Towson men?s lacrosse coach Tony Seaman showed he can work a crowd as well as a sideline during a question and answer session on a snowy Wednesday afternoon.
“We walk in from outside and think ?I don?t know why in the name of God we are playing lacrosse now, we should be out skiing somewhere in the mountains,?” Seaman said with a smile. “But that?s the way it is: It starts earlier every year and the weather is the weather.”
Seaman, along with Johns Hopkins? Dave Pietramala, Loyola?s Charley Toomey and UMBC?s Don Zimmermanaddressed the state of the game by answering questions from fans and media at the ESPN Zone in the Inner Harbor.
The coaches answered questions about new faceoff rules, the possibility of a shot clock, Duke players each receiving an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA after the school suspended the 2006 season after allegations of sexual assault, the state of their teams and recruiting. Pietramala, whose team won its second national title in the past three years last season with a 12-11 victory over Duke at M&T Bank Stadium last spring, discussed the importance of his team focusing on this season. The top-ranked Blue Jays play Albany in the season opener for both teams at Homewood Field on Saturday at noon.
“We do return a good portion of last year?s team,” Pietramala said. “But each year is a different team. There are new challenges and one of those is putting the past [accomplishments] behind us and moving forward.”
Toomey?s 17th-ranked Greyhounds (0-1) opened the season last week with a 7-6 loss to No. 10 Notre Dame (1-0) at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field. But the Greyhounds have a much bigger game on Saturday afternoon at 1, when they travel about five miles north on Charles Street to face No. 14 Towson (0-0) at Unitas Stadium.
“We graduated 80 percent of our offense so there are a lot of new faces,” Toomey said. “After last weekend we are trying to fix a few things. We still have some question marks we are trying to figure out.”
Zimmerman and his 19th-ranked Retrievers (0-1) returned to Baltimore this week after falling to defending Colonial Athletic Association champion and 13th-ranked Delaware, 15-7, in Neptune Beach, Fla., this past Saturday afternoon in a rematch of last year?s NCAA quarterfinal, also won by the Blue Hens. UMBC plays at Rutgers (0-0) at RU Turf Field on Saturday at noon. The Retrievers are looking for their third straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament this spring.
“Right now we are trying to find out who we are,” Zimmerman said. “We have some good kids who are competing everyday for positions.”
Seaman and the Tigers are looking for their fifth NCAA Tournament berth in the past six years andsecond straight overall. Towson lost to Cornell, 14-6, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last season, but returns seven of 10 starters and 30 of 41 letterwinners.
And while the majority of sports fans across the country are more concerned with pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training, that?s not the case here. And that?s what makes spring in Baltimore special, Pietramala said.
“Lacrosse is such an important part of this community and the daily lives of a lot of folks here,” he said. “The start of spring around here and this time of year is an exciting time in the state of Maryland.”
