You don’t get a lot of wiggle room in big-time college lacrosse, especially if you aren’t Syracuse, Johns Hopkins or Princeton.
While the Massachusetts men’s lacrosse team (7-1, 1-1 Eastern College Athletic Conference) has certainly earned quite a bit of national respect over the years, it still can’t expect to lose more than two or three games and receive an at-large bid into the postseason – as evidenced by the 2001 snubbing after a 12-2 season.
So coming off last Saturday’s 11-10 loss to Penn State, which entered the game with a 1-5 record, the Minutemen must bounce back this weekend at University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
“If you were to say at [the beginning of the season], ‘Coach, you’ll be 7-1 at this point,’ I would have taken it in a heartbeat,” UMass coach Greg Cannella said at Wednesday’s Weekly UMass Sports Luncheon. “Unfortunately, when you are 7-0, you get greedy.”
Last Saturday, Penn State’s Will Jones scored with 3:25 remaining to snap a 10-10 tie and hand the Minutemen their first loss of the season. There were 10 ties and neither team led by more than one goal in what can only be described as one of the closest games in school history.
“I’m not sure what the situation was,” said Cannella, whose team dropped from No. 6 in the United States International Lacrosse Association Coach’s poll after the loss. “I know Penn State played really well.”
This week’s contest isn’t any easier, as UMBC is ranked No. 17 in the nation and handed Penn State a 12-10 loss on March 22.
In fact, the season won’t be getting any easier for Cannella and Co. as five of their six games will come against top 20 teams, including three against top 10 teams.
“We’re looking to bounce back,” Cannella said. “The guys were pretty angry [at practice] on Monday. As a coach, you try to get them to move on and look at the good points. We’re 7-1.”
Cannella, whose team has played seven of its eight games at home this year, is also looking forward to getting his Minutemen on the road this weekend.
“We’re psyched to get on the road,” Cannella said. “For us, it presents an opportunity to travel together, eat together, have a meeting together … We’re looking at this as a business trip.
“Our guys are more focused on the road than they are here in the dorms.”
So focused, in fact, that Cannella isn’t worried about his tough upcoming schedule that includes No. 3 Georgetown, No. 4 Syracuse, and No. 8 Rutgers.
“As clich
