team and in the CAA.

As a true freshman, the Massapequa, N.Y. native stormed onto the scene, leading UMass with his 27 goals and 18 assists in just his six starts on the year, casting a shadow on the vast skill-set and potential that Manny has built off of since his rookie season.

“Being able to come in freshman year and being able to play right away and in to the system when they needed a lefty attackman was, I think, very helpful,” said Manny.

Manny heads a potent and high-octane Minutemen attack, joined by seniors Art Kell and Anthony Biscardi, juniors Kyle Smith and Colin Fleming and sophomore Connor Mooney just to name a few. Manny realizes just how special a unit this year’s attack can be.

“I think we could be one of the best lines in the country,” he said.

Manny and the rest of the UMass attack showed a glimpse of how electric it can be in its 12-9 win over Army last Friday, primarily with the lefty’s nine-point performance.

Before the game, Manny was focused on getting the ball on net and challenging Army’s inexperienced goalkeeper and attacking the same defender that matched up against him in last year’s meeting between the two sides. These methods arose during his and the rest of the Minutemen’s preparation going into the contest.

As the goals started racking up, Manny said he wasn’t keeping track of how many scores he had due to his heightened focus level during the game.

“I honestly didn’t know how many I had throughout the whole game because I was in such a zone,” said Manny, who acknowledged that he hasn’t scored that much in any single game in college or at St. Anthony’s High School. “I was just excited to be playing with everyone but after seeing the stats after the game … I was laughing with my parents and my teammates. It was an unbelievable experience.”

Cannella has had a front-row seat watching Manny grow as a player throughout his two-plus seasons in the program. While Cannella believes Manny has improved in all facets of his game, he attributes a great deal of the junior’s success to the confidence he has gained through his astute preparation.

“We tell our guys, ‘Hey, if you prepare the right way each and every day, you’ll have a ton of confidence out there on the field,’” said Cannella. “I think that’s where [Manny] is at right now.”

With all the national accolades surrounding the UMass program, Manny has not gone unnoticed during the weeks leading up to the start of the season. He was truly honored after friends and Cannella relayed him the news that he was selected as the CAA’s preseason Co-Player of the Year, but couldn’t let his fellow Minutemen go overlooked.

“I give it all to my teammates just being able to push me every day and help me out with on and off the field kind of things,” he said.

Manny was also chosen to the All-CAA Men’s Lacrosse Team along with teammate Biscardi and senior defenseman Tom Celentani.

As UMass prepares for its showdown with No. 14 Bucknell for its home opener on Saturday, Manny is excited to get back on Garber Field with the rest of the team to try and erase the memories of its last game on its home turf. The Minutemen came up short in last year’s CAA championship game against Delaware, 9-7, to bring an abrupt end to a promising 2011 campaign.

“It gives you a little spark and I believe that we can get to our CAA tournament, hopefully have a home-field advantage again and hopefully win a championship on our own turf,” said Manny.

He and the rest of the UMass squad will try to reclaim its home-field pride against the 0-1 Bison at 1 p.m on Saturday.

Stephen Sellner can be reached at [email protected] and followed on Twitter @MDC_Sellner.