Snow blanketing the ground, cold winter air blowing outside: it certainly doesn’t seem like the time to be playing spring sports, but the Setters won’t let Nature stop them from starting their season.
“It’s been interesting; the weather certainly hasn’t made it easy for us,” said Head Coach Tom Mariano, as he prepares for his first season of lacrosse at Pace. “Half the time we don’t even know where we are going to practice. It’s been a day-to-day kind of thing. We’ve only been able to play on a full-field twice.”
Having to play on indoor fields for almost all of the pre-season can be tough, but Mariano believes it’s not something to worry over.
“There is really nothing we can do about it,” Mariano said. “I think it certainly has affected everyone considering we have to make some adjustments, but at the end of the day you really just have to do the best you can with what you have.”
Playing indoors because of the weather is not the only adjustment that the lacrosse team has had to make this season.
Having a new coach has completely changed the mindset of the players, giving them a new perspective while also challenging them to excel each and every day.
“Last season we weren’t really on the same page,” said sophomore middle Frank Buffalino, a finance major in the Lubin School of Business. “We had a very individualistic mindset; we weren’t really working as a team. Things have changed with Mariano though. We are all on the same page; we are all dedicated.”
Coming from a position as assistant coach and defensive coordinator for The Ohio Machine of Major League Lacrosse (MLL), Mariano expects nothing less than to win, and it’s that mentality that has been instilled into the players.
“We have a completely new system, new approach, and a new attitude this season,” said junior defender T.J. Bonci, who is majoring in criminal justice. “We are looking to finish stronger this season, as it seems that there has been a sort of losing trend the past few years.”
That trend that Bonci referred to is the fact that the lacrosse team has lost all of their final games for the last eight seasons, with the Setters losing their last four games in 2012 and 2011, and their last six last season.
“It was tough to watch, especially with the home games because that’s when we had our family and friends come see us,” said Bonci, who recorded 33 groundballs in 14 games last season. “It sucks not being able to finish out strong.”
But with a new attitude, the focus is now on winning “regardless of how tough they are” as put by Buffalino. “We give 110 percent during practice so that when it’s game time it gets a little easier. All our coaches really push us hard during practice because they know there is a lot of potential. They know how great we can be.”
Practices have gone well so far according to the team, with more focus being put on the little things.
“We’ve really been working on some of the smaller aspects of the game such as ground balls; all the little things that make our game stronger,” said senior Timothy Izzo, who last year recorded 54 saves while finishing with a 3-2 record as a goalie. “Having worked in the MLL, Mariano will show us videos of professional players and then we’ll take bits of pieces of how they do certain things and incorporate that into our game.”
Beside practices, the lacrosse team has also done some community service, giving them some time to bond as a team.
“We’ve been playing basketball with special needs kids and it’s really great because it really gives us the opportunity to see how life should be lived,” said Buffalino, who scored a total of six goals last season while playing in 12 games. “I think it certainly makes us feel better being able to give back to the community. I believe that you get what you give, so if you do something good you’ll get something good in return. From a team standpoint it’s really brought us together, and it’s helped us both mentally and physically.”
The standards have been set high, as the Setters hope to make the playoffs and get to the National Championships. But because of that new winning mentality, the players seem confident that they will be able to achieve their goals.
“We definitely have a sort of division I type of mentality when it comes to competition,” Buffalino said. “We expect to win, you know. We start off the season playing against last year’s champs, Le Moyne College, but just because they won last year doesn’t mean that we can’t beat them this year. If we play as a team, we should be able to shock everyone. It all starts with that first game, and getting a win.”
Both Izzo and Bonci hope to bring some “prominence to Pace” by making it to the playoffs this season.
“I think it’s been about 15 years since we won the Conference and about seven or eight years since we made the playoffs, so we definitely want to try and bring Pace back to the play-offs and really make our school proud.”
The team will play their first game of the year on Sat., March 8 at Le Moyne College, followed by the first home game on Thur., March 13 as the Setters face Dominican College at 3:30 p.m.
The complete schedule for the 2014 season can be found at pacesettersathletics.com.