After a 5-4 overtime loss to Carey on March 27 and a 9-8 loss to Roslyn on April 9, both games Long Beach men’s lacrosse coach Jason Pearl thought they could win. But the team was back to square one before the toughest part began. of that schedule.
First, the technical aspects of the game were at the top of Pearl’s to-do list. That could be clearing the ball well or developing offensive decision-making skills to maximize scoring opportunities.
“We had to expand and expand things. The spacing wasn’t right and it was getting too cluttered and pushed in,” Pearl explained. “We’re playing a little bit wider right now, making the right decisions on offense and making good high-percentage shots on offense. We had to reiterate how important it is to put the ball in its place.”
But the Marines (7-2 overall, 5-2 in conference play) also faced unique problems with divisions within the team.
“We realized our defense wasn’t communicating properly, so we needed to improve on that,” Pearl said. “We started playing individually instead of playing as a team, so we had to go back to the drawing board.” [and explain] Guys, we’re not individuals, we’re a unit, so that was a big emphasis. ”
This was a unique problem that Pearl had never seen on a team, but it was quickly resolved, as evidenced by Long Beach’s 8-4 win over Oceanside.
“We had a really good game against Oceanside. We played as a team and showed that the hard work we put in practice carries over to the game,” he explained. “We had success in the game and we saw that success so hopefully we can build on that and continue to move forward and not look back.”
After addressing all of the above, the first thing that came to his mind was defense. “The whole defensive unit stood out to me. Everyone played as a unit,” Pearl said. “Nico Kanganis and Brian Cash did a really great job, Timmy Monzon, Tom Sielewski, [and] Wyatt Katzen. ”
Pearl was also proud of sophomore Aiden DeLupo, whose in-goal unit he rated “on point” with many key saves and multiple clearances, an improvement over just a few games a season ago. he said.
“We had a couple [of] It was a throwaway, but it wasn’t like before, so they were making good decisions on the ball and now it’s just a matter of executing plays,” he said.
After all, Long Beach is winning games, and in the coach’s own words, that’s a good thing, but now it’s a matter of demanding quality lacrosse.
Senior Luke Hartman led the Marines with 37 points (23 goals, 14 assists), followed by senior Maverick Chernoff (16 points, 13 points), freshman Sian Donaghy (15 points), sophomore Charlie Conway (8 points, 10 assists) follows.
“People think that’s a good thing because we’re winning games, so it’s a really slippery slope out there, but it turns out we didn’t make the right plays and it was upsetting,” Pearl said. I explained the reason. “Certainly, I was frustrated by the fact that the players here are getting Ws, but when you play against teams that are at our level or above, you’re going to have problems, and we really are. We lost two games because of that.”
In light of all this, Pearl said a new motto is spreading. [and] Stay focused. ”
