Coming off a tough loss last weekend to UMBC, the Red (2-1, 0-0 Ivy) goes into its fourth game of the season with a little less momentum than it would like.
But with a plethora of quality opponents quickly coming up on this year’s schedule, head coach Jeff Tambroni and the men’s lacrosse team must gain some confidence. The next challenge comes tomorrow against Penn State at Schoelkopf Field.
The Nittany Lions (3-2) were ranked 18th in preseason polls, but have since lost games to Notre Dame and Georgetown while also winning over Villanova. They have the ability to score and score quickly.
Last year Cornell barely edged the Lions 9-8 in a scrimmage. But Cornell does not present the same offensive presence this year, while the Lions have increased the strength of their program.
“They’re very undisciplined,” Tambroni said. “Their defense creates transition opportunities. That’s where the strength of their team is — [the counterattack].”
But more importantly for the Red is fine-tuning itself, especially on the attack. There has been more parity in all-over scoring, but the total points is not as high as last season’s.
“Rather than hang their heads, they’ve been pretty persistent all week. They’ve been pretty hungry,” Tambroni commented on the team’s practices. Nevertheless, he was looking forward to the extra time spring break allows.
“It will give us a good chance to catch up a little bit and work the kinks out,” he added.
The following weekend the Red travels to Yale (0-1, 0-0 Ivy) for its Ivy League season opener. But first thing’s first, and the team is fully aware of the consequences of overlooking a threat like Penn State in anticipation of the conference game.
“This is the time to think about Penn State, Tambroni asserted. “Once this game is over, we’ll have already started to think about Yale.”
Archived article by Amanda Angel